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Jer. 33:1 ¶ Moreover the word of the LORD came unto Jeremiah the second time, while he was yet shut up in the court of the prison, saying,

Jer. 33:2 Thus saith the LORD the maker thereof, the LORD that formed it, to establish it; the LORD is his name;

Jer. 33:3 Call unto me, and I will answer thee, and shew thee great and mighty things, which thou knowest not.

This chapter begins with a second revelation from the LORD to Jeremiah while he was confined to prison. Point is made that this message is from the Creator, the One in authority over His creation.

I liked the observation of Matthew Henry regarding these verses: “No confinement can deprive God's people of His presence; no locks nor bars can shut out His gracious visits; nay, oftentimes as their afflictions abound their consolations much more abound, and they have the most reviving communications of His favour when the world frowns upon them. Paul's sweetest epistles were those that bore date out of a prison.”

The LORD encourages Jeremiah to feel free to question Him further about the prophecies being revealed to him. The LORD is ready to share more with Jeremiah than He already has; all Jeremiah has to do is ask.

Verse 3 is one that I learned early in my youth as a prayer promise. Does it have a valid application to the believer today? Again, I think it is predicated on the unchanging nature of God and His desire to bless those who serve Him in faith and obedience. So often we want to make application of a promise to ourselves without recognition of our accountability before God in connection with that promise. Am I serving God in faith and obedience to the best of my ability as was Jeremiah? Am I seeking wisdom so as to more effectively serve Him and bring honor to His name? Is my motive to share His truth with others? If we can examine our heart and motives and identify them as selfless rather than selfish, I think we can apply this promise to our own lives as well. I think the words of Jesus and His brother James confirm this conclusion.

John 14:13 “And whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son.”

John 15:7 “If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you.”

James 4:3 “Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon  your lusts.”

Jer. 33:4 For thus saith the LORD, the God of Israel, concerning the houses of this city, and concerning the houses of the kings of Judah, which are thrown down by the mounts, and by the sword;

Jer. 33:5 They come to fight with the Chaldeans, but it is to fill them with the dead bodies of men, whom I have slain in mine anger and in my fury, and for all whose wickedness I have hid my face from this city.

After reading through several translations, I think the NLT provides the clearest translation and is self-explanatory: “For this is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: Though you have torn down the houses of this city and even the king’s palace to get materials to strengthen the walls against the siege weapons of the enemy, the Babylonians will still enter. The men of this city are already as good as dead, for I have determined to destroy them in my terrible anger. I have abandoned them because of all their wickedness.”

Again, it is important to note that God is accomplishing His will through the actions of the Babylonians. This is a principle that is discounted throughout much of Christendom in light of world events today. It is frankly one of the most amazing testimonies to the power and sovereignty of Almighty God to me. He looked down through the ages and implemented a plan utilizing the actions of men, both good and evil, whom He sovereignly chose to give free will. Many deny this truth, but I strongly believe it is foundational to the concept of love. Love is not true if not freely given. God is defined as love, and man was uniquely made in the image of God. The LORD desires our faith in Him through love and obedience.

John 14:21 “He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me: and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him.”

John 14:23 “Jesus answered and said unto him, If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him.”

Jer. 33:6 Behold, I will bring it health and cure, and I will cure them, and will reveal unto them the abundance of peace and truth.

Jer. 33:7 And I will cause the captivity of Judah and the captivity of Israel to return, and will build them, as at the first.

Jer. 33:8 And I will cleanse them from all their iniquity, whereby they have sinned against me; and I will pardon all their iniquities, whereby they have sinned, and whereby they have transgressed against me.

Jer. 33:9 And it shall be to me a name of joy, a praise and an honour before all the nations of the earth, which shall hear all the good that I do unto them: and they shall fear and tremble for all the goodness and for all the prosperity that I procure unto it.

The LORD is affirming once again to Jeremiah that He is going to restore Israel as a healthy, prosperous nation again. He is going to bring ALL of His people home from both the Northern and Southern Kingdoms from the lands where they have been taken captive. At the time of this restoration, He reiterates that He will forgive all their sins and establish them in a position of praise and honor before the nations. When the nations are made aware of all that God has done for His people, it will cause them to tremble before Him. I think this is because it will be obvious miraculous evidence of His power and authority as LORD.

This prophecy will be fulfilled when the LORD Jesus returns to earth to establish His kingdom.

