Jeremiah 37-39

But the Babylonian army pursued them and overtook Zedekiah in the plains of Jericho. They captured him and took him to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon at Riblah in the land of Hamath, where he pronounced sentence on him. There at Riblah the king of Babylon slaughtered the sons of Zedekiah before his eyes and also killed all the nobles of Judah. Then he put out Zedekiah’s eyes and bound him with bronze shackles to take him to Babylon. (Jeremiah 39:5-7)

I'll never forget what the late Old Testament professor, Dr. John H. Hayes, said during one of his lectures, namely, that while the Babylonian king's treatment of Zedekiah seems cruel to us, the treatment may have been a provision of the oath of allegiance Zedekiah once took when he became a vassal of Nebuchadnezzar: "If I sever my loyalty to Babylon, may my sons be slaughtered before me, and may my eyes be blinded!"

Let us consider carefully the oaths we make...