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Psalms 74:20
Honor the covenant you made with us. Horrible things are happening in every dark corner of the land.
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Ezra 9:7
We are filled with it. It has been like that ever since the days of our people who lived long ago. Kings of other countries have killed many of us and our kings and priests with their swords. They’ve forced others to leave their own land. They’ve taken them away as prisoners. They’ve robbed others. They’ve made still others feel ashamed and dishonored. All these things have happened to us because we’ve committed so many sins. And that’s how things still are to this day.
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Jeremiah 15:8-9
I will increase the number of their widows. There will be more of them than the grains of sand on the seashore. At noon I will bring a destroyer against the mothers of the young men among my people. All at once I will bring down on them great suffering and terror.Mothers who have many children will grow weak. They will take their last breath. The sun will set on them while it is still day. They will be dishonored and put to shame. All those who are left alive I will kill by swords. I will have their enemies do this,” announces the Lord.
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Leviticus 26:14-46
“‘ On the other hand, suppose you do not listen to me. Suppose you do not carry out all my commands.Suppose you say no to my rules and turn away from my laws. And suppose you break my covenant by failing to carry out all my commands.Then here is what I will do to you. All at once I will bring terror on you. I will send sicknesses that will make you weak. I will send fever that will destroy your sight. It will slowly take your strength away. When you plant seeds, it will not do you any good. Instead, your enemies will eat what you have planted.I will turn against you. Then your enemies will win the battle over you. Those who hate you will rule over you. You will run away even when no one is chasing you.“‘ After all that, suppose you still will not listen to me. Then I will punish you for your sins seven times.I will break down your stubborn pride. I will make the sky above you like iron, and it will not rain. I will make the ground under you like bronze, and you will not be able to farm it.You will work with all your strength, but it will not do you any good. That is because your soil will not produce any crops. The trees of your land will not bear any fruit.“‘ Suppose you continue to be my enemy. And suppose you still refuse to listen to me. Then I will multiply your troubles many times because of your sins.I will send wild animals against you. They will kill your children. They will destroy your cattle. There will be so few of you left that your roads will be deserted.“‘ After all those things, suppose you still do not accept my warnings. And suppose you continue to be my enemy.Then I myself will be your enemy. I will make you suffer again and again for your sins.I will send war against you to punish you for breaking my covenant. When you go back into your cities, I will send a plague among you. You will be handed over to your enemies.I will cut off your supply of bread. Ten women will need only one oven to bake your bread. They will weigh out the bread piece by piece. Even when you eat all of it, it will not be enough to satisfy you.“‘ After all that, suppose you still do not listen to me. And suppose you continue to be my enemy.Then I will be angry with you. I will be your enemy. I myself will again punish you for your sins over and over.You will eat the dead bodies of your sons. You will also eat the dead bodies of your daughters.I will destroy the high places where you worship other gods. I will pull down your incense altars. I will pile up your dead bodies on the lifeless statues of your gods. And I will turn away from you.I will completely destroy your cities. I will destroy your places of worship. The pleasant smell of your offerings will not give me any delight.I myself will destroy your land so completely that your enemies who live there will be shocked.I will scatter you among the nations. I will pull out my sword and hunt you down. Your land and your cities will be completely destroyed.Then the deserted land will enjoy its sabbath years. It will rest. It will not be farmed. It will enjoy its sabbaths. But you will become prisoners in the country of your enemies.The land will rest the whole time it is deserted. It was not able to rest during the sabbaths you lived in it.“‘ Some of you will be left in the lands of your enemies. I will fill your hearts with fear. The sound of a leaf blown by the wind will scare you away. You will run as if you were escaping from swords. You will fall down, even though no one is chasing you.You will trip over one another as if you were running away from the battle. You will run away, even though no one is chasing you. You will not be able to stand and fight against your enemies.While you are still scattered among the nations, you will die. The lands of your enemies will destroy you.You who are left in those lands will become weaker and weaker. You will die because of your sins and the sins of your people who lived before you.“‘ But suppose you admit that both you and your people who lived before you have sinned. You admit the evil and dishonest things you have done against me. And you admit you have become my enemy.What you did made me become your enemy. I let your enemies take you into their land. But suppose you stop being stubborn. You stop being proud. And you pay for your sin.Then I will remember my covenant with Jacob. I will remember my covenant with Isaac. I will remember my covenant with Abraham. I will remember what I said to them about the land.You will leave the land. It will enjoy its sabbaths while it lies deserted because you are not there. You will pay for your sins because you said no to my laws. You turned away from my rules.But even after all that, I will not say no to you or turn away from you. I will not destroy you completely in the land of your enemies. I will not break my covenant with you. I am the Lord your God.Because of you, I will remember the covenant I made with the people of Israel who lived before you. I brought them out of Egypt to be their God. The nations saw me do it. I am the Lord.’ ”These are the orders, the laws and the rules of the covenant the Lord made on Mount Sinai. He made it between himself and the Israelites through Moses.
