The wild boars of the forest ruin it; the insects of the field feed on it.

林中出来的野猪把它糟踏；野地的走兽拿它当食物。

林中的野猪践踏它，田里的走兽吞吃它。

林中的野猪践踏它，田里的走兽吞吃它。

林中的野猪蹂躏它，野兽吞吃它。

从树林中出来的野猪践踏它，田野的走兽把它吃了。

来自森林的猪把它糟踏，田野的动物把它吃掉。

林中出來的野豬把它糟踏；野地的走獸拿它當食物。

林中的野豬踐踏它，田裏的走獸吞吃它。

林中的野豬踐踏它，田裏的走獸吞吃它。

林中的野豬蹂躪它，野獸吞吃它。

從樹林中出來的野豬踐踏它，田野的走獸把它吃了。

森林中出來的野豬把它蹧蹋，田野間的走獸隨便喫它。

來自森林的豬把它糟踏，田野的動物把它吃掉。

林彘毀之、野獸齧之兮、

林豕食之、野獸囓之兮、

為林中野豬殘壞、為曠野蠢獸所囓、

今何毀其籬。行人競相折。

Boars from the forest ravage it, and insects from the fields feed on it.

Wild pigs from the forest destroy it. Insects from the fields feed on it.

The boar from the forest ravages it, and all that move in the field feed on it.

The wild boar from the forest devours it, and the wild animals feed on it.

Boars from the forest tear at it and creatures of the field feed on it.

A boar from the forest eats it away, And whatever moves in the field feeds on it.

The boar out of the woods uproots it, And the wild beast of the field devours it.

The boar out of the wood doth ravage it, And the wild beasts of the field feed on it.

The boar from the forest tears it and creatures of the field feed on it.

The boar out of the wood doth waste it, and the wild beast of the field doth devour it.

The boar out of the wood ravages it. The wild animals of the field feed on it.

So like a lion from the thicket their enemies will kill them. Like a wolf from the desert they will destroy them. Like a leopard they will lie in wait outside their cities and totally destroy anyone who ventures out. For they have rebelled so much and done so many unfaithful things.

Like a lion that has come up from its lair the one who destroys nations has set out from his home base. He is coming out to lay your land waste. Your cities will become ruins and lie uninhabited.

“ King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon devoured me and drove my people out. Like a monster from the deep he swallowed me. He filled his belly with my riches. He made me an empty dish. He completely cleaned me out.”

During Jehoiakim’s reign, King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon attacked. Jehoiakim was his subject for three years, but then he rebelled against him.The LORD sent against him Babylonian, Syrian, Moabite, and Ammonite raiding bands; he sent them to destroy Judah, as he had warned he would do through his servants the prophets.Just as the LORD had announced, he rejected Judah because of all the sins which Manasseh had committed.Because he killed innocent people and stained Jerusalem with their blood, the LORD was unwilling to forgive them.The rest of the events of Jehoiakim’s reign and all his accomplishments, are recorded in the scroll called the Annals of the Kings of Judah.He passed away and his son Jehoiachin replaced him as king.The king of Egypt did not march out from his land again, for the king of Babylon conquered all the territory that the king of Egypt had formerly controlled between the Brook of Egypt and the Euphrates River.Jehoiachin was eighteen years old when he became king, and he reigned three months in Jerusalem. His mother was Nehushta the daughter of Elnathan, from Jerusalem.He did evil in the sight of the LORD as his ancestors had done.At that time the generals of King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon marched to Jerusalem and besieged the city.King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon came to the city while his generals were besieging it.King Jehoiachin of Judah, along with his mother, his servants, his officials, and his eunuchs surrendered to the king of Babylon. The king of Babylon, in the eighth year of his reign, took Jehoiachin prisoner.Nebuchadnezzar took from there all the riches in the treasuries of the LORD’s temple and of the royal palace. He removed all the gold items which King Solomon of Israel had made for the LORD’s temple, just as the LORD had warned.He deported all the residents of Jerusalem, including all the officials and all the soldiers( 10,000 people in all). This included all the craftsmen and those who worked with metal. No one was left except for the poorest among the people of the land.He deported Jehoiachin from Jerusalem to Babylon, along with the king’s mother and wives, his eunuchs, and the high-ranking officials of the land.The king of Babylon deported to Babylon all the soldiers( there were 7,000), as well as 1,000 craftsmen and metal workers. This included all the best warriors.The king of Babylon made Mattaniah, Jehoiachin’s uncle, king in Jehoiachin’s place. He renamed him Zedekiah.Zedekiah was twenty-one years old when he became king, and he ruled for eleven years in Jerusalem. His mother was Hamutal, the daughter of Jeremiah, from Libnah.He did evil in the sight of the LORD, as Jehoiakim had done.What follows is a record of what happened to Jerusalem and Judah because of the LORD’s anger; he finally threw them out of his presence. Zedekiah rebelled against the king of Babylon.

