Study Desk

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.

The Lord All-Powerful used his name to make this promise: "Babylon, I will fill you with so many enemy soldiers they will be like a cloud of locusts. They will win their war against you. They will stand over you shouting their victory cry."

God used his great power and made the earth. He used his wisdom to build the world and his understanding to stretch out the skies.

When he thunders, the waters in the skies roar. He sends clouds all over the earth. He sends lightning with the rain. He brings out the wind from his storehouses.

But God, who is Jacob's Portion, is not like those worthless statues. People didn't make God; God made his people. He made everything. His name is the Lord All-Powerful.

One messenger follows another. Messenger follows messenger. They announce to the king of Babylon that his whole city has been captured.

I will make Babylon's wise men and important officials drunk. I will make the governors, officers, and soldiers drunk too. Then they will sleep forever. They will never wake up." This is what the King said. His name is the Lord All-Powerful.

Zedekiah was 21 years old when he became king of Judah. He ruled in Jerusalem for eleven years. His mother's name was Hamutal daughter of Jeremiah. Hamutal's family was from the town of Libnah.

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.

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 army of Babylon captured King Zedekiah and took him to the king of Babylon who was at the city of Riblah, in the land of Hamath. At Riblah the king of Babylon announced his judgment on King Zedekiah.

King Jehoiachin of Judah was in prison in Babylon for 37 years. In the 37th year of his imprisonment, King Evil Merodach of Babylon was very kind to Jehoiachin. He let Jehoiachin out of prison in that year. This was the same year that Evil Merodach became king of Babylon. He set Jehoiachin free from prison on the 25th day of the 12th month.

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

Every day the king of Babylon paid Jehoiachin enough to take care of his needs until the day Jehoiachin died.

The enemy stretched out his hand. He took all her nice things. In fact, she saw the foreign nations go inside her Temple. And you said those people could not join in our assembly!

All you who pass by on the road, you don't seem to care. But look at me and see. Is there any pain like my pain? Is there any pain like the pain that has come to me? Is there any pain like the pain that the Lord has punished me with? He has punished me on the day of his great anger.

"My sins were tied up like a yoke. My sins were tied up in the Lord's hands. His yoke is on my neck. He has made me weak. He has given me to those who I cannot stand up against.

"The Lord rejected all my powerful men who were inside the city. Then he brought a group of people against me. He brought them to kill my young soldiers. The Lord has trampled his dearest city like grapes in a winepress.

Look how the Lord has covered daughter Zion with the cloud of his anger. He has thrown her, the glory of Israel, from the sky to the ground. In his anger he showed no care even for the Temple where he rests his feet.

The Lord destroyed the houses of Jacob. He destroyed them without mercy. In his anger he destroyed the fortresses of Daughter Judah. He threw the kingdom of Judah and its rulers to the ground. He ruined the kingdom of Judah.