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Lamentations 2:20-22
Jerusalem says,“ Lord, look at me. Think about my condition. Have you ever treated anyone else like this? Should women have to eat their babies? Should they eat the children they’ve taken care of? Should priests and prophets be killed in your own temple?“ Young people and old people alike lie dead in the dust of my streets. My young men and women have been killed by swords. You killed them when you were angry. You put them to death without pity.“ You sent for terrors to come against me on every side. It was as if you were inviting people to enjoy a feast day. Because you were angry, no one escaped. No one was left alive. I took good care of my children and brought them up. But my enemies have destroyed them.”
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Jeremiah 32:42
The Lord says,“ I have brought all this horrible trouble on these people. But now I will give them all the good things I have promised them.
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Deuteronomy 29:18-28
Make sure there isn’t a man or woman among your families or tribes who turns away from the Lord our God. No one must worship the gods of those nations. Make sure that kind of worship doesn’t spread like bitter poison through your whole community.Some people who worship those gods will hear the promise that seals the covenant I’m making. They think they can escape trouble by what they’re saying. They say,“ We’ll be safe, even though we’re stubborn and go our own way.” But they will bring trouble on the whole land.The Lord will never be willing to forgive those people. His great anger will blaze out against them. All the curses I’ve written down in this book will fall on them. And the Lord will erase any mention of them from the earth.He will find those people in all the tribes of Israel and give them nothing but trouble. That will agree with all the curses of the covenant. They are written down in this Book of the Law.Even your children’s children will see the troubles that have fallen on the land. They’ll see the sicknesses the Lord has brought on it. People who come from countries far away will also see those things.The whole land will be burned up. Nothing but salt and sulfur will be left. Nothing will be planted there. Nothing will grow there. In fact, nothing will even start to grow there. The land will be like Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah and Zeboyim after they were destroyed. The Lord wiped out those cities because he was very angry.All the nations will ask,“ Why has the Lord done this to the land? What could have made him so very angry?”And they will hear the answer,“ It’s because the people living there have broken the covenant of the Lord. He’s the God of their people of long ago. He made that covenant with them when he brought them out of Egypt.They went off and worshiped other gods. They bowed down to them. They hadn’t known anything about those gods before. The Lord hadn’t given those gods to them.So the Lord became very angry with this land. He brought on it all the curses written down in this book.The Lord’ s anger blazed out against his people. So he pulled them up out of their land. He threw them into another land. And that’s where they are now.”
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Psalms 79:2-3
They have left the dead bodies of your people. They have left them as food for the birds in the sky. They have left the bodies of your faithful people. They have left them for the wild animals.They have poured out the blood of your people like water. It is all around Jerusalem. No one is left to bury the dead.
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Deuteronomy 31:16-18
The Lord spoke to Moses. He said,“ You are going to join the members of your family who have already died. The Israelites will not be faithful to me. They will soon join themselves to the false gods that are worshiped in the land they are entering. The people will desert me. They will break the covenant I made with them.In that day I will become angry with them. I will desert them. I will turn my face away from them. And they will be destroyed. Many horrible troubles and hard times will come on them. On that day they will say,‘ Trouble has come on us. Our God isn’t with us!’I will certainly turn away from them on that day. I will do it because they did a very evil thing when they turned to other gods.