King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon came against Jerusalem with his whole army and laid siege to it. The siege began in the tenth month of the ninth year that Zedekiah ruled over Judah.It lasted until the ninth day of the fourth month of Zedekiah’s eleventh year. On that day they broke through the city walls.Then Nergal-Sharezer of Samgar, Nebo-Sarsekim, who was a chief officer, Nergal-Sharezer, who was a high official, and all the other officers of the king of Babylon came and set up quarters in the Middle Gate.

On the tenth day of the fifth month, in the nineteenth year of King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon, Nebuzaradan, the captain of the royal guard who served the king of Babylon, arrived in Jerusalem.He burned down the LORD’s temple, the royal palace, and all the houses in Jerusalem, including every large house.The whole Babylonian army that came with the captain of the royal guard tore down the walls that surrounded Jerusalem.

They broke through the city walls, and all the soldiers tried to escape. They left the city during the night. They went through the gate between the two walls that is near the king’s garden.( The Babylonians had the city surrounded.) Then they headed for the Jordan Valley.

In the third year of the reign of Israel’s King Hoshea son of Elah, Ahaz’s son Hezekiah became king over Judah.He was twenty-five years old when he began to reign, and he reigned twenty-nine years in Jerusalem. His mother was Abi, the daughter of Zechariah.He did what the LORD approved, just as his ancestor David had done.He eliminated the high places, smashed the sacred pillars to bits, and cut down the Asherah pole. He also demolished the bronze serpent that Moses had made, for up to that time the Israelites had been offering incense to it; it was called Nehushtan.He trusted in the LORD God of Israel; in this regard there was none like him among the kings of Judah either before or after.He was loyal to the LORD and did not abandon him. He obeyed the commandments which the LORD had given to Moses.The LORD was with him; he succeeded in all his endeavors. He rebelled against the king of Assyria and refused to submit to him.He defeated the Philistines as far as Gaza and its territory, from the watchtower to the city fortress.In the fourth year of King Hezekiah’s reign( it was the seventh year of the reign of Israel’s King Hoshea, son of Elah), King Shalmaneser of Assyria marched up against Samaria and besieged it.After three years he captured it( in the sixth year of Hezekiah’s reign); in the ninth year of King Hoshea’s reign over Israel Samaria was captured.The king of Assyria deported the people of Israel to Assyria. He settled them in Halah, along the Habor( the river of Gozan), and in the cities of the Medes.This happened because they did not obey the LORD their God and broke his agreement with them. They did not pay attention to and obey all that Moses, the LORD’s servant, had commanded.In the fourteenth year of King Hezekiah’s reign, King Sennacherib of Assyria marched up against all the fortified cities of Judah and captured them.King Hezekiah of Judah sent this message to the king of Assyria, who was at Lachish,“ I have violated our treaty. If you leave, I will do whatever you demand.” So the king of Assyria demanded that King Hezekiah of Judah pay three hundred talents of silver and thirty talents of gold.Hezekiah gave him all the silver in the LORD’s temple and in the treasuries of the royal palace.At that time King Hezekiah of Judah stripped the metal overlays from the doors of the LORD’s temple and from the posts which he had plated and gave them to the king of Assyria.The king of Assyria sent his commanding general, the chief eunuch, and the chief adviser from Lachish to King Hezekiah in Jerusalem, along with a large army. They went up and arrived at Jerusalem. They went and stood at the conduit of the upper pool which is located on the road to the field where they wash and dry cloth.They summoned the king, so Eliakim son of Hilkiah, the palace supervisor, accompanied by Shebna the scribe and Joah son of Asaph, the secretary, went out to meet them.The chief adviser said to them,“ Tell Hezekiah:‘ This is what the great king, the king of Assyria, says:“ What is your source of confidence?