Stedman:  “Destruction is often God's first step, because we have been building on a false foundation, and God knows he must destroy what we have thought was true before he finally can cleanse us….Cleansing is his first act of restoration, but destruction is necessary to cleansing.”

Jer. 33:10 ¶ Thus saith the LORD; Again there shall be heard in this place, which ye say shall be desolate without man and without beast, even in the cities of Judah, and in the streets of Jerusalem, that are desolate, without man, and without inhabitant, and without beast,

Jer. 33:11 The voice of joy, and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom, and the voice of the bride, the voice of them that shall say, Praise the LORD of hosts: for the LORD is good; for his mercy endureth for ever: and of them that shall bring the sacrifice of praise into the house of the LORD. For I will cause to return the captivity of the land, as at the first, saith the LORD.

The LORD goes on with His message of comfort and hope by declaring that the people of Israel will be full of joy and gladness and praise for the LORD. When the LORD restores His people as a nation in complete fellowship with Him, they will recognize that He is their Deliverer, their Savior, their Redeemer—the covenant-keeping God of Israel.

This is describing the time spoken of by Jeremiah in chapter 3.

Jeremiah 3:17 “At that time they shall call Jerusalem the throne of the LORD; and all the nations shall be gathered unto it, to the name of the LORD, to Jerusalem: neither shall they walk any more after the imagination of their evil heart.”

I was reading through this section again and realized that I had overlooked an important point in this section.  Jeremiah identifies our praise to the LORD as a sacrifice.  As I thought about this further, I realized that anything we do or say in honor or worship of the LORD would be considered a sacrifice because it is an act that shows discipline over the flesh in recognition of the authority of God.

Jer. 33:12 Thus saith the LORD of hosts; Again in this place, which is desolate without man and without beast, and in all the cities thereof, shall be an habitation of shepherds causing their flocks to lie down.

Jer. 33:13 In the cities of the mountains, in the cities of the vale, and in the cities of the south, and in the land of Benjamin, and in the places about Jerusalem, and in the cities of Judah, shall the flocks pass again under the hands of him that telleth them, saith the LORD.

In this coming time of peace and prosperity throughout Israel, shepherds will find plenty of pasture for their flocks. Point is made that it will transform from a place of desolation to a land flourishing with both man and beast. The prophet Isaiah also talked about this time in Israel’s future.

Isaiah 49:18–20 “Lift up thine eyes round about, and behold: all these gather themselves together, and come to thee. As I live, saith the LORD, thou shalt surely clothe thee with them all, as with an ornament, and bind them on thee, as a bride doeth. For thy waste and thy desolate places, and the land of thy destruction, shall even now be too narrow by reason of the inhabitants, and they that swallowed thee up shall be far away. The children which thou shalt have, after thou hast lost the other, shall say again in thine ears, The place is too strait for me: give place to me that I may dwell.”

Jer. 33:14 Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will perform that good thing which I have promised unto the house of Israel and to the house of Judah.

Jer. 33:15 In those days, and at that time, will I cause the Branch of righteousness to grow up unto David; and he shall execute judgment and righteousness in the land.

Jer. 33:16 In those days shall Judah be saved, and Jerusalem shall dwell safely: and this is the name wherewith she shall be called, The LORD our righteousness.

In this section of verses, the future day of restoration is connected to a ruler called the “Branch of righteousness” that is a descendant of David. Verse 16 goes on to add that Jerusalem will be identified with this ruler, now more explicitly identified as “The LORD our righteousness.” This makes a direction connection to the prophecy of Isaiah.

Isaiah 11:1–9 “And there shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse, and a Branch shall grow out of his roots: And the spirit of the LORD shall rest upon him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the LORD; And shall make him of quick understanding in the fear of the LORD: and he shall not judge after the sight of his eyes, neither reprove after the hearing of his ears: But with righteousness shall he judge the poor, and reprove with equity for the meek of the earth: and he shall smite the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips shall he slay the wicked. And righteousness shall be the girdle of his loins, and faithfulness the girdle of his reins. The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid; and the calf and the young lion and the fatling together; and a little child shall lead them. And the cow and the bear shall feed; their young ones shall lie down together: and the lion shall eat straw like the ox. And the sucking child shall play on the hole of the asp, and the weaned child shall put his hand on the cockatrice’ den. They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain: for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the LORD, as the waters cover the sea.”

