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.
Go, sit in the dirt, virgin princess of Babylon! Sit on the ground, not on a throne, princess of the Babylonians! You will no longer be called soft and delicate.
“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.’ ”
The Lord has treated all the warriors inside my ⌞walls⌟ with contempt. He called an army to defeat my young men. The Lord trampled the people of Judah in a winepress.
“Judah has been exiled after ⌞much⌟ suffering and harsh treatment. Its ⌞people⌟ live among the nations; they find no rest. Those who chased them caught up with them in places where there was no way out.
‘Get away! You’re unclean,’ people yelled at them. ‘Get away! Get away! Don’t touch anyone.’ When they fled and wandered around, the people of the nations said, ‘They can’t stay here any longer.’
Ships will come from the west to attack him, and he will be discouraged and turn back. Angry at the holy promise, he will return, take action, and favor those who abandon the holy promise.
The Lord handed them over to Israel, and the Israelites defeated them. The Israelites chased them as far as Great Sidon, Misrephoth Maim, and the valley of Mizpah in the east. There were no survivors.
The sound of harpists, musicians, flutists, and trumpeters will never be heard in it again. A skilled craftsman—regardless of the type of craft— will never be found in it again. The sound of a millstone will never be heard in it again.