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

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

Therefore a lion from the forest will attack them, a wolf from the desert will ravage them, a leopard will lie in wait near their towns to tear to pieces any who venture out, for their rebellion is great and their backslidings many. (niv)

A lion has come out of his lair; a destroyer of nations has set out. He has left his place to lay waste your land. Your towns will lie in ruins without inhabitant. (niv)

“ Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon has devoured us, he has thrown us into confusion, he has made us an empty jar. Like a serpent he has swallowed us and filled his stomach with our delicacies, and then has spewed us out. (niv)

During Jehoiakim’s reign, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon invaded the land, and Jehoiakim became his vassal for three years. But then he turned against Nebuchadnezzar and rebelled.The Lord sent Babylonian, Aramean, Moabite and Ammonite raiders against him to destroy Judah, in accordance with the word of the Lord proclaimed by his servants the prophets.Surely these things happened to Judah according to the Lord’s command, in order to remove them from his presence because of the sins of Manasseh and all he had done,including the shedding of innocent blood. For he had filled Jerusalem with innocent blood, and the Lord was not willing to forgive.As for the other events of Jehoiakim’s reign, and all he did, are they not written in the book of the annals of the kings of Judah?Jehoiakim rested with his ancestors. And Jehoiachin his son succeeded him as king.The king of Egypt did not march out from his own country again, because the king of Babylon had taken all his territory, from the Wadi of Egypt to the Euphrates River.Jehoiachin was eighteen years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem three months. His mother’s name was Nehushta daughter of Elnathan; she was from Jerusalem.He did evil in the eyes of the Lord, just as his father had done.At that time the officers of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon advanced on Jerusalem and laid siege to it,and Nebuchadnezzar himself came up to the city while his officers were besieging it.Jehoiachin king of Judah, his mother, his attendants, his nobles and his officials all surrendered to him. In the eighth year of the reign of the king of Babylon, he took Jehoiachin prisoner.As the Lord had declared, Nebuchadnezzar removed the treasures from the temple of the Lord and from the royal palace, and cut up the gold articles that Solomon king of Israel had made for the temple of the Lord.He carried all Jerusalem into exile: all the officers and fighting men, and all the skilled workers and artisans— a total of ten thousand. Only the poorest people of the land were left.Nebuchadnezzar took Jehoiachin captive to Babylon. He also took from Jerusalem to Babylon the king’s mother, his wives, his officials and the prominent people of the land.The king of Babylon also deported to Babylon the entire force of seven thousand fighting men, strong and fit for war, and a thousand skilled workers and artisans.He made Mattaniah, Jehoiachin’s uncle, king in his place and changed his name to Zedekiah.Zedekiah was twenty- one years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem eleven years. His mother’s name was Hamutal daughter of Jeremiah; she was from Libnah.He did evil in the eyes of the Lord, just as Jehoiakim had done.It was because of the Lord’s anger that all this happened to Jerusalem and Judah, and in the end he thrust them from his presence. Now Zedekiah rebelled against the king of Babylon. (niv)

In the ninth year of Zedekiah king of Judah, in the tenth month, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon marched against Jerusalem with his whole army and laid siege to it.And on the ninth day of the fourth month of Zedekiah’s eleventh year, the city wall was broken through.Then all the officials of the king of Babylon came and took seats in the Middle Gate: Nergal-Sharezer of Samgar, Nebo-Sarsekim a chief officer, Nergal-Sharezer a high official and all the other officials of the king of Babylon. (niv)

On the tenth day of the fifth month, in the nineteenth year of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, Nebuzaradan commander of the imperial guard, who served the king of Babylon, came to Jerusalem.He set fire to the temple of the Lord, the royal palace and all the houses of Jerusalem. Every important building he burned down.The whole Babylonian army, under the commander of the imperial guard, broke down all the walls around Jerusalem. (niv)

Then the city wall was broken through, and the whole army fled. They left the city at night through the gate between the two walls near the king’s garden, though the Babylonians were surrounding the city. They fled toward the Arabah, (niv)