Jer. 33:17 ¶ For thus saith the LORD; David shall never want a man to sit upon the throne of the house of Israel;

Jer. 33:18 Neither shall the priests the Levites want a man before me to offer burnt offerings, and to kindle meat offerings, and to do sacrifice continually.

These verses were confusing to me in the past since I knew that there had been no functioning throne of David for over 2,000 years. Somewhere along the way in my studies, I remember learning that even though the throne of David has been vacant for so long a time, it is still a valid position before the LORD; it will once again be occupied in Israel’s future. Until the Temple was destroyed in 70 AD, those qualified to be King in Israel could still be determined from the genealogical records that were stored there. Since the coming of Jesus, there is no further need for those records. Jesus is the qualified final, eternal King of Israel. When He returns to establish His kingdom, He will assume the throne of David as King over all the earth. This prophecy was affirmed by the Angel Gabriel when he announced to Mary that she would give birth to the Messiah.

Luke 1:30–33 “And the angel said unto her, Fear not, Mary: for thou hast found favour with God. And, behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name JESUS. He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest: and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David: And he shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of his kingdom there shall be no end.”

Interestingly enough, it seems that DNA technology can once again determine those who are legitimate descendants of the tribe of Levi. Jesus would, however, be able to make that determination without such technology. Also, much to the surprise of many, Ezekiel affirms that there will be a functioning temple in the Messiah’s Kingdom; sacrifices and offerings will be carried out by the Levites, with the sons of Zadok serving in the positions of honor before the LORD.

Ezekiel 44:10–16 “And the Levites that are gone away far from me, when Israel went astray, which went astray away from me after their idols; they shall even bear their iniquity. Yet they shall be ministers in my sanctuary, having charge at the gates of the house, and ministering to the house: they shall slay the burnt offering and the sacrifice for the people, and they shall stand before them to minister unto them. Because they ministered unto them before their idols, and caused the house of Israel to fall into iniquity; therefore have I lifted up mine hand against them, saith the Lord GOD, and they shall bear their iniquity. And they shall not come near unto me, to do the office of a priest unto me, nor to come near to any of my holy things, in the most holy place: but they shall bear their shame, and their abominations which they have committed. But I will make them keepers of the charge of the house, for all the service thereof, and for all that shall be done therein. But the priests the Levites, the sons of Zadok, that kept the charge of my sanctuary when the children of Israel went astray from me, they shall come near to me to minister unto me, and they shall stand before me to offer unto me the fat and the blood, saith the Lord GOD: They shall enter into my sanctuary, and they shall come near to my table, to minister unto me, and they shall keep my charge.”

I remember how it struck me in my study of Ezekiel that these future descendants of Zadok would be reaping the benefits of the faithfulness of their ancient ancestors. This is something about which every Christian parent and grandparent should be mindful.

Jer. 33:19 And the word of the LORD came unto Jeremiah, saying,

Jer. 33:20 Thus saith the LORD; If ye can break my covenant of the day, and my covenant of the night, and that there should not be day and night in their season;

Jer. 33:21 Then may also my covenant be broken with David my servant, that he should not have a son to reign upon his throne; and with the Levites the priests, my ministers.

The LORD now gives Jeremiah a sign that guarantees that God will fulfill His covenant with David and the Levites. He is basically saying that only if man can stop the cycle of day and night could those covenants be broken. The implication is obvious—it can’t be done.

This is true of any and every promise uttered from the mouth of God. His word will always accomplish His purposes.

Isaiah 55:10–11 “For as the rain cometh down, and the snow from heaven, and returneth not thither, but watereth the earth, and maketh it bring forth and bud, that it may give seed to the sower, and bread to the eater: So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it.”

Jer. 33:22 As the host of heaven cannot be numbered, neither the sand of the sea measured: so will I multiply the seed of David my servant, and the Levites that minister unto me.

Not only will the LORD fulfill His covenant with David and the Levites, He will multiply their descendants beyond number. This is emphasized with a word picture of not being able to count the hosts of heaven or the grains of sand of the sea.

Jer. 33:23 Moreover the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah, saying,

Jer. 33:24 Considerest thou not what this people have spoken, saying, The two families which the LORD hath chosen, he hath even cast them off? thus they have despised my people, that they should be no more a nation before them.

