I looked and saw that the fruitful land had become a desert and that all of the cities had been laid in ruins. The Lord had brought this all about because of his blazing anger. ¹ 

I have at this time placed all these nations of yours under the power ¹  of my servant, ²  King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon. I have even made all the wild animals subject to him. ³ 

“Because of this, the Lord God of Israel who rules over all says, ‘I am determined to bring disaster on you, ¹  even to the point of destroying all the Judeans here. ² 

On all the housetops in Moab and in all its public squares there will be nothing but mourning. For I will break Moab like an unwanted jar. I, the Lord, affirm it! ¹ 

Then some of the elders of Judah ¹  stepped forward and spoke to all the people gathered there. They said,

“For I, the Lord, say: ¹  ‘I will surely bring on these people all the good fortune that I am hereby promising them. I will be just as sure to do that as I have been in bringing all this great disaster on them. ² 

The Lord who rules over all said, “I will kill all the archers of Elam, who are the chief source of her military might. ¹ 

Then Ishmael took captive all the people who were still left alive in Mizpah. This included the royal princesses ¹  and all the rest of the people in Mizpah that Nebuzaradan, the captain of the royal guard, had put under the authority of Gedaliah son of Ahikam. Ishmael son of Nethaniah took all these people captive and set out to cross over to the Ammonites.

I will make all the people in all the kingdoms of the world horrified at what has happened to them because of what Hezekiah’s son Manasseh, king of Judah, did in Jerusalem.” ¹ 

Can people make their own gods? No, what they make are not gods at all.” ¹ 

So I, the Lord, the God who rules over all, the God of Israel, say: ¹  “I will soon bring on Judah and all the citizens of Jerusalem all the disaster that I threatened to bring on them. I will do this because I spoke to them but they did not listen. I called out to them but they did not answer.”’”

I will bring on that land everything that I said I would. I will bring on it everything that is written in this book. I will bring on it everything that Jeremiah has prophesied against all the nations. ¹ 

I looked and saw that there were no more people, ¹  and that all the birds in the sky had flown away.

“The Lord God of Israel who rules over all ¹  says, ‘I will soon bring on this city and all the towns surrounding it ²  all the disaster I threatened to do to it. I will do so because they have stubbornly refused ³  to pay any attention to what I have said!’”

The Lord who rules over all ¹  says, “The people of Israel are oppressed. So too are the people of Judah. ²  All those who took them captive are holding them prisoners. They refuse to set them free.

Now listen to what the Lord has to say, you descendants ¹  of Jacob, all you family groups from the nation ²  of Israel.

The Lord says, “Watch out! ¹  The time is soon coming when I will punish all those who are circumcised only in the flesh. ² 

‘So pay attention to what I, the Lord, have said, ¹  all you exiles whom I have sent to Babylon from Jerusalem.’

At that time I will be the God of all the clans of Israel ¹  and they will be my people. I, the Lord, affirm it!” ² 

Ishmael also killed all the Judeans ¹  who were with Gedaliah at Mizpah and the Babylonian ²  soldiers who happened to be there. ³