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Jeremiah 18:21
So let their children die of hunger. Let my enemies be killed in war. Let their wives lose their children and husbands. Let their men be put to death. Let their young men be killed in battle.
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Deuteronomy 28:15-68
But suppose you don’t obey the Lord your God. And you aren’t careful to obey all his commands and rules I’m giving you today. Then he will send curses on you. They’ll catch up with you. Here are those curses.You will be cursed in the cities. You will be cursed out in the country.Your baskets and bread pans will be cursed.Your children will be cursed. Your crops will be cursed. Your calves and lambs will be cursed.You will be cursed no matter where you go.The Lord will send curses on you. You won’t know what’s going on. In everything you do, he will be angry with you. You will be destroyed suddenly and completely. This will happen because you did an evil thing when you deserted the Lord.He will send all kinds of sicknesses on you. He’ll send them until he has destroyed you. He’ll remove you from the land you are entering to take as your own.The Lord will make you sick and very weak. He will strike you with fever and swelling. He’ll send burning heat. There won’t be any rain. The hot winds will completely dry up your crops. All those things will happen until you die.The sky above you will be like bronze. The ground beneath you will be like iron.The Lord will turn the rain of your country into dust and powder. It will come down from the skies until you are destroyed.The Lord will help your enemies win the battle over you. You will come at them from one direction. But you will run away from them in every direction. All the kingdoms on earth will be completely shocked when they see you.Birds and wild animals will eat up your dead bodies. There won’t be anyone left to scare them away.The Lord will send boils on you, just like the ones he sent on the Egyptians. You will have growths in your bodies and boils on your skin. You will itch all over. No one will be able to heal you.The Lord will make you lose your mind. He will make you blind. You won’t know what’s going on.Even at noon you will have to feel your way around like a blind person in the dark. You won’t have success in anything you do. Day after day you will be robbed and treated badly. No one will be able to save you.You and a woman will promise to marry each other. But another man will take her and rape her. You will build a house. But you won’t live in it. You will plant a vineyard. But you won’t eat a single grape from it.Your ox will be killed right in front of your eyes. But you won’t eat any of it. Your donkey will be taken away from you by force. And you will never get it back. Your sheep will be given to your enemies. No one will be able to save them.Your children will be given to another nation. Day after day you will watch for them to come back. But you will only wear out your eyes. You won’t be able to help your children.A nation you don’t know anything about will eat what you work to produce on your land. You will only be treated badly as long as you live.The things you see will make you lose your mind.The Lord will send painful boils on your knees and legs. No one will be able to heal them. They will cover you from head to toe.The Lord will drive you out of the land. And he will drive out the king you place over yourselves. All of you will go to another nation. You and your people of long ago didn’t know anything about them. There you will worship other gods. They will be made out of wood and stone.You will look very bad to all the nations where the Lord sends you. They will be completely shocked when they see you. They will mock you and make fun of you.You will plant many seeds in your field. But you will gather very little food. Locusts will eat it up.You will plant vineyards and take care of them. But you won’t drink the wine. You won’t gather the grapes. Worms will eat them up.You will have olive trees through your whole country. But you won’t use the oil. The olives will drop off the trees.You will have children. But you won’t be able to keep them. They’ll be taken away as prisoners.Large numbers of locusts will eat up the leaves on all your trees. They will also eat up the crops on your land.Outsiders who live among you will become your leaders. They will rise higher and higher. But you will sink lower and lower.They will lend money to you. But you won’t be able to lend money to them. They will be the leaders. But you will be the followers.The Lord your God will send all these curses on you. They will follow you everywhere. They’ll catch up with you. You will be under the Lord’ s curse until you are destroyed. That’s because you didn’t obey him. You didn’t keep the commands