The time will come, after the flowers have bloomed and before the harvest, when new grapes will be budding and growing. The enemy will cut the plants with knives; he will cut down the vines and take them away.
At that time the strong, walled city will be empty like a desert. Calves will eat grass there. They will lie down there and eat leaves from the branches.
The Lord said, “How terrible it will be for these stubborn children. They make plans, but they don’t ask me to help them. They make agreements with other nations, without asking my Spirit. They are adding more and more sins to themselves.
They will eat your crops and your food. They will eat your sons and daughters. They will eat your flocks and herds. They will eat your grapes and figs. They will destroy with their swords the strong, walled cities you trust.
Jerusalem’s gates have fallen to the ground; he destroyed and smashed the bars of the gates. Her king and her princes are among the nations. The teaching of the Lord has stopped, and the prophets do not have visions from the Lord.
Say to that forest: ‘Hear the word of the Lord. This is what the Lord God says: I am ready to start a fire in you that will destroy all your green trees and all your dry trees. The flames that burn will not be put out. Every face from south to north will feel their heat.
your people will hear the noise of battle, and all your strong, walled cities will be destroyed. It will be like the time King Shalman destroyed Beth Arbel in battle, when mothers and their children were bashed to death.
The nation of Israel will be ruined, because it fought against God. The people of Israel will die in war; their children will be torn to pieces, and their pregnant women will be ripped open.”
You broke my agreement, and I will punish you. I will bring armies against you, and if you go into your cities for safety, I will cause diseases to spread among you so that your enemy will defeat you.
The Lord God made this promise; the Lord God All-Powerful says: “I hate the pride of the Israelites, and I hate their strong buildings, so I will let the enemy take the city and everything in it.”
“There is a day coming that will burn like a hot furnace, and all the proud and evil people will be like straw. On that day they will be completely burned up so that not a root or branch will be left,” says the Lord All-Powerful.
That nation will surround and attack all your cities. You trust in your high, strong walls, but they will fall down. That nation will surround all your cities everywhere in the land the Lord your God is giving you.