Study Desk

This message is about the city of Damascus: "The towns of Hamath and Arpad are afraid. They are afraid because they heard the bad news. They are discouraged. They are worried and afraid.

They were attacked by all who saw them. And their attackers said, ‘We were not wrong to attack them because they sinned against the Lord . They should have stayed close to him, their true resting place. The Lord is the one their fathers trusted in.'

The Lord says, "At that time people will try hard to find Israel's guilt, but there will be no guilt. People will try to find Judah's sins, but no sins will be found. That is because I am saving a few survivors from Israel and Judah. And I am forgiving them for all their sins."

The Lord has opened up his storeroom and brought out the weapons of his anger. The Lord God All-Powerful brought out those weapons, because he has work to do in the land of the Chaldeans.

People are running out of Babylon. They are escaping from that country and coming to Zion. They are telling everyone the good news about what the Lord is doing. The Lord our God is giving Babylon the punishment it deserves. The Lord is destroying Babylon, because it destroyed his Temple!

Run away from Babylon. Run to save your lives! Don't stay and be killed because of Babylon's sins! It is time for the Lord to punish the Babylonians for the bad things they have done. Babylon will get the punishment that she should have.

Sharpen the arrows! Get your shields! The Lord has stirred up the kings of the Medes because he wants to destroy Babylon. The army from Babylon destroyed his Temple in Jerusalem, so he will give them the punishment they deserve.

People will not take stones from Babylon to use as the foundation of a building. That is because they will not find any stones big enough for cornerstones. Your city will be a pile of broken rocks forever." This is what the Lord said.

Then heaven and earth and all that is in them will shout with joy about Babylon. They will shout because an army came from the north and fought against Babylon." This is what the Lord said.

"We people of Judah are ashamed. We have been insulted, because strangers have gone into the holy places of the Lord 's Temple."

The army will come and destroy Babylon. Its soldiers will be captured, and their bows will be broken, This will happen because the Lord punishes people for the bad things they do. He gives them the full punishment they deserve.

Then say, ‘In the same way Babylon will sink. Babylon will rise no more. It will sink because of the terrible things that I will make happen here.'" The words of Jeremiah end here.

Terrible things happened to the people of Jerusalem and Judah because the Lord was angry with them. Finally, he threw them out of his presence. Zedekiah rebelled against the king of Babylon.

The roads to Zion are very sad, because no one comes to Zion for the festivals anymore. All of Zion's gates have been destroyed; all her priests groan in sorrow. Zion's young women have been taken away, and all this made Zion sad.

Jerusalem's enemies have won. Her enemies have been successful. This happened because the Lord punished her. He punished Jerusalem for her many sins. Her children have gone away. Their enemies captured them and took them away.

Jerusalem thinks back. She remembers the time when she was hurt and when she lost her home. She remembers all the nice things that she had in the past. She remembers those nice things that she had in the old days. She remembers when her people were captured by the enemy. She remembers when there was no one to help her. When her enemies saw her, they laughed, because she was destroyed.

Jerusalem sinned very badly. Because Jerusalem sinned, she became a ruined city that people shake their heads about. In the past people respected her. But now they hate her, because they abused her. Jerusalem groaned and turned away.

"I cry about all these things. Tears are flowing down my cheeks. There is no one near to comfort me. There is no one who can make me feel better. My children are like a wasteland, because the enemy won."

"Look at me, Lord . I am in distress! I am upset, as if my heart turned upside down inside of me. I feel this way because I have been so stubborn. Out in the streets, I lost my children to the swords. Inside, it is like death.

"Look how evil my enemies are! Then you can treat them the same way you treated me because of all my sins. Do this because I am groaning again and again. Do this because my heart is sick."