If the Lord does not build the house, it is useless for the builders to work on it. If the Lord does not protect a city, it is useless for the guard to stay alert.
So the Egyptians put slave drivers in charge of them in order to oppress them through forced labor. They built Pithom and Rameses as supply cities for Pharaoh.
“Go and announce to Jerusalem, ‘This is what the Lord says: I remember the unfailing loyalty of your youth, the love you had for me as a bride. I remember how you followed me into the desert, into a land that couldn’t be farmed.
I spoke to you when you were prosperous, but you said that you wouldn’t listen. This is how you’ve been ever since you were young. You don’t listen to me.
“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.
I will give her vineyards there. I will make the valley of Achor [Disaster] a door of hope. Then she will respond as she did when she was young, as she did when she came out of Egypt.
Whenever the Israelites went to war, the power of the Lord brought disaster on them. This was what the Lord said he would do in an oath. So he made them suffer a great deal.
The Lord became angry with the people of Israel. He used King Cushan Rishathaim of Aram Naharaim to defeat them. So Israel served Cushan Rishathaim for eight years.