Study Desk

So this is what the Lord says: "I will defend you, Judah. I will make sure that Babylon is punished. I will dry up Babylon's sea. And I will make her water springs become dry.

"Babylon killed people from Israel. Babylon killed people from every place on earth. So Babylon must fall!

Jeremiah said to Seraiah, "Seraiah, go to Babylon. Be sure to read this message so that all the people can hear you.

Then say, ‘ Lord , you have said that you will destroy this place, Babylon. You will destroy it so that no people or animals will live in it. This place will be an empty ruin forever.'

So in the ninth year of Zedekiah's rule, on the tenth day of the tenth month, King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon marched against Jerusalem with his whole army. The army of Babylon set up their camp outside of Jerusalem. Then they built ramps all around the city walls so that they could get over the walls.

The two pillars, the Sea and the twelve bronze bulls under it, and the moveable stands were very heavy. King Solomon had made those things for the Lord 's Temple. The bronze that those things were made of was so heavy it could not be weighed.

Nebuzaradan, the commander, took all these officials and brought them to the king of Babylon. The king of Babylon was at the city of Riblah. Riblah is in the country of Hamath. There at the city of Riblah, the king ordered all of them to be killed. So the people of Judah were taken from their country.

So Jehoiachin took his prison clothes off. For the rest of his life, he ate regularly at the king's table.

Jerusalem once was a city full of people, but now the city is so empty. She was one of the greatest cities in the world, but now she is like a poor widow. She was once a princess among cities, but now she has been made a slave.

Jerusalem's skirts were dirty. She gave no thought to what would become of her. Her fall was amazing. She had no one to comfort her. She says, " Lord , see how I am hurt! See how my enemy thinks he is so great!"

Now Jerusalem says, "I refused to listen to the Lord , so he is right for doing these things. So listen, all you people! Look at my pain! My young women and men have gone into captivity.

"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 at us, Lord ! Have you ever treated anyone else so badly? Is it right for women to eat their own babies, the children they have cared for? Should priests and prophets be killed in the Temple of the Lord?

He shut me in, so I could not get out. He put heavy chains on me.

Every morning he shows it in new ways! You are so very true and loyal!

You wrapped yourself in a cloud so that no prayer could get through.

Babies are so thirsty their tongues stick to the roof of their mouths. Young children ask for bread, but no one gives them any.

So if the living beings moved, the wheels moved. If the living beings stopped, the wheels stopped. If the wheels went into the air, the living beings went with them, because the spirit was in the wheels.

They are people who refuse to obey, so they may not listen to you. But even if they don't stop sinning, at least they will know that there is a prophet living among them.

So I opened my mouth and he put the scroll into my mouth.