and rules he gave you.These curses will remain as signs and awful judgments against you and your children after you forever.You didn’t serve the Lord your God with joy and gladness when times were good.So he will send enemies against you. You will have to serve them. You will be hungry and thirsty. You will be naked and poor. The Lord will put the iron chains of slavery around your necks until he has destroyed you.The Lord will bring a nation against you from far away. It will come from the ends of the earth. It will dive down on you like an eagle. You won’t understand that nation’s language.Its people will look mean. They won’t have any respect for old people. They won’t show any kindness to young people.They will eat up the young animals among your livestock. They’ll eat up the crops on your land. They’ll destroy you. They won’t leave you any grain, olive oil or fresh wine. They won’t leave you any calves or lambs. They’ll destroy you.They’ll surround all the cities throughout your whole land. They’ll attack those cities until the high, strong walls you trust in fall down. That’s what will happen to the cities in the land the Lord your God is giving you.Your enemies will surround you and attack you. They will make you suffer greatly. So you will eat your own children. You will eat the dead bodies of the sons and daughters the Lord your God has given you.There may be a gentle and caring man among you. But he will treat his own brother badly. He’ll be just as mean to the wife he loves and to any of his children who are still alive.He won’t give to a single one of them any part of the dead bodies of his children that he’s eating. It will be all he has left to eat. That’s how much your enemies will make you suffer when they surround all your cities and attack them.There may be a gentle and caring woman among you. She wouldn’t even touch the ground with her feet without first putting her sandals on. But she will not share anything with the husband she loves. She won’t share with her own children either.She will eat what comes out of her body after she has a baby. Then she’ll even eat her baby. She won’t share it with anyone in her family. In her great hunger she’ll plan to eat it in secret. There won’t be anything else for her to eat because the city she lives in will be surrounded. That’s an example of how much your enemies will make you suffer when they are attacking your cities.Be careful to follow all the words of this law. They are written in this scroll. Have respect for the glorious and wonderful name of the Lord your God. If you don’t,he will send terrible plagues on you and your children after you. He’ll send horrible and lasting troubles. He’ll make you very sick for a long time.He’ll bring on you all the sicknesses you were afraid of getting when you were in Egypt. You won’t be able to get rid of them.The Lord will also bring on you all other kinds of sickness and trouble. I haven’t even written those down in this Book of the Law. You will be destroyed.At one time you were as many as the stars in the sky. But there will only be a few of you left. That’s because you didn’t obey the Lord your God.It pleased the Lord to give you success and to cause there to be many of you. But it will please him just as much to wipe you out and destroy you. You will be removed from the land you are entering to take as your own.Then the Lord will scatter you among all the nations. He’ll spread you around from one end of the earth to the other. There you will worship statues of gods made out of wood and stone. You and your people of long ago hadn’t known anything about those gods.Among those nations you won’t find any peace. There won’t be any place where you can make your home and rest your feet. The Lord will give you minds filled with worry. He’ll give you eyes worn out from looking for help. You won’t have any hope in your hearts.Your lives will always be in danger. You will be filled with fear night and day. You will never be sure you are safe.In the morning you will say,“ We wish it were evening!” In the evening you will say,“ We wish it were morning!” Your hearts will be filled with fear. The things you see will terrify you.The Lord will send you back to Egypt in ships. He’ll send you on a journey I said you should never have to make again. You will offer to sell yourselves to your enemies as slaves in Egypt. But no one will buy you.
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Daniel 9:14
Lord, you didn’t hold back from bringing this trouble on us. You always do what is right. But we haven’t obeyed you.
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2 Chronicles 33 11
So the Lord brought the army commanders of the king of Assyria against them. They took Manasseh as a prisoner. They put a hook in his nose. They put him in bronze chains. And they took him to Babylon.