After these faithful deeds were accomplished, King Sennacherib of Assyria invaded Judah. He besieged the fortified cities, intending to seize them.When Hezekiah saw that Sennacherib had invaded and intended to attack Jerusalem,he consulted with his advisers and military officers about stopping up the springs outside the city, and they supported him.A large number of people gathered together and stopped up all the springs and the stream that flowed through the district. They reasoned,“ Why should the kings of Assyria come and find plenty of water?”Hezekiah energetically rebuilt every broken wall. He erected towers and an outer wall, and fortified the terrace of the City of David. He made many weapons and shields.He appointed military officers over the army and assembled them in the square at the city gate. He encouraged them, saying,“ Be strong and brave! Don’t be afraid and don’t panic because of the king of Assyria and this huge army that is with him! We have with us one who is stronger than those who are with him.He has with him mere human strength, but the LORD our God is with us to help us and fight our battles!” The army was encouraged by the words of King Hezekiah of Judah.Afterward King Sennacherib of Assyria, while attacking Lachish with all his military might, sent his messengers to Jerusalem. The message was for King Hezekiah of Judah and all the people of Judah who were in Jerusalem. It read:“ This is what King Sennacherib of Assyria says:‘ Why are you so confident that you remain in Jerusalem while it is under siege?Hezekiah says,“ The LORD our God will rescue us from the power of the king of Assyria.” But he is misleading you and you will die of hunger and thirst!Hezekiah is the one who eliminated the LORD’s high places and altars and then told Judah and Jerusalem,“ At one altar you must worship and offer sacrifices.”Are you not aware of what I and my predecessors have done to all the nations of the surrounding lands? Have the gods of the surrounding lands actually been able to rescue their lands from my power?Who among all the gods of these nations whom my predecessors annihilated was able to rescue his people from my power?Now don’t let Hezekiah deceive you or mislead you like this. Don’t believe him, for no god of any nation or kingdom has been able to rescue his people from my power or the power of my predecessors. So how can your gods rescue you from my power?’”Sennacherib’s servants further insulted the LORD God and his servant Hezekiah.He wrote letters mocking the LORD God of Israel and insulting him with these words:“ The gods of the surrounding nations could not rescue their people from my power. Neither can Hezekiah’s god rescue his people from my power.”They called out loudly in the Judahite dialect to the people of Jerusalem who were on the wall, trying to scare and terrify them so they could seize the city.They talked about the God of Jerusalem as if he were one of the man-made gods of the nations of the earth.King Hezekiah and the prophet Isaiah son of Amoz prayed about this and cried out to heaven.The LORD sent a messenger and he wiped out all the soldiers, princes, and officers in the army of the king of Assyria. So Sennacherib returned home humiliated. When he entered the temple of his god, some of his own sons struck him down with the sword.The LORD delivered Hezekiah and the residents of Jerusalem from the power of King Sennacherib of Assyria and from all the other nations. He made them secure on every side.Many were bringing presents to the LORD in Jerusalem and precious gifts to King Hezekiah of Judah. From that time on he was respected by all the nations.In those days Hezekiah was stricken with a terminal illness. He prayed to the LORD, who answered him and gave him a sign confirming that he would be healed.But Hezekiah was ungrateful; he had a proud attitude, provoking God to be angry at him, as well as Judah and Jerusalem.But then Hezekiah and the residents of Jerusalem humbled themselves and abandoned their pride, and the LORD was not angry with them for the rest of Hezekiah’s reign.Hezekiah was very wealthy and greatly respected. He made storehouses for his silver, gold, precious stones, spices, and all his other valuable possessions.He made storerooms for the harvest of grain, wine, and olive oil, and stalls for all his various kinds of livestock and his flocks.He built royal cities and owned a large number of sheep and cattle, for God gave him a huge amount of possessions.Hezekiah dammed up the source of the waters of the Upper Gihon and directed them down to the west side of the City of David. Hezekiah succeeded in all that he did.So when the envoys arrived from the Babylonian officials to visit him and inquire about the sign that occurred in the land, God left him alone to test him, in order to know his true motives.The rest of the events of Hezekiah’s reign, including his faithful deeds, are recorded in the vision of the prophet Isaiah son of Amoz, included in the Scroll of the Kings of Judah and Israel.Hezekiah passed away and was buried on the ascent of the tombs of the descendants of David. All the people of Judah and the residents of Jerusalem buried him with great honor. His son Manasseh replaced him as king.

