Some people still remained in the city. But Nebuzaradan the commander took them away as prisoners. He also took the rest of the people of the land. That included those who had joined the king of Babylon.
There the king had them put to death. Riblah was in the land of Hamath. So the people of Judah were taken as prisoners. They were taken far away from their own land.
I heard the Lord who rules over all announce a message. He said, “You can be sure that the great houses will become empty. The fine homes will be left with no one living in them.
I will make all the kingdoms on earth hate them. That will happen because of what Manasseh did in Jerusalem. He was king of Judah and the son of Hezekiah.
People can hear the sound of horsemen. Men armed with bows are coming. The people in every town run away. Some of them go into the bushes. Others climb up among the rocks. All the towns are deserted. No one is living in them.
There the king had them put to death. Riblah was in the land of Hamath. So the people of Judah were taken as prisoners. They were taken far away from their own land.
“I will destroy people and animals alike. I will wipe out the birds in the sky and the fish in the waters. I will destroy the statues of gods that cause evil people to sin. That will happen when I destroy all human beings on the face of the earth,” announces the Lord.
When they were not accepted, it became possible for the whole world to be brought back to God. So what will happen when they are accepted? It will be like life from the dead.
Then the Lord will scatter you among all the nations. He’ll spread you around from one end of the earth to the other. There you will worship statues of gods made out of wood and stone. You and your people of long ago hadn’t known anything about those gods.