The LORD said, "Mortal man, speak to the mountains of Israel and tell them to listen to the message which I,

"So prophesy to the land of Israel; tell the mountains, hills, brooks, and valleys what I, the Sovereign LORD, am saying in jealous anger because of the way the nations have insulted and humiliated them.

but the land that you are about to enter is a land of mountains and valleys, a land watered by rain.

The Sovereign LORD says, "When I make you clean from all your sins, I will let you live in your cities again and let you rebuild the ruins.

Everyone will talk about how this land, which was once a wilderness, has become like the Garden of Eden, and how the cities which were torn down, looted, and left in ruins, are now inhabited and fortified.

Yes, I will reach out and destroy their country. I will make it a wasteland from the southern desert to the city of Riblah in the north, not sparing any place where the Israelites live. Then everyone will know that I am the LORD."

So the LORD brought the king of Babylonia to attack them. The king killed the young men of Judah even in the Temple. He had no mercy on anyone, young or old, man or woman, sick or healthy. God handed them all over to him.

He burned down the Temple and the city, with all its palaces and its wealth, and broke down the city wall.

And so what the LORD had foretold through the prophet Jeremiah was fulfilled: "The land will lie desolate for seventy years, to make up for the Sabbath rest that has not been observed."

I asked, "How long will it be like this, Lord?" He answered, "Until the cities are ruined and empty---until the houses are uninhabited---until the land itself is a desolate wasteland.

The LORD is going to devastate the earth and leave it desolate. He will twist the earth's surface and scatter its people.

The earth will lie shattered and ruined. The LORD has spoken and it will be done.

The people have defiled the earth by breaking God's laws and by violating the covenant he made to last forever.

The grapevines wither, and wine is becoming scarce. Everyone who was once happy is now sad,

There is no more happy singing over wine; no one enjoys its taste any more.

People shout in the streets because there is no more wine. Happiness is gone forever; it has been banished from the land.

The heathen nations will not plunder them any more, and the wild animals will not kill and eat them. They will live in safety, and no one will terrify them.

The surrounding nations insult us; they laugh at us and mock us.

Your sacred cities are like a desert; Jerusalem is a deserted ruin,

and our Temple, the sacred and beautiful place where our ancestors praised you, has been destroyed by fire. All the places we loved are in ruins.

'I am going to send for all the peoples from the north and for my servant, King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylonia. I am going to bring them to fight against Judah and its inhabitants and against all the neighboring nations. I am going to destroy this nation and its neighbors and leave them in ruins forever, a terrible and shocking sight. I, the LORD, have spoken.

This whole land will be left in ruins and will be a shocking sight, and the neighboring nations will serve the king of Babylonia for seventy years.

I will punish Babylonia with all the disasters that I threatened to bring on the nations when I spoke through Jeremiah---all the disasters recorded in this book.

"The LORD says, 'When Babylonia's seventy years are over, I will show my concern for you and keep my promise to bring you back home.