The people of the land took Jehoahaz son of Josiah and made him king in his father’s place in Jerusalem.Jehoahaz was twenty-three years old when he became king, and he reigned three months in Jerusalem.The king of Egypt prevented him from ruling in Jerusalem and imposed on the land a special tax of one hundred talents of silver and a talent of gold.The king of Egypt made Jehoahaz’s brother Eliakim king over Judah and Jerusalem, and changed his name to Jehoiakim. Necho seized his brother Jehoahaz and took him to Egypt.Jehoiakim was twenty-five years old when he became king, and he reigned for eleven years in Jerusalem. He did evil in the sight of the LORD his God.King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon attacked him, bound him with bronze chains, and carried him away to Babylon.Nebuchadnezzar took some of the items in the LORD’s temple to Babylon and put them in his palace there.The rest of the events of Jehoiakim’s reign, including the horrible sins he committed and his shortcomings, are recorded in the Scroll of the Kings of Israel and Judah. His son Jehoiachin replaced him as king.Jehoiachin was eighteen years old when he became king, and he reigned three months and ten days in Jerusalem. He did evil in the sight of the LORD.At the beginning of the year King Nebuchadnezzar ordered him to be brought to Babylon, along with the valuable items in the LORD’s temple. In his place he made his relative Zedekiah king over Judah and Jerusalem.Zedekiah was twenty-one years old when he became king, and he ruled for eleven years in Jerusalem.He did evil in the sight of the LORD his God. He did not humble himself before Jeremiah the prophet, the LORD’s spokesman.He also rebelled against King Nebuchadnezzar, who had made him vow allegiance in the name of God. He was stubborn and obstinate, and refused to return to the LORD God of Israel.All the leaders of the priests and people became more unfaithful and committed the same horrible sins practiced by the nations. They defiled the LORD’s temple which he had consecrated in Jerusalem.The LORD God of their ancestors continually warned them through his messengers, for he felt compassion for his people and his dwelling place.But they mocked God’s messengers, despised his warnings, and ridiculed his prophets. Finally the LORD got very angry at his people and there was no one who could prevent his judgment.He brought against them the king of the Babylonians, who slaughtered their young men in their temple. He did not spare young men or women, or even the old and aging. God handed everyone over to him.He carried away to Babylon all the items in God’s temple, whether large or small, as well as what was in the treasuries of the LORD’s temple and in the treasuries of the king and his officials.They burned down the LORD’s temple and tore down the wall of Jerusalem. They burned all its fortified buildings and destroyed all its valuable items.He deported to Babylon all who escaped the sword. They served him and his sons until the Persian kingdom rose to power.This took place to fulfill the LORD’s message delivered through Jeremiah. The land experienced its sabbatical years; it remained desolate for seventy years, as prophesied.In the first year of the reign of King Cyrus of Persia, in fulfillment of the promise he delivered through Jeremiah, the LORD moved King Cyrus of Persia to issue a written decree throughout his kingdom.It read:“ This is what King Cyrus of Persia says:‘ The LORD God of the heavens has given to me all the kingdoms of the earth. He has appointed me to build for him a temple in Jerusalem in Judah. May the LORD your God energize you who belong to his people, so you may be able to go back there!”