“You said these things would happen to us and our leaders, and you made them happen; you brought on us a great disaster. Nothing has ever been done on earth like what was done to Jerusalem.
I ask that you give me a heart that understands, so I can rule the people in the right way and will know the difference between right and wrong. Otherwise, it is impossible to rule this great people of yours.”
‘This is what the Lord says: I will bring trouble to this place and to the people living here, as it is written in the book which the king of Judah has read.
I make the messages of my servants come true; I make the advice of my messengers come true. I say to Jerusalem, ‘People will live in you again!’ I say to the towns of Judah, ‘You will be built again!’ I say to Jerusalem’s ruins, ‘I will repair you.’
This will be a terrible day! There will never be another time like this. This is a time of great trouble for the people of Jacob, but they will be saved from it.”
They came into this land and took it for their own, but they did not obey you or follow your teachings. They did not do everything you commanded. So you made all these terrible things happen to them.
“Jeremiah, go and tell Ebed-Melech the Cushite this message: ‘This is what the Lord All-Powerful, the God of Israel, says: Very soon I will make my words about Jerusalem come true through disaster, not through good times. You will see everything come true with your own eyes.
All this happened because you burned incense to other gods. You sinned against the Lord. You did not obey him or follow his teachings or the laws he gave you. You did not keep your part of the agreement with him. So this disaster has happened to you. It is there for you to see.”
Jerusalem says, “You who pass by on the road don’t seem to care. Come, look at me and see: Is there any pain like mine? Is there any pain like that he has caused me? The Lord has punished me on the day of his great anger.
What can I say about you, Jerusalem? What can I compare you to? What can I say you are like? How can I comfort you, Jerusalem? Your ruin is as deep as the sea. No one can heal you.
The Lord has done what he planned; he has kept his word that he commanded long ago. He has destroyed without mercy, and he has let your enemies laugh at you. He has strengthened your enemies.
Your prophets see false visions and prophesy lies. They say, “This is the message of the Lord,” when the Lord has not sent them. But they still hope their words will come true.
“At that time Michael, the great prince who protects your people, will stand up. There will be a time of much trouble, the worst time since nations have been on earth, but your people will be saved. Everyone whose name is written in God’s book will be saved.
It will be a dark, gloomy day, cloudy and black. Like the light at sunrise, a great and powerful army will spread over the mountains. There has never been anything like it before, and there will never be anything like it again.
I commanded my words and laws to my servants the prophets, and they preached to your ancestors, who returned to me. They said, ‘The Lord All-Powerful did as he said he would. He punished us for the way we lived and for what we did.’ ”
During the night I had a vision. I saw a man riding a red horse. He was standing among some myrtle trees in a ravine, with red, brown, and white horses behind him.
They made their hearts as hard as rock and would not listen to the teachings of the Lord All-Powerful. And they would not hear the words he sent by his Spirit through the earlier prophets. So the Lord All-Powerful became very angry.
because at that time there will be much trouble. There will be more trouble than there has ever been since the beginning of the world until now, and nothing as bad will ever happen again.
I tell you the truth, nothing will disappear from the law until heaven and earth are gone. Not even the smallest letter or the smallest part of a letter will be lost until everything has happened.
because those days will be full of trouble. There will be more trouble than there has ever been since the beginning, when God made the world, until now, and nothing as bad will ever happen again.