Gather your belongings together and prepare to leave the land, you people of Jerusalem ¹  who are being besieged. ² 

Babylon will become a heap of ruins. Jackals will make their home there. ¹  It will become an object of horror and of hissing scorn, a place where no one lives. ² 

“‘See how each of the princes of Israel living within you has used his authority to shed blood. ¹ 

You have despised my holy things and desecrated my Sabbaths!

The pavement was beside the gates, corresponding to the length of the gates; this was the lower pavement.

Below these chambers was a passage on the east side as one enters from the outer court.

Then he brought me back by way of the outer gate of the sanctuary which faces east, but it was shut.

“These are the exits of the city: On the north side, one and one-half miles ¹  by measure,

He flashes ¹  destruction down upon the strong so that destruction overwhelms ²  the fortified places.)

I will destroy the cities of your land, and tear down all your fortresses.

Now ¹  while some were speaking about the temple, how it was adorned ²  with beautiful stones and offerings, ³  Jesus ⁴  said,

Jehu sent invitations throughout Israel, and all the servants of Baal came; not one was absent. They arrived at the temple of Baal and filled it up from end to end. ¹ 

Then Eliashib the high priest and his priestly colleagues ¹  arose and built the Sheep Gate. They dedicated ²  it and erected its doors, working as far as the Tower of the Hundred ³  and ⁴  the Tower of Hananel.

Meremoth son of Uriah, the son of Hakoz, worked on the section adjacent to them. Meshullam son of Berechiah the son of Meshezabel worked on the section next to them. And Zadok son of Baana worked on the section adjacent to them.

Nehemiah son of Azbuk, head of a half-district of Beth Zur, worked after him as far as the tombs of David and the artificial pool and the House of the Warriors.

All of this is because ¹  the Lord who rules over all ²  has said: ‘Cut down the trees around Jerusalem and build up a siege ramp against its walls. ³  This is the city which is to be punished. ⁴  Nothing but oppression happens in it. ⁵ 

He did this while the army of the king of Babylon was attacking Jerusalem and the cities of Lachish and Azekah. He was attacking these cities because they were the only fortified cities of Judah which were still holding out. ¹ 

A third of your people will die of plague or be overcome by the famine within you. ¹  A third of your people will fall by the sword surrounding you, ²  and a third I will scatter to the winds. I will unleash a sword behind them.

“‘Therefore this is what the sovereign Lord says: In my rage I will make a violent wind break out. In my anger there will be a deluge of rain and hailstones in destructive fury.

Then he measured the length of the building facing the courtyard at the rear of the temple, with its galleries on either side as 175 feet. ¹  The interior of the outer sanctuary and the porch of the court, ²