Study Desk

"Death has climbed in through our windows and has come into our palaces. Death has come to our children who play in the streets and to the young men who meet in the public places."

My tent is ruined. All its ropes are broken. My children left me. They are gone. No one is left to put up my tent. No one is left to fix a shelter for me.

I will separate the people of Judah with my pitchfork. I will scatter them at the city gates of the land. My people have not changed, so I will destroy them. I will take away their children.

The enemy will attack with swords and kill the people. They will kill the survivors from Judah. A woman with seven children will lose them. She will cry until she becomes weak and struggles to breathe. She will be upset and confused, because her bright day has become dark." This message is from the Lord .

Their children remember the altars that were dedicated to false gods. They remember the wooden poles that were dedicated to Asherah. They remember those things under the green trees and on the hills.

So now make their children starve to death! Let their enemies kill them with swords. Let their wives lose their children and husbands. Let their men die from disease, and let their young men be killed in battle.

I will do these things because the people of Judah have stopped following me. They have made this a place for foreign gods. The people of Judah have burned sacrifices in this place to other gods. The people long ago did not worship those gods. Their ancestors did not worship them. These are new gods from other countries. The kings of Judah filled this place with the blood of innocent children.

Jehoiachin is like a broken pot that someone threw away. He is like a pot that no one wants. Why will Jehoiachin and his children be thrown out and sent away into a foreign land?

The Lord says, "Write this down about Jehoiachin: ‘He does not have children anymore! Jehoiachin will not be successful because none of his children will sit on the throne of David. None of his children will rule in Judah.'"

"I sent my sheep to other countries. But I will gather together my sheep that are left, and I will bring them back to their pasture. When my sheep are back in their pasture, they will have many children and grow in number.

Get married and have sons and daughters. Find wives for your sons, and let your daughters be married. Do this so that they also may have sons and daughters. Have many children and grow in number in Babylon. Don't become fewer in number.

People in those places will sing songs of praise, and there will be the sound of laughter. I will give them many children. Israel and Judah will not be small. I will bring honor to them. No one will look down on them.

This is what the Lord says: "A sound is heard in Ramah— bitter crying and great sadness. Rachel cries for her children, and she refuses to be comforted, because her children are gone."

Israel, there is hope for you." This message is from the Lord . "Your children will come back to their own land.

"The days are coming," says the Lord , "when I will help the family of Israel and Judah to grow. I will help their children and animals to grow too. It will be like planting and caring for a plant.

"People will not use this saying anymore: ‘The parents ate the sour grapes, but the children got the sour taste.'

You are loyal and kind to thousands of people, but you also bring punishment to children for their fathers' sins. Great and powerful God, your name is the Lord All-Powerful.

I will give them the desire to be one, united people. They will have one goal—to worship me all their lives. They and their children will want to do this.

I will punish Jehoiakim and his children, and I will punish his officials. I will do this because they are wicked. I will bring terrible disasters on them and on all those who live in Jerusalem and on the people from Judah. I will bring all these bad things on them, just as I warned them, because they have not listened to me.'"

"All your wives and children will be brought out. They will be given to the Babylonian army. You yourself will not escape from the army of Babylon. You will be captured by the king of Babylon, and Jerusalem will be burned down."