And I will send against them the sword, the famine and the pestilence, until they come to their finish off the ground that I gave to them and to their forefathers.’”​—Jer. 24:8-10.

Besides the “sword” of the Babylonian besiegers and the pestilence among the besieged Jews, it took gnawing famine to break down the resistance of Jerusalem’s defenders after 18 months of siege. The conquering king had prominent officials, political and priestly, killed. Captive Zedekiah saw his own sons killed, was then blinded and was dragged off to prison in Babylon, where he died in disgrace.