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2 Kings 25 1-2 Kings 25 30
Nebuchadnezzar was king of Babylon. He marched out against Jerusalem. His whole army went with him. It was in the ninth year of the rule of Zedekiah. It was on the tenth day of the tenth month. Nebuchadnezzar set up camp outside the city. He brought in war machines all around it.It was surrounded until the 11th year of King Zedekiah’s rule.By the ninth day of the fourth month, there wasn’t any food left in the city. So the people didn’t have anything to eat.Then the Babylonians broke through the city wall. Judah’s whole army ran away at night. They went out through the gate between the two walls near the king’s garden. They escaped even though the Babylonians surrounded the city. Judah’s army ran toward the Arabah Valley.But the Babylonian army chased King Zedekiah. They caught up with him in the plains near Jericho. All his soldiers were separated from him. They had scattered in every direction.The king was captured. He was taken to the king of Babylon at Riblah. That’s where Nebuchadnezzar decided how he would be punished.Nebuchadnezzar’s men killed the sons of Zedekiah. They forced him to watch it with his own eyes. Then they poked out his eyes. They put him in bronze chains. And they took him to Babylon.Nebuzaradan was an official of the king of Babylon. In fact, he was commander of the royal guard. He came to Jerusalem. It was in the 19th year that Nebuchadnezzar was king of Babylon. It was on the seventh day of the fifth month.Nebuzaradan set the Lord’ s temple on fire. He also set fire to the royal palace and all the houses in Jerusalem. He burned down every important building.The whole Babylonian army broke down the walls around Jerusalem. That’s what the commander told them to do.Some people still remained in the city. But Nebuzaradan the commander took them away as prisoners. He also took the rest of the people of the land. That included those who had joined the king of Babylon.But the commander left behind some of the poorest people of the land. He told them to work in the vineyards and fields.The Babylonian army destroyed the Lord’ s temple. They broke the bronze pillars into pieces. They broke up the bronze stands that could be moved around. And they broke up the huge bronze bowl. Then they carried the bronze away to Babylon.They also took away the pots, shovels, wick cutters and dishes. They took away all the bronze objects used for any purpose in the temple.The commander of the royal guard took away the shallow cups for burning incense. He took away the sprinkling bowls. So he took away everything made out of pure gold or silver.The bronze was more than anyone could weigh. It included the bronze from the two pillars, the huge bowl and the stands. Solomon had made all those things for the Lord’ s temple.Each pillar was 27 feet high. The bronze top of one pillar was four and a half feet high. It was decorated with a set of bronze chains and pomegranates all around it. The other pillar was just like it. It also had a set of chains.The commander of the guard took some prisoners. They included Seraiah the chief priest and Zephaniah the priest who was next in rank. They also included the three men who guarded the temple doors.Some people were still left in the city. The commander took as a prisoner the officer who was in charge of the fighting men. He took the five men who gave advice to the king. He also took the secretary. He was the chief officer in charge of getting the people of the land to serve in the army. And he took 60 of those people serving in the army who were still in the city.Nebuzaradan the commander took all of them away. He brought them to the king of Babylon at Riblah.There the king had them put to death. Riblah was in the land of Hamath. So the people of Judah were taken as prisoners. They were taken far away from their own land.Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, had left some people behind in Judah. He appointed Gedaliah to govern them. Gedaliah was the son of Ahikam. Ahikam was the son of Shaphan.All of Judah’s army officers and their men heard about what had happened. They heard that the king had appointed Gedaliah as governor. So they came to Gedaliah at Mizpah. Ishmael, the son of Nethaniah, came. So did Johanan, the son of Kareah. Seraiah, the son of Tanhumeth, also came. And so did Jaazaniah, the son of the Maakathite. All their men came too. Seraiah was from Netophah.Gedaliah promised to help them and their men. He spoke in a kind way to them. He said,“ Don’t be afraid of the Babylonian officials. Make your homes in the land of Judah. Serve the king of Babylon. Then things will go well with you.”But in the seventh month Ishmael, the son of Nethaniah, came with ten men. He killed Gedaliah. He also killed the people of Judah and the Babylonians who were with Gedaliah at Mizpah. Nethaniah was the son of Elishama. Ishmael was a member of the royal family.After he had killed Gedaliah, all the people ran away to Egypt. Everyone from the least important of them to the most important ran away. The army officers went with them. All of them went to Egypt because they were afraid of the Babylonians.Awel- Marduk set Jehoiachin, the king of Judah, free from prison. It was in the 37th year after Jehoiachin had been taken away to Babylon. It was also the year Awel- Marduk became king of Babylon. It was on the 27th day of the 12th month.Awel- Marduk spoke kindly to Jehoiachin. He gave him a place of honor. Other kings were with Jehoiachin in Babylon. But his place was more important than theirs.So Jehoiachin put his prison clothes away. For the rest of Jehoiachin’s life the king provided what he needed.The king did that for Jehoiachin day by day as long as he lived.