In the third year of Hoshea son of Elah king of Israel, Hezekiah son of Ahaz king of Judah began to reign.He was twenty- five years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem twenty- nine years. His mother’s name was Abijah daughter of Zechariah.He did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, just as his father David had done.He removed the high places, smashed the sacred stones and cut down the Asherah poles. He broke into pieces the bronze snake Moses had made, for up to that time the Israelites had been burning incense to it.( It was called Nehushtan.)Hezekiah trusted in the Lord, the God of Israel. There was no one like him among all the kings of Judah, either before him or after him.He held fast to the Lord and did not stop following him; he kept the commands the Lord had given Moses.And the Lord was with him; he was successful in whatever he undertook. He rebelled against the king of Assyria and did not serve him.From watchtower to fortified city, he defeated the Philistines, as far as Gaza and its territory.In King Hezekiah’s fourth year, which was the seventh year of Hoshea son of Elah king of Israel, Shalmaneser king of Assyria marched against Samaria and laid siege to it.At the end of three years the Assyrians took it. So Samaria was captured in Hezekiah’s sixth year, which was the ninth year of Hoshea king of Israel.The king of Assyria deported Israel to Assyria and settled them in Halah, in Gozan on the Habor River and in towns of the Medes.This happened because they had not obeyed the Lord their God, but had violated his covenant— all that Moses the servant of the Lord commanded. They neither listened to the commands nor carried them out.In the fourteenth year of King Hezekiah’s reign, Sennacherib king of Assyria attacked all the fortified cities of Judah and captured them.So Hezekiah king of Judah sent this message to the king of Assyria at Lachish:“ I have done wrong. Withdraw from me, and I will pay whatever you demand of me.” The king of Assyria exacted from Hezekiah king of Judah three hundred talents of silver and thirty talents of gold.So Hezekiah gave him all the silver that was found in the temple of the Lord and in the treasuries of the royal palace.At this time Hezekiah king of Judah stripped off the gold with which he had covered the doors and doorposts of the temple of the Lord, and gave it to the king of Assyria.The king of Assyria sent his supreme commander, his chief officer and his field commander with a large army, from Lachish to King Hezekiah at Jerusalem. They came up to Jerusalem and stopped at the aqueduct of the Upper Pool, on the road to the Washerman’s Field.They called for the king; and Eliakim son of Hilkiah the palace administrator, Shebna the secretary, and Joah son of Asaph the recorder went out to them.The field commander said to them,“ Tell Hezekiah:“‘ This is what the great king, the king of Assyria, says: On what are you basing this confidence of yours? (niv)

After all that Hezekiah had so faithfully done, Sennacherib king of Assyria came and invaded Judah. He laid siege to the fortified cities, thinking to conquer them for himself.When Hezekiah saw that Sennacherib had come and that he intended to wage war against Jerusalem,he consulted with his officials and military staff about blocking off the water from the springs outside the city, and they helped him.They gathered a large group of people who blocked all the springs and the stream that flowed through the land.“ Why should the kings of Assyria come and find plenty of water?” they said.Then he worked hard repairing all the broken sections of the wall and building towers on it. He built another wall outside that one and reinforced the terraces of the City of David. He also made large numbers of weapons and shields.He appointed military officers over the people and assembled them before him in the square at the city gate and encouraged them with these words:“ Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or discouraged because of the king of Assyria and the vast army with him, for there is a greater power with us than with him.With him is only the arm of flesh, but with us is the Lord our God to help us and to fight our battles.” And the people gained confidence from what Hezekiah the king of Judah said.Later, when Sennacherib king of Assyria and all his forces were laying siege to Lachish, he sent his officers to Jerusalem with this message for Hezekiah king of Judah and for all the people of Judah who were there:“ This is what Sennacherib king of Assyria says: On what are you basing your confidence, that you remain in Jerusalem under siege?When Hezekiah says,‘ The Lord our God will save us from the hand of the king of Assyria,’ he is misleading you, to let you die of hunger and thirst.Did not Hezekiah himself remove this god’s high places and altars, saying to Judah and Jerusalem,‘ You must worship before one altar and burn sacrifices on it’?“ Do you not know what I and my predecessors have done to all the peoples of the other lands? Were the gods of those nations ever able to deliver their land from my hand?Who of all the gods of these nations that my predecessors destroyed has been able to save his people from me? How then can your god deliver you from my hand?Now do not let Hezekiah deceive you and mislead you like this. Do not believe him, for no god of any nation or kingdom has been able to deliver his people from my hand or the hand of my predecessors. How much less will your god deliver you from my hand!”Sennacherib’s officers spoke further against the Lord God and against his servant Hezekiah.The king also wrote letters ridiculing the Lord, the God of Israel, and saying this against him:“ Just as the gods of the peoples of the other lands did not rescue their people from my hand, so the god of Hezekiah will not rescue his people from my hand.”Then they called out in Hebrew to the people of Jerusalem who were on the wall, to terrify them and make them afraid in order to capture the city.They spoke about the God of Jerusalem as they did about the gods of the other peoples of the world— the work of human hands.King Hezekiah and the prophet Isaiah son of Amoz cried out in prayer to heaven about this.And the Lord sent an angel, who annihilated all the fighting men and the commanders and officers in the camp of the Assyrian king. So he withdrew to his own land in disgrace. And when he went into the temple of his god, some of his sons, his own flesh and blood, cut him down with the sword.So the Lord saved Hezekiah and the people of Jerusalem from the hand of Sennacherib king of Assyria and from the hand of all others. He took care of them on every side.Many brought offerings to Jerusalem for the Lord and valuable gifts for Hezekiah king of Judah. From then on he was highly regarded by all the nations.In those days Hezekiah became ill and was at the point of death. He prayed to the Lord, who answered him and gave him a miraculous sign.But Hezekiah’s heart was proud and he did not respond to the kindness shown him; therefore the Lord’s wrath was on him and on Judah and Jerusalem.Then Hezekiah repented of the pride of his heart, as did the people of Jerusalem; therefore the Lord’s wrath did not come on them during the days of Hezekiah.Hezekiah had very great wealth and honor, and he made treasuries for his silver and gold and for his precious stones, spices, shields and all kinds of valuables.He also made buildings to store the harvest of grain, new wine and olive oil; and he made stalls for various kinds of cattle, and pens for the flocks.He built villages and acquired great numbers of flocks and herds, for God had given him very great riches.It was Hezekiah who blocked the upper outlet of the Gihon spring and channeled the water down to the west side of the City of David. He succeeded in everything he undertook.But when envoys were sent by the rulers of Babylon to ask him about the miraculous sign that had occurred in the land, God left him to test him and to know everything that was in his heart.The other events of Hezekiah’s reign and his acts of devotion are written in the vision of the prophet Isaiah son of Amoz in the book of the kings of Judah and Israel.Hezekiah rested with his ancestors and was buried on the hill where the tombs of David’s descendants are. All Judah and the people of Jerusalem honored him when he died. And Manasseh his son succeeded him as king. (niv)

