After about two years his intestines came out because of the disease, so that he died a very painful death. ¹  His people did not make a bonfire to honor him, as they had done for his ancestors. ² 

Uzziel son of Harhaiah, a member of the goldsmiths’ guild, worked on the section adjacent to him. Hananiah, a member of the perfumers’ guild, worked on the section adjacent to him. They plastered ¹  the city wall of Jerusalem ²  as far as the Broad Wall.

So the people went out and brought these things ¹  back and constructed temporary shelters for themselves, each on his roof and in his courtyard and in the courtyards of the temple ²  of God and in the plaza of the Water Gate and the plaza of the Ephraim Gate.

You made a reservoir between the two walls for the water of the old pool – but you did not trust in ¹  the one who made it; ²  you did not depend on ³  the one who formed it long ago!

‘What right do you have to be here? What relatives do you have buried here? ¹  Why ²  do you chisel out a tomb for yourself here? He chisels out his burial site in an elevated place, he carves out his tomb on a cliff.

Look at the land of the Chaldeans, these people who have lost their identity! ¹  The Assyrians have made it a home for wild animals. They erected their siege towers, ²  demolished ³  its fortresses, and turned it into a heap of ruins. ⁴ 

Therefore, this is what the sovereign master, the Lord, says: “Look, I am laying ¹  a stone in Zion, an approved ²  stone, set in place as a precious cornerstone for the foundation. ³  The one who maintains his faith will not panic. ⁴ 

who fulfills the oracles of his prophetic servants ¹  and brings to pass the announcements ²  of his messengers, who says about Jerusalem, ³  ‘She will be inhabited,’ and about the towns of Judah, ‘They will be rebuilt, her ruins I will raise up,’

who commissions ¹  Cyrus, the one I appointed as shepherd ²  to carry out all my wishes ³  and to decree concerning Jerusalem, ‘She will be rebuilt,’ and concerning the temple, ‘It will be reconstructed.’” ⁴ 

They have also built places of worship ¹  in a place called Topheth ²  in the Valley of Ben Hinnom so that they can sacrifice their sons and daughters by fire. That is something I never commanded them to do! Indeed, it never even entered my mind to command such a thing! ³ 

They have built places here ¹  for worship of the god Baal so that they could sacrifice their children as burnt offerings to him in the fire. Such sacrifices ²  are something I never commanded them to make! They are something I never told them to do! Indeed, such a thing never even entered my mind!

Does it make you any more of a king that you outstrip everyone else in ¹  building with cedar? Just think about your father. He was content that he had food and drink. ²  He did what was just and right. ³  So things went well with him.

The Lord says, “I will restore the ruined houses of the descendants of Jacob. I will show compassion on their ruined homes. ¹  Every city will be rebuilt on its former ruins. ²  Every fortified dwelling will occupy its traditional site. ³ 

‘The defenders of the city will go out and fight with the Babylonians. ¹  But they will only fill those houses and buildings with the dead bodies of the people that I will kill in my anger and my wrath. ²  That will happen because I have decided to turn my back on ³  this city on account of the wicked things they have done. ⁴ 

“Take some large stones ¹  and bury them in the mortar of the clay pavement ²  at the entrance of Pharaoh’s residence ³  here in Tahpanhes. Do it while the people of Judah present there are watching. ⁴ 

The soldiers of Babylonia will stop fighting. They will remain in their fortified cities. They will lose their strength to do battle. ¹  They will be as frightened as women. ²  The houses in her cities will be set on fire. The gates of her cities will be broken down. ³ 

ז (Zayin) The Lord ¹  rejected ²  his altar and abhorred his temple. ³  He handed over to the enemy ⁴  her palace walls; the enemy ⁵  shouted ⁶  in the Lord’s temple as if it were a feast day. ⁷ 

I will plant it on a high mountain of Israel, and it will raise branches and produce fruit and become a beautiful cedar. Every bird will live under it; Every winged creature will live in the shade of its branches.

I will seek the lost and bring back the strays; I will bandage the injured and strengthen the sick, but the fat and the strong I will destroy. I will feed them – with judgment!

Then the nations which remain around you will know that I, the Lord, have rebuilt the ruins and replanted what was desolate. I, the Lord, have spoken – and I will do it!’