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Jeremiah 40:3
And now he has brought it about. He has done exactly what he said he would do. All these things have happened because you people sinned against the Lord. You didn’t obey him.
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Ezekiel 9:5-7
I heard him speak to the six men. He said,“ Follow him through the city. Do not show any pity or concern.Kill the old men and women, the young men and women, and the children. But do not touch anyone who has the mark. Start at my temple.” So they began with the old men who were in front of the temple.Then he said to the men,“ Make the temple‘ unclean.’ Fill the courtyards with dead bodies. Go!” So they went out and started killing people all through the city.
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Jeremiah 39:1-18
Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, marched out against Jerusalem. He came with all his armies and attacked it. It was in the ninth year that Zedekiah was king of Judah. It was in the tenth month.The city wall was broken through. It happened on the ninth day of the fourth month. It was in the 11th year of Zedekiah’s rule.All the officials of the king of Babylon came. They took seats near the Middle Gate. Nergal- Sharezer from Samgar was there. Nebo- Sarsekim, a chief officer, was also there. So was Nergal- Sharezer, a high official. And all the other officials of the king of Babylon were there too.King Zedekiah and all the soldiers saw them. Then they ran away. They left the city at night. They went by way of the king’s garden. They went out through the gate between the two walls. And they headed toward the Arabah Valley.But the armies of Babylon chased them. They caught up with Zedekiah in the plains near Jericho. They captured him there. And they took him to Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon. He was at Riblah in the land of Hamath. That’s where Nebuchadnezzar decided how Zedekiah would be punished.The king of Babylon killed the sons of Zedekiah at Riblah. He forced Zedekiah to watch it with his own eyes. He also killed all the nobles of Judah.Then he poked out Zedekiah’s eyes. He put him in bronze chains. And he took him to Babylon.The Babylonians set the royal palace on fire. They also set fire to the houses of the people. And they broke down the walls of Jerusalem.Nebuzaradan was commander of the royal guard. Some people still remained in the city. But he took them away to Babylon as prisoners. He also took along those who had gone over to his side. And he took the rest of the people.Nebuzaradan, the commander of the guard, left some of the poor people of Judah behind. They didn’t own anything. So at that time he gave them vineyards and fields.Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, had given orders about Jeremiah. He had given them to Nebuzaradan, the commander of the royal guard. Nebuchadnezzar had said,“ Take him. Look after him. Don’t harm him. Do for him anything he asks.”So that’s what Nebuzaradan, the commander of the guard, did. Nebushazban and Nergal- Sharezer were with him. So were all the other officers of the king of Babylon. Nebushazban was a chief officer. Nergal- Sharezer was a high official. All these mensent for Jeremiah. They had him taken out of the courtyard of the guard. They turned him over to Gedaliah. Gedaliah was the son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan. They told Gedaliah to take Jeremiah back to his home. So Jeremiah remained among his own people.A message from the Lord came to Jeremiah. It came while he was being kept in the courtyard of the guard. The Lord said,“ Go. Speak to Ebed- Melek the Cushite. Tell him,‘ The Lord who rules over all is the God of Israel. He says,“ I am about to make the words I spoke against this city come true. I will not give success to it. Instead, I will bring horrible trouble on it. At that time my words will come true. You will see it with your own eyes.But I will save you on that day,” announces the Lord.“ You will not be handed over to those you are afraid of.I will save you. You will not be killed by a sword. Instead, you will escape with your life. That’s because you trust in me,” announces the Lord.’ ”
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Jeremiah 52:1-34