Jer. 33:25 Thus saith the LORD; If my covenant be not with day and night, and if I have not appointed the ordinances of heaven and earth;

Jer. 33:26 Then will I cast away the seed of Jacob, and David my servant, so that I will not take any of his seed to be rulers over the seed of Abraham, Isaac,  and Jacob: for I will cause their captivity to return, and have mercy on them.

Again, I think the NLT gives a clearer understanding of what is being said in these verses: “Have you heard what people are saying? —‘The LORD chose Judah and Israel and then abandoned them!’ They are sneering and saying that Israel is not worthy to be counted as a nation. But this is the LORD’s reply: I would no more reject my people than I would change my laws of night and day, of earth and sky. I will never abandon the descendants of Jacob or David, my servant, or change the plan that David’s descendants will rule the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Instead, I will restore them to their land and have mercy on them.”

These are very plain words of promise concerning God’s plans for the nation of Israel. So many in Christendom today have written the Jewish people off as relevant at all to God’s plan for the future. I just don’t see how any person can read the scripture and come to such a conclusion. Scripture is full of promises concerning the restoration of the believing remnant of Israel—the true sons of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Yes, believers are blessed to be allowed to participate

in the blessings of the New Covenant; but they have never replaced the  descendants of Abraham through Jacob regarding the promises particular to His covenant with them concerning the land or with David concerning the throne. These promises are directly connected to dwelling in prosperity, peace and abundance in the land that He gave them. The promises to the Levites and David are directly connected to the fulfillment of His covenant with Abraham.

2Samuel 7:5 & 13-16 “Go and tell my servant David, Thus saith the LORD…. He shall build an house for my name, and I will stablish the throne of his kingdom for ever. I will be his father, and he shall be my son. If he commit iniquity, I will chasten him with the rod of men, and with the stripes of the children of men: But my mercy shall not depart away from him, as I took it from Saul, whom I put away before thee. And thine house and thy kingdom shall be established for ever before thee: thy throne shall be established for ever.”

1 Chronicles 15:2 “Then David said, None ought to carry the ark of God but the Levites: for them hath the LORD chosen to carry the ark of God, and to minister unto him for ever.”

Jer. 34:1 ¶ The word which came unto Jeremiah from the LORD, when Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and all his army, and all the kingdoms of the earth of his dominion, and all the people, fought against Jerusalem, and against all the cities thereof, saying,

Jer. 34:2 Thus saith the LORD, the God of Israel; Go and speak to Zedekiah king of Judah, and tell him, Thus saith the LORD; Behold, I will give this city into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he shall burn it with fire:

Jer. 34:3 And thou shalt not escape out of his hand, but shalt surely be taken, and delivered into his hand; and thine eyes shall behold the eyes of the king of Babylon, and he shall speak with thee mouth to mouth, and thou shalt go to Babylon.

This chapter begins with a word from the LORD that Jeremiah received when Judah was under attack and Jerusalem under siege by the armies of Babylon. Point is made that Neb’s armies were composed of the peoples of many nations that he had conquered.

Jeremiah is given a message for King Zedekiah that is once again not what he would want to hear, yet it is once again boldly delivered by the prophet. The LORD is declaring that Jerusalem will be conquered by Nebuchadnezzar and destroyed by fire, and King Zedekiah would be captured and taken to confront Nebuchadnezzar about his rebellion before being taken on to Babylon as a captive. The background is recorded by the Chronicler.

2 Chronicles 36:11–13 “Zedekiah was one and twenty years old when he began to reign, and reigned eleven years in Jerusalem. And he did that which was evil in the sight of the LORD his God, and humbled not himself before Jeremiah the prophet speaking from the mouth of the LORD. And he also rebelled against king Nebuchadnezzar, who had made him swear by God: but he stiffened his neck, and hardened his heart from turning unto the LORD God of Israel.”

Jer. 34:4 Yet hear the word of the LORD, O Zedekiah king of Judah; Thus saith the LORD of thee, Thou shalt not die by the sword:

Jer. 34:5 But thou shalt die in peace: and with the burnings of thy fathers, the former kings which were before thee, so shall they burn odours for thee; and they will lament thee, saying, Ah lord! for I have pronounced the word, saith the LORD.

Jeremiah did have a bit of good news to go with the bad. Zedekiah would die in peace in Babylon and would be honored in death in accord with previous kings of Judah. Jeremiah is to declare this message as a promise from YHWH.

