Fields will again be bought with silver, and deeds of purchase signed, sealed, and witnessed. This will happen in the territory of Benjamin, the villages surrounding Jerusalem, the towns in Judah, the southern hill country, the western foothills, and southern Judah. ¹  For I will restore them to their land. ²  I, the Lord, affirm it!’” ³ 

I, the Lord, say that shepherds will once again count their sheep as they pass into the fold. ¹  They will do this in all the towns in the southern hill country, the western foothills, the southern hill country, the territory of Benjamin, the villages surrounding Jerusalem, and the towns of Judah.’ ² 

At the sound of the approaching horsemen and archers the people of every town will flee. Some of them will hide in the thickets. Others will climb up among the rocks. All the cities will be deserted. No one will remain in them.

“‘People from other nations will pass by this city. They will ask one another, “Why has the Lord done such a thing to this great city?”

The destroyer will come against every town. Not one town will escape. The towns in the valley will be destroyed. The cities on the high plain will be laid waste. ¹  I, the Lord, have spoken! ² 

How deserted will that once-famous city ¹  be, that city that was once filled with ²  joy! ³ 

He did this while the army of the king of Babylon was attacking Jerusalem and the cities of Lachish and Azekah. He was attacking these cities because they were the only fortified cities of Judah which were still holding out. ¹ 

They broke through the city walls, and all the soldiers tried to escape. They left the city during the night. They went through the gate between the two walls that is near the king’s garden. ¹  (The Babylonians had the city surrounded.) Then they headed for the Jordan Valley. ² 

From the city he took an official who was in charge of the soldiers, seven of the king’s advisers who were discovered in the city, an official army secretary who drafted citizens ¹  for military service, and sixty citizens who were discovered in the middle of the city.

Like lions his enemies roar victoriously over him; they raise their voices in triumph. ¹  They have laid his land waste; his cities have been burned down and deserted. ² 

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 

Do you see ¹  what they are doing in the towns of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem? ² 

The gates of the towns in southern Judah will be shut tight. ¹  No one will be able to go in or out of them. ²  All Judah will be carried off into exile. They will be completely carried off into exile.’” ³ 

I, the Lord, say: ¹  ‘That is how I will deal with this city and its citizens. I will make it like Topheth.

I will kill everything living in Jerusalem, ¹  people and animals alike! They will die from terrible diseases.

The land of Judah will be inhabited by people who live in its towns as well as by farmers and shepherds with their flocks. ¹ 

“Indeed a time is coming,” ¹  says the Lord, ²  “when the city of Jerusalem ³  will be rebuilt as my special city. ⁴  It will be built from the Tower of Hananel westward to the Corner Gate. ⁵ 

Then the Babylonian forces ¹  will return. They will attack the city and will capture it and burn it down.

They had also heard him say, ¹  “The Lord says, ‘This city will certainly be handed over to the army of the king of Babylon. They will capture it.’” ² 

It lasted until the ninth day of the fourth month of Zedekiah’s eleventh year. ¹  On that day they broke through the city walls.