The enemy stretched out his hand. He took all her nice things. In fact, she saw the foreign nations go inside her Temple. And you said those people could not join in our assembly!
My enemy said to me, “Where is the Lord your God?” But my enemy will see this, and she will be ashamed. At that time I will laugh at her. People will walk over her, like mud in the streets.
The northern king will send his army to do terrible things to the Temple in Jerusalem. They will stop the people from offering the daily sacrifice. Then they will do something really terrible. They will set up that terrible thing that causes destruction.
I will give you large crops of fruit from your trees and the harvest from your fields so that you will never again feel the shame of being hungry in a foreign country.
to speak to the family of Israel. The Lord GOD said, ‘Look, I will destroy my holy place. You are proud of that place and sing songs of praise about it. You love to see it. You really love that place. But I will destroy it, and your children that you left behind will be killed in battle.
Look at us, Lord! Have you ever treated anyone else so badly? Is it right for women to eat their own babies, the children they have cared for? Should priests and prophets be killed in the Temple of the Lord?
I wandered away from you. But I finally realized how wrong I was. So I changed my heart and life. I am ashamed and embarrassed about the foolish things I did when I was young.’”
The leaders of the people send their servants to get water. The servants go to the water storage places, but they don’t find any water. The servants come back with empty jars, so they are ashamed and embarrassed. They cover their heads from shame.
This is because you obey the laws of Omri. You do all the evil things that Ahab’s family does. You follow their teachings, so I will let you be destroyed. People will whistle in amazement when they see your destroyed city. Then you will bear the shame that the other nations bring to you.”
The Lord will again show his love to Jacob. He will again choose the people of Israel. He will give them their land. Then the non-Israelites will join the Israelites, and both will become one family—Jacob’s family.
This is a message about the “desert by the sea”: It is coming like a storm blowing through the Negev. It is coming in from the desert, from a frightening nation.
“Fall down and sit in the dirt, Virgin Daughter Babylon. You have no throne, so sit on the ground, daughter of the Chaldeans. You are not the ruler now. You are no longer the beautiful young princess that people said you were.
I made all the kings of the north, those who were near and far, drink from the cup. I made them drink one after the other. I made all the kingdoms that are on earth drink from that cup. Finally, after all these other nations, the king of Babylon will drink from it too.