And the people of the land took Jehoahaz son of Josiah and made him king in Jerusalem in place of his father.Jehoahaz was twenty- three years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem three months.The king of Egypt dethroned him in Jerusalem and imposed on Judah a levy of a hundred talents of silver and a talent of gold.The king of Egypt made Eliakim, a brother of Jehoahaz, king over Judah and Jerusalem and changed Eliakim’s name to Jehoiakim. But Necho took Eliakim’s brother Jehoahaz and carried him off to Egypt.Jehoiakim was twenty- five years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem eleven years. He did evil in the eyes of the Lord his God.Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon attacked him and bound him with bronze shackles to take him to Babylon.Nebuchadnezzar also took to Babylon articles from the temple of the Lord and put them in his temple there.The other events of Jehoiakim’s reign, the detestable things he did and all that was found against him, are written in the book of the kings of Israel and Judah. And Jehoiachin his son succeeded him as king.Jehoiachin was eighteen years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem three months and ten days. He did evil in the eyes of the Lord.In the spring, King Nebuchadnezzar sent for him and brought him to Babylon, together with articles of value from the temple of the Lord, and he made Jehoiachin’s uncle, Zedekiah, king over Judah and Jerusalem.Zedekiah was twenty- one years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem eleven years.He did evil in the eyes of the Lord his God and did not humble himself before Jeremiah the prophet, who spoke the word of the Lord.He also rebelled against King Nebuchadnezzar, who had made him take an oath in God’s name. He became stiff-necked and hardened his heart and would not turn to the Lord, the God of Israel.Furthermore, all the leaders of the priests and the people became more and more unfaithful, following all the detestable practices of the nations and defiling the temple of the Lord, which he had consecrated in Jerusalem.The Lord, the God of their ancestors, sent word to them through his messengers again and again, because he had pity on his people and on his dwelling place.But they mocked God’s messengers, despised his words and scoffed at his prophets until the wrath of the Lord was aroused against his people and there was no remedy.He brought up against them the king of the Babylonians, who killed their young men with the sword in the sanctuary, and did not spare young men or young women, the elderly or the infirm. God gave them all into the hands of Nebuchadnezzar.He carried to Babylon all the articles from the temple of God, both large and small, and the treasures of the Lord’s temple and the treasures of the king and his officials.They set fire to God’s temple and broke down the wall of Jerusalem; they burned all the palaces and destroyed everything of value there.He carried into exile to Babylon the remnant, who escaped from the sword, and they became servants to him and his successors until the kingdom of Persia came to power.The land enjoyed its sabbath rests; all the time of its desolation it rested, until the seventy years were completed in fulfillment of the word of the Lord spoken by Jeremiah.In the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, in order to fulfill the word of the Lord spoken by Jeremiah, the Lord moved the heart of Cyrus king of Persia to make a proclamation throughout his realm and also to put it in writing:“ This is what Cyrus king of Persia says:“‘ The Lord, the God of heaven, has given me all the kingdoms of the earth and he has appointed me to build a temple for him at Jerusalem in Judah. Any of his people among you may go up, and may the Lord their God be with them.’” (niv)