Zedekiah was 21 years old when he became king. He ruled in Jerusalem for 11 years. His mother’s name was Hamutal. She was the daughter of Jeremiah. She was from Libnah.Zedekiah did what was evil in the eyes of the Lord. He did just as Jehoiakim had done.The enemies of Jerusalem and Judah attacked them because the Lord was angry. In the end he threw them out of his land. Zedekiah refused to obey the king of Babylon.Nebuchadnezzar was the king of Babylon. He marched out against Jerusalem. All his armies went with him. It was in the ninth year of the rule of Zedekiah. It was on the tenth day of the tenth month. The armies set up camp outside the city. They set up ladders and built ramps and towers all around it.It was surrounded until the 11th year of King Zedekiah’s rule.By the ninth day of the fourth month, there wasn’t any food left in the city. So the people didn’t have anything to eat.Then the Babylonians broke through the city wall. Judah’s whole army ran away. They left the city at night. They went out through the gate between the two walls that were near the king’s garden. They escaped even though the Babylonians surrounded the city. Judah’s army ran toward the Arabah Valley.But the armies of Babylon chased King Zedekiah. They caught up with him in the plains near Jericho. All his soldiers were separated from him. They had scattered in every direction.The king was captured. He was taken to the king of Babylon at Riblah. Riblah was in the land of Hamath. That’s where Nebuchadnezzar decided how Zedekiah would be punished.At Riblah the king of Babylon killed the sons of Zedekiah. He forced him to watch it with his own eyes. Nebuchadnezzar also killed all the officials of Judah.Then he poked out Zedekiah’s eyes. He put him in bronze chains. And he took him to Babylon. There he put Zedekiah in prison until the day he died.Nebuzaradan served the king of Babylon. In fact, he was commander of the royal guard. He came to Jerusalem. It was in the 19th year that Nebuchadnezzar was king of Babylon. It was on the tenth day of the fifth month.Nebuzaradan set the Lord’ s temple on fire. He also set fire to the royal palace and all the houses in Jerusalem. He burned down every important building.The armies of Babylon broke down all the walls around Jerusalem. That’s what the commander told them to do.Some of the poorest people still remained in the city along with the others. But the commander Nebuzaradan took them away as prisoners. He also took the rest of the skilled workers. That included the people who had joined the king of Babylon.But Nebuzaradan left the rest of the poorest people of the land behind. He told them to work in the vineyards and fields.The armies of Babylon destroyed the Lord’ s temple. They broke the bronze pillars into pieces. They broke up the bronze stands that could be moved around. And they broke up the huge bronze bowl. Then they carried away all the bronze to Babylon.They also took away the pots, shovels, wick cutters, sprinkling bowls and dishes. They took away all the bronze objects that were used for any purpose in the temple.The commander of the royal guard took away the bowls and the shallow cups for burning incense. He took away the sprinkling bowls, the pots, the lampstands and the dishes. He took away the bowls used for drink offerings. So he took away everything made out of pure gold or silver.The bronze was more than anyone could weigh. It included the bronze from the two pillars. It included the bronze from the huge bowl and the 12 bronze bulls under it. It also included the stands. King Solomon had made all those things for the Lord’ s temple.Each pillar was 27 feet high and 18 feet around. The pillars were hollow. The metal in each of them was three inches thick.The bronze top of one pillar was seven and a half feet high. It was decorated with a set of bronze chains and pomegranates all around it. The other pillar was just like it. It also had pomegranates.There were 96 pomegranates on the sides of each of the two tops. The total number of pomegranates above the bronze chains around each top was 100.The commander of the guard took many prisoners. They included Seraiah the chief priest and Zephaniah the priest who reported to him. They also included the three men who guarded the temple doors.Some people were still left in the city. The commander took as a prisoner the officer in charge of the fighting men. He took the seven men who gave advice to the king. He also took the secretary who was the chief officer in charge of getting the people of the land to serve in the army. There were 60 people of the land still in the city.The commander Nebuzaradan took all of them away. He brought them to the king of Babylon at Riblah.There the