This prophecy basically mirrors Jeremiah’s prophecy in chapter 32. 

Jer. 34:6 Then Jeremiah the prophet spake all these words unto Zedekiah king of Judah in Jerusalem,

Jer. 34:7 When the king of Babylon’s army fought against Jerusalem, and against all the cities of Judah that were left, against Lachish, and against Azekah: for these defenced cities remained of the cities of Judah.

Again, Jeremiah records that this message from the LORD was delivered to Zedekiah in Jerusalem during the siege. Jerusalem is the identified as one of the last three cities to be conquered; the other two were Lachish (23 miles SW of Jerusalem) and Azekah (in the border region between Judah and Philistia north of Lachish).

Jer. 34:8 ¶ This is the word that came unto Jeremiah from the LORD, after that the king Zedekiah had made a covenant with all the people which were at Jerusalem, to proclaim liberty unto them;

Jer. 34:9 That every man should let his manservant, and every man his maidservant, being an Hebrew or an Hebrewess, go free; that none should serve himself of them, to wit, of a Jew his brother.

It seems that Zedekiah and the people had made a covenant with God to release all the Hebrew slaves in Judah—both men and women. According to the law, no Jew was to be held as a slave to another Jew. This was in accordance with the law recorded by Moses in the book of Leviticus.

Leviticus 25:39–43 “And if thy brother that dwelleth by thee be waxen poor, and be sold unto thee; thou shalt not compel him to serve as a bondservant: But as an hired servant, and as a sojourner, he shall be with thee, and shall serve thee unto the year of jubile: And then shall he depart from thee, both he and his children with him, and shall return unto his own family, and unto the possession of his fathers shall he return. For they are my servants, which I brought forth out of the land of Egypt: they shall not be sold as bondmen. Thou shalt not rule over him with rigour; but shalt fear thy God.”

Jer. 34:10 Now when all the princes, and all the people, which had entered into the covenant, heard that every one should let his manservant, and every one his maidservant, go free, that none should serve themselves of them any more, then they obeyed, and let them go.

Jer. 34:11 But afterward they turned, and caused the servants and the handmaids, whom they had let go free, to return, and brought them into subjection for servants and for handmaids.

Initially, the people acted in accordance with the covenant; but it did not take long for them to change their minds and force the freed slaves back into servitude.

Some commentators connect this action to the reprieve that resulted from the attack of the forces of Pharaoh-Hophra of Egypt and the wrong conclusion of the people that God had spared Jerusalem.

Jer. 34:12 Therefore the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah from the LORD, saying,

Jer. 34:13 Thus saith the LORD, the God of Israel; I made a covenant with your fathers in the day that I brought them forth out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondmen, saying,

Jer. 34:14 At the end of seven years let ye go every man his brother an Hebrew, which hath been sold unto thee; and when he hath served thee six years, thou shalt let him go free from thee: but your fathers hearkened not unto me, neither inclined their ear.

The LORD immediately declares a message to the people through Jeremiah in light of their decision to renege on the covenant they had made. He begins with identifying provisions of the covenant that He had made with their ancestors— and that they had subsequently ignored.

Deuteronomy 15:12–15 “And if thy brother, an Hebrew man, or an Hebrew woman, be sold unto thee, and serve thee six years; then in the seventh year thou shalt let him go free from thee. And when thou sendest him out free from thee, thou shalt not let him go away empty: Thou shalt furnish him liberally out of thy flock, and out of thy floor, and out of thy winepress: of that wherewith the LORD thy God hath blessed thee thou shalt give unto him. And thou shalt remember that thou wast a bondman in the land of Egypt, and the LORD thy God redeemed thee: therefore I command thee this thing to day.”

The implication is that the person had sold himself into slavery because he could not meet his own or his family’s needs.

Jer. 34:15 And ye were now turned, and had done right in my sight, in proclaiming liberty every man to his neighbour; and ye had made a covenant before me in the house which is called by my name:

Jer. 34:16 But ye turned and polluted my name, and caused every man his servant, and every man his handmaid, whom ye had set at liberty at their pleasure, to return, and brought them into subjection, to be unto you for servants and for handmaids.

This latest covenant made by the people to free their Hebrew slaves had been ratified in the Temple, implying that they were doing so in obedience to God. Instead, their public repudiation of that covenant profaned God’s name and revealed the true condition of their rebellious hearts.

