Study Desk

Babylon will become a pile of ruins, a home for wild dogs. People will be shocked by what happened there. No one will live there anymore.

While they are stirred up, I will give a feast for them and make them drunk. They will shout and laugh. And they will sleep forever and never wake up!" says the Lord .

"Come out of Babylon, my people! Run for your lives! Run from the Lord 's great anger.

Then heaven and earth and all that is in them will shout for joy about Babylon. They will shout because the army comes from the north to destroy Babylon," says the Lord .

The army has come to destroy Babylon. Her soldiers have been captured, and their bows are broken, because the Lord is a God who punishes people for the evil they do. He gives them the full punishment they deserve.

This is what the Lord All-Powerful says: "Babylon's thick wall will be completely pulled down and her high gates burned. The people will work hard, but it won't help; their work will only become fuel for the flames!"

Zedekiah was twenty-one years old when he became king, and he was king in Jerusalem for eleven years. His mother's name was Hamutal daughter of Jeremiah, and she was from Libnah.

By the ninth day of the fourth month, the hunger was terrible in the city; there was no food for the people to eat.

The commander of the king's special guards took away bowls, pans for carrying hot coals, large bowls, pots, lampstands, pans, and bowls used for drink offerings. He took everything that was made of pure gold or silver.

There was so much bronze that it could not be weighed: two pillars, the large bronze bowl called the Sea with the twelve bronze bulls under it, and the movable stands, which King Solomon had made for the Temple of the Lord .

He also took from the city the officer in charge of the soldiers, seven people who advised the king, the royal secretary who selected people for the army, and sixty other men from Judah who were in the city when it fell.

Jehoiachin king of Judah was in prison in Babylon for thirty-seven years. The year Evil-Merodach became king of Babylon he let Jehoiachin king of Judah out of prison. He set Jehoiachin free on the twenty-fifth day of the twelfth month.

So Jehoiachin put away his prison clothes, and for the rest of his life, he ate at the king's table.

The roads to Jerusalem are sad, because no one comes for the feasts. No one passes through her gates. Her priests groan, her young women are suffering, and Jerusalem suffers terribly.

Her foes are now her masters. Her enemies enjoy the wealth they have taken. The Lord is punishing her for her many sins. Her children have gone away as captives of the enemy.

All of Jerusalem's people groan, looking for bread. They are trading their precious things for food so they can stay alive. The city says, "Look, Lord , and see. I am hated."

"He sent fire from above that went down into my bones. He stretched out a net for my feet and turned me back. He made me so sad and lonely that I am weak all day.

"I called out to my friends, but they turned against me. My priests and my elders have died in the city while looking for food to stay alive.

The Lord was like an enemy; he swallowed up Israel. He swallowed up all her palaces and destroyed all her strongholds. He has caused more moaning and groaning for Judah.

All your enemies open their mouths to speak against you. They make fun and grind their teeth in anger. They say, "We have swallowed you up. This is the day we were waiting for! We have finally seen it happen."