But the vine was pulled up by the roots,\par and thrown down to the ground.\par The hot east wind blew and dried its fruit.\par The strong branches broke.\par And they were thrown into the fire.\par
During Josiah’s time, Pharaoh Neco, the king of Egypt went to fight against the king of Assyria at the Euphrates River. Josiah went out to meet Neco at Megiddo. Pharaoh saw Josiah and killed him.
Pharaoh Neco made Josiah’s son Eliakim the new king. Eliakim took the place of Josiah his father. Pharaoh Neco changed Eliakim’s name to Jehoiakim. And Pharaoh Neco took Jehoahaz away to Egypt. Jehoahaz died in Egypt.
So God will ruin you forever!\par He will grab you\par and pull you from your home, {\cf2\super [313]} \par like a person pulling a plant\par out of the ground, roots and all! {\cf2\super [314]} \par
The Lord will settle his argument with Israel by sending her far away. The Lord will speak harshly to Israel. His words will burn like the hot desert wind.
The Lord says,\par “Write this down about Jehoiachin:\par ‘He is a man that has no children anymore!\par Jehoiachin will not be successful\par in his lifetime.\par And none of his children\par will sit on the throne of David.\par None of his children\par will rule in Judah.’”\par
In the past, I watched over Israel and Judah, but I watched for the time to pull them up. I tore them down. I destroyed them. I gave many troubles to them. But now, I will watch over them to build them up and make them strong.” This message is from the Lord.
Look how the Lord has set\par the Daughter of Zion {\cf2\super [8]} under a cloud.\par He has thrown the glory of Israel\par from the sky to the ground.\par The Lord didn’t keep in mind that Israel was his footstool,\par on the day of his anger.\par
Will the plant grow where it is planted?\par No! The hot east wind will blow\par and the plant will become dry and die.\par It will die there where it was planted.”\par
Then she grew large branches.\par They were like a strong walking stick.\par They were like a king’s scepter. {\cf2\super [136]} \par The vine grew taller and taller.\par It had many branches\par and reached to the clouds.\par
\{Israel\} grows among his brothers.\par But a powerful east wind will come—\par the Lord’s wind will blow from the desert.\par Then \{Israel’s\} well will become dry.\par His spring of water will become dry.\par The wind will take every valuable thing\par from \{Israel’s\} treasure.\par
After the sun was high in the sky, God caused a hot east wind to blow. The sun became very hot on Jonah’s head and Jonah became very, very weak. Jonah asked God to let him die. Jonah said, “It is better for me to die than to live.”
If a person does not continue in me, then he is like a branch that is thrown away. That branch dies. People pick up dead branches, throw them into the fire, and burn them.