Jer. 34:17 Therefore thus saith the LORD; Ye have not hearkened unto me, in proclaiming liberty, every one to his brother, and every man to his neighbour: behold, I proclaim a liberty for you, saith the LORD, to the sword, to the pestilence, and to the famine; and I will make you to be removed into all the kingdoms of the earth.

Jer. 34:18 And I will give the men that have transgressed my covenant, which have not performed the words of the covenant which they had made before me, when they cut the calf in twain, and passed between the parts thereof,

Jer. 34:19 The princes of Judah, and the princes of Jerusalem, the eunuchs, and the priests, and all the people of the land, which passed between the parts of the calf;

Jer. 34:20 I will even give them into the hand of their enemies, and into the hand of them that seek their life: and their dead bodies shall be for meat unto the fowls of the heaven, and to the beasts of the earth.

At this point Jeremiah delivers the LORD’s message of judgment in light of the broken covenant. Because they had purposely chosen to break the covenant recently made before God at the Temple and refuse liberty to their fellow Hebrews, God is going to liberate them from His protection and provision. Their liberation will result in their destruction. Evidently, the people had even employed the sacred ritual of cutting the covenant—the same ritual as God had used with Abraham (see Genesis 15). Their disobedience would result in captivity and death.

The wording in this section seems to imply that faithfulness to the covenant would have resulted in mitigation of the consequences suffered from the Babylonians.

Jer. 34:21 And Zedekiah king of Judah and his princes will I give into the hand of their enemies, and into the hand of them that seek their life, and into the hand of the king of Babylon’s army, which are gone up from you.

Jer. 34:22 Behold, I will command, saith the LORD, and cause them to return to this city; and they shall fight against it, and take it, and burn it with fire: and I will make the cities of Judah a desolation without an inhabitant.

Jeremiah records that Zedekiah and the royal princes would be given into the hands of the enemy armies of Babylon. Though they had left to confront the forces of Egypt, the LORD declares that He will cause them to return and destroy the cities of Judah and burn down the city of Jerusalem. This prophecy is given in a bit more detail in chapter 37.

Jeremiah 37:5–10 “Then Pharaoh’s army was come forth out of Egypt: and when the Chaldeans that besieged Jerusalem heard tidings of them, they departed from Jerusalem. Then came the word of the LORD unto the prophet Jeremiah, saying, Thus saith the LORD, the God of Israel; Thus shall ye say to the king of Judah, that sent you unto me to enquire of me; Behold, Pharaoh’s army, which is come forth to help you, shall return to Egypt into their own land. And the Chaldeans shall come again, and fight against this city, and take it, and burn it with fire. Thus saith the LORD; Deceive not yourselves, saying, The Chaldeans shall surely depart from us: for they shall not depart. For though ye had smitten the whole army of the Chaldeans that fight against you, and there remained but wounded men among them, yet should they rise up every man in his tent, and burn this city with fire.”

The record in Kings, however, tells us a bit more.

2 Kings 25:1–9 “And it came to pass in the ninth year of his reign, in the tenth month, in the tenth day of the month, that Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came, he, and all his host, against Jerusalem, and pitched against it; and they built forts against it round about. And the city was besieged unto the eleventh year of king Zedekiah. And on the ninth day of the fourth month the famine prevailed in the city, and there was no bread for the people of the land. And the city was broken up, and all the men of war fled by night by the way of the gate between two walls, which is by the king’s garden: (now the Chaldees were against the city round about:) and the king went the way toward the plain. And the army of the Chaldees pursued after the king, and overtook him in the plains of Jericho: and all his army were scattered from him. So they took the king, and brought him up to the king of Babylon to Riblah; and they gave judgment upon him. And they slew the sons of Zedekiah before his eyes, and put out the eyes of Zedekiah, and bound him with fetters of brass, and carried him to Babylon.  And in the fifth month, on the seventh day of the month, which is the nineteenth year of king Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, came Nebuzaradan, captain of the guard, a servant of the king of Babylon, unto Jerusalem: And he burnt the house of the LORD, and the king’s house, and all the houses of Jerusalem, and every great man’s house burnt he with fire.”

Although Zedekiah was allowed to die in peace in Babylon, he suffered greatly because of his rebellion before being taken captive.