and on mountains in the open country. I will turn your wealth and all your treasures into loot. I will do this because of your worship sites and your sin throughout all your territory.
He also took away all the treasures in the Lord’s temple and the royal palace. As the Lord had predicted, Nebuchadnezzar stripped the gold off all the furnishings that King Solomon of Israel had made for the Lord’s temple.
In this way the wrongdoings of the descendants of Jacob are covered up. This is the way they will turn from their sins— when they turn all the altar stones into powdered chalk and no poles dedicated to the goddess Asherah or incense altars are left standing.
I will hand all the riches of this city over to their enemies. This will include all its produce, all its valuables, and all the treasures of the kings of Judah. Their enemies will loot them, take them away, and bring them to Babylon.
“ ‘I’m against you, Jerusalem. You are the city that is in the valley and on the rock in the plain,’ ” declares the Lord. “ ‘But you ask, “Who can attack us? Who can enter our places of refuge?”
“Micah from Moresheth prophesied at the time of Judah’s King Hezekiah and said to all the people of Judah, ‘This is what the Lord of Armies says: Zion will be plowed like a field, Jerusalem will become a pile of rubble, and the temple mountain will become a worship site covered with trees.’
The enemies laid their hands on all of the city’s treasures. Jerusalem has seen the nations enter the holy place. ‘O Lord, they are the same people you have forbidden to enter your congregation.’
I will hand you over to your lovers. They will destroy your platforms and tear down your illegal worship sites. They will tear off your clothes, take away your beautiful jewelry, and leave you naked and bare.
Say this, ‘You mountains of Israel, listen to the Almighty Lord’s word! This is what the Almighty Lord says to the mountains and hills and to the ravines and valleys: I am going to attack you with a sword and destroy your worship sites.
Because of you, Zion will be plowed like a field, Jerusalem will become a pile of rubble, and the temple mountain will become a worship site covered with trees.
Their wealth will be looted. Their homes will be demolished. They will build houses, but they won’t live in them. They will plant vineyards, but they won’t drink their wine.”