Bring together all the possessions of the people who live there and pile them up in the town square. Then burn the town and everything in it as an offering to the LORD your God. It must be left in ruins forever and never again be rebuilt.

He burned down the Temple, the palace, and the houses of all the important people in Jerusalem,

Meanwhile, the Babylonians burned down the royal palace and the houses of the people and tore down the walls of Jerusalem.

He burned down the Temple, the palace, and the houses of all the important people in Jerusalem;

And so, because of you, Zion will be plowed like a field, Jerusalem will become a pile of ruins, and the Temple hill will become a forest.

And so I, the Sovereign LORD, am telling you that I am your enemy. I will pass judgment on you where all the nations can see it.

They stripped her naked, seized her sons and daughters, and then killed her with a sword. Women everywhere gossiped about her fate.

Throughout the land I will put a stop to immorality, as a warning to every woman not to commit adultery as they did.

Then all the people of Israel will hear what happened; they will be afraid, and no one will ever again do such an evil thing.

then they are to take her out to the entrance of her father's house, where the men of her city are to stone her to death. She has done a shameful thing among our people by having intercourse before she was married, while she was still living in her father's house. In this way you will get rid of this evil.

You are to take them outside the town and stone them to death. She is to die because she did not cry out for help, although she was in a town, where she could have been heard. And the man is to die because he had intercourse with someone who was engaged. In this way you will get rid of this evil.

He punishes sinners where all can see it,

I will put a stop to your lust and to the obscenities you have committed ever since you were in Egypt. You won't look at any more idols or think about Egypt any more."

They will not defile themselves with disgusting idols any more or corrupt themselves with sin. I will free them from all the ways in which they sin and betray me. I will purify them; they will be my people, and I will be their God.

I will take action against you. I will purify you the way metal is refined, and will remove all your impurity.

I will give you rulers and advisers like those you had long ago. Then Jerusalem will be called the righteous, faithful city."

(SEE 2:17)

But Israel's sins will be forgiven only when the stones of pagan altars are ground up like chalk, and no more incense altars or symbols of the goddess Asherah are left.

So I am going to fence her in with thorn bushes and build a wall to block her way.

She would never acknowledge that I am the one who gave her the grain, the wine, the olive oil, and all the silver and gold that she used in the worship of Baal.

I will strip her naked in front of her lovers, and no one will be able to save her from my power.

I will destroy her grapevines and her fig trees, which she said her lovers gave her for serving them. I will turn her vineyards and orchards into a wilderness; wild animals will destroy them.

So I am going to take her into the desert again; there I will win her back with words of love.

Then once again she will call me her husband---she will no longer call me her Baal.

The LORD says, "At that time I will take away your horses and destroy your chariots.

I will destroy the magic charms you use and leave you without any fortunetellers.

I will pull down the images of the goddess Asherah in your land and destroy your cities.

At that time I will remove the names of the idols from the land, and no one will remember them any more. I will get rid of anyone who claims to be a prophet and will take away the desire to worship idols.

Rebuke publicly all those who commit sins, so that the rest may be afraid.