Then the Lord’s angel said, “Lord All-Powerful, how long before you comfort Jerusalem and the cities of Judah? You have shown your anger at these cities for 70 years now.”
“Tell the priests and the other people in this country this: ‘For seventy years you fasted and showed your sadness in the fifth month and in the seventh month. But was that fasting really for me?
During his first year as king, I was studying the Scriptures and noticed in the Lord’s message to Jeremiah that 70 years would pass before Jerusalem would be rebuilt.
This is what the Lord says: “Babylon will be powerful for 70 years. After that time, I will come to you people who are living in Babylon. I will keep my good promise to bring you back to Jerusalem.
The land of Judah became an empty desert and stayed that way for 70 years. All this time the land rested to make up for the Sabbath rests that the people had not kept. This is just what the Lord said would happen in the warning he gave through the prophet Jeremiah.
So Christ can save those who come to God through him. Christ can do this forever, because he always lives and is ready to help people when they come before God.
The people had many troubles, but he was not against them. He loved them and felt sorry for them, so he saved them. He sent his special angel to save them. He picked them up and carried them, just as he did long ago.
How much longer will the land be dry? How long will the grass be dry and dead? The birds and the animals of this land have all died, and it is the fault of the wicked. But they are saying, “Jeremiah will not live long enough to see what happens to us.”
I never sat with the crowd as they laughed and had fun. I sat by myself because of your influence on me. You filled me with anger at the evil around me.
This is what the Lord says: “Jacob’s people are now in captivity, but they will come back. And I will have pity on Jacob’s houses. The city is now only an empty hill covered with ruined buildings, but the city will be rebuilt on its hill. And the king’s palace will be rebuilt where it should be.
The man who was dressed in linen was standing over the water in the river. One of the two men said to him, “How long will it be before these amazing things come true?”
“I was angry with my people. They were mine, but I turned against them. I let you punish them, but you showed them no mercy. Even for those who were old you made the work hard.