king had them put to death. Riblah was in the land of Hamath. So the people of Judah were taken as prisoners. They were taken far away from their own land.Here is the number of the people Nebuchadnezzar took to Babylon as prisoners. In the seventh year of his rule, he took 3,023 Jews.In his 18th year, he took 832 people from Jerusalem.In Nebuchadnezzar’s 23rd year, Nebuzaradan, the commander of the royal guard, took 745 Jews to Babylon. The total number of people taken to Babylon was 4,600.Awel- Marduk set Jehoiachin, the king of Judah, free from prison. It was in the 37th year after Jehoiachin had been taken away to Babylon. It was also the year Awel- Marduk became king of Babylon. It was on the 25th day of the 12th month.Awel- Marduk spoke kindly to Jehoiachin. He gave him a place of honor. Other kings were with Jehoiachin in Babylon. But his place was more important than theirs.So Jehoiachin put away his prison clothes. For the rest of Jehoiachin’s life the king of Babylon provided what he needed.The king did that for Jehoiachin day by day as long as he lived. He did it until the day Jehoiachin died.
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Deuteronomy 32:15-28
When Israel grew fat, they became stubborn. When they were filled with food, they became fat and heavy. They left the God who made them. They turned away from the Rock who saved them.They made him jealous by serving false gods. They made him angry by worshiping statues of gods. He hated those gods.The people sacrificed to those false gods, not to God. They hadn’t known anything about those false gods. Those gods were new to them. Their people of long ago didn’t worship them.But then they deserted the Rock. He was their Father. They forgot the God who created them.When the Lord saw this, he turned away from them. His sons and daughters made him angry.“ I will turn my face away from them,” he said.“ I will see what will happen to them in the end. They are sinful people. They are unfaithful children.They made me jealous by serving what is not even a god. They made me angry by worshiping worthless statues of gods. I will use people who are not a nation to make them jealous. A nation that has no understanding will make them angry.My anger will start a fire. It will burn all the way down to the kingdom of the dead. It will eat up the earth and its crops. It will set the base of the mountains on fire.“ I will pile troubles on my people. I will shoot all my arrows at them.I will send them hunger. It will make them weak. I will send terrible sickness. I will send deadly plagues. I will send wild animals that will tear them apart. Snakes that glide through the dust will bite them.In the streets their children will be killed by swords. Their homes will be filled with terror. The young men and women will die. The babies and old people will die.I said I would scatter them. I said I would erase their name from human memory.But I was afraid their enemies would make fun of that. I was afraid their attackers would not understand. I was sure they would say,‘ We’re the ones who’ve beaten them! The Lord isn’t the one who did it.’ ”Israel is a nation that doesn’t have any sense. They can’t understand anything.
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2 Kings 24 2-2 Kings 24 3
The Lord sent robbers against Jehoiakim from Babylon, Aram, Moab and Ammon. He sent them to destroy Judah. That’s what the Lord had said would happen. He had spoken that message through his servants the prophets.These things happened to Judah in keeping with what the Lord had commanded. He brought enemies against his people in order to remove them from his land. He removed them because of all the sins Manasseh had committed.
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2 Chronicles 24 21
But the people made evil plans against Zechariah. The king ordered them to kill Zechariah by throwing stones at him. They did it in the courtyard of the Lord’ s temple.
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Deuteronomy 30:18
If you do, I announce to you this day that you will certainly be destroyed. You are about to go across the Jordan River and take over the land. But you won’t live there very long.
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Luke 13:1-2
Some people who were there at that time told Jesus about certain Galileans. Pilate had mixed their blood with their sacrifices.Jesus said,“ These people from Galilee suffered greatly. Do you think they were worse sinners than all the other Galileans?
