In the days of King Pekah of Israel, King Tiglath Pileser of Assyria took Ijon, Abel Beth Maacah, Janoah, Kedesh, Hazor, Gilead, Galilee, and the entire territory of Naphtali. He also took the people away to Assyria as captives.
They abandoned all the commands of the Lord their God: They made two calves out of cast metal. They made a pole dedicated to the goddess Asherah. They prayed to the entire army of heaven. They worshiped Baal.
Prepare a place to slaughter their sons because of their ancestors’ guilt. They won’t be able to rise, possess the earth, and rebuild cities all over it.
This is the message that the Lord speaks to him, ‘My dear people in Zion despise you and laugh at you. My people in Jerusalem shake their heads behind your back.
He leads chariots and horses, an army and reinforcements. (They lie down together and do not get up ⌞again⌟. They are extinguished and snuffed out like a wick.) This is what the Lord says:
“Say this to them: ‘My eyes flow with tears day and night without stopping because my dear people will suffer massive destruction. It will be a very serious blow.’ ”
You call wood your father. You call stone your mother. You’ve turned your backs, not your faces, to me. But when you’re in trouble, you ask me to come and rescue you.
Once again I will build you up, and you will be rebuilt, my dear people Israel. Once again you will take your tambourines, and you will go dancing with happy people.
Those arrogant people will stumble and fall, and there will be no one to help them get up. I will light a fire in their cities that will burn up everything around them.”
Say, ‘Babylon will sink like this scroll. It will never rise again because of the disasters that I will bring on it.’ ” The words of Jeremiah end here.
“What example can I give you? What parallel can I show you, people of Jerusalem? What comparison can I make that will comfort you, beloved people of Zion? Your wounds are as deep as the sea. Who can heal you?
⌞How horrible it will be for⌟ those who swear by Ashimah, the idol of Samaria, and say, “I solemnly swear, Dan, as your god lives….” “I solemnly swear as long as there is a road to Beersheba….” Those who say this will fall and never get up again.
On that day I will set up David’s fallen tent. I will repair the holes in it. I will restore its ruined places. I will rebuild them as they were a long time ago.