Lexicon :: Strong's H2063 - zō'ṯ

Cross over to the coasts of Cyprus[fn] and take a look.

Send someone to Kedar and consider carefully;

see if there has ever been anything like this:

Be appalled at this, heavens;

be shocked and utterly desolated!

This is the LORD’s declaration.

Have you not brought this on yourself

by abandoning the LORD your God

while he was leading you along the way?

“Yet in spite of all this, her treacherous sister Judah didn’t return to me with all her heart ​— ​only in pretense.”

This is the LORD’s declaration.

Because of this, put on sackcloth;

mourn and wail,

for the LORD’s burning anger

has not turned away from us.

Your way and your actions

have brought this on you.

This is your punishment. It is very bitter,

because it has reached your heart!

“Because of this, the earth will mourn;

the skies above will grow dark.

I have spoken; I have planned,

and I will not relent or turn back from it.”

Why should I forgive you?

Your children have abandoned me

and sworn by those who are not gods.

I satisfied their needs, yet they committed adultery;

they gashed themselves at the[fn] prostitute’s house.

“Declare this in the house of Jacob; proclaim it in Judah, saying:

“Death will be chosen over life by all the survivors of this evil family, those who remain wherever I have banished them.” This is the declaration of the LORD of Armies.

Who is the person wise enough to understand this? Who has the LORD spoken to, that he may explain it? Why is the land destroyed and scorched like a wilderness, so no one can pass through?

“But the one who boasts should boast in this:

that he understands and knows me —

that I am the LORD, showing faithful love,

justice, and righteousness on the earth,

for I delight in these things.

This is the LORD’s declaration.

For this is what the LORD says:

Look, I am flinging away

the land’s residents at this time

and bringing them such distress

that they will feel it.

“Listen to the words of this covenant and tell them to the men of Judah and the residents of Jerusalem.

The LORD said to me, “Proclaim all these words in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem: ‘Obey the words of this covenant and carry them out.’

“Yet they would not obey or pay attention; each one followed the stubbornness of his evil heart. So I brought on them all the curses of this covenant, because they had not done what I commanded them to do.”

“And you will say to them, ‘This is what the LORD says: I am about to fill all who live in this land ​— ​the kings who reign for David on his throne, the priests, the prophets, and all the residents of Jerusalem ​— ​with drunkenness.

“Therefore, this is what the LORD says concerning the prophets who prophesy in my name, though I did not send them, and who say, ‘There will never be sword or famine in this land.’ By sword and famine these prophets will meet their end.

“For this is what the LORD says concerning sons and daughters born in this place as well as concerning the mothers who bear them and the fathers who father them in this land:

“Both great and small will die in this land without burial. No lament will be made for them, nor will anyone cut himself or shave his head for them.[fn]

“When you tell these people all these things, they will say to you, ‘Why has the LORD declared all this terrible disaster against us? What is our iniquity? What is our sin that we have committed against the LORD our God? ’

“So I will hurl you from this land into a land that you and your ancestors have not known. There you will worship other gods both day and night, for I will not grant you grace.’[fn]

“Therefore, I am about to inform them,

and this time I will make them know

my power and my might;

then they will know that my name is the LORD.”

“ ‘However, if you listen to me ​— ​this is the LORD’s declaration ​— ​and do not bring loads through the gates of this city on the Sabbath day, but keep the Sabbath day holy and do no work on it,

“I will make this city desolate, an object of scorn. Everyone who passes by it will be appalled and scoff because of all its wounds.

“and you are to proclaim to them, ‘This is what the LORD of Armies says: I will shatter these people and this city, like one shatters a potter’s jar that can never again be mended. They will bury the dead in Topheth because there is no other place for burials.

“This is what the LORD of Armies, the God of Israel, says: ‘I am about to bring on this city ​— ​and on all its cities ​— ​every disaster that I spoke against it, for they have become obstinate, not obeying my words.’ ”

“I will give away all the wealth of this city, all its products and valuables. Indeed, I will hand all the treasures of the kings of Judah over to their enemies. They will plunder them, seize them, and carry them off to Babylon.

“‘This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: I am about to repel the weapons of war in your hands, those you are using to fight the king of Babylon and the Chaldeans[fn] who are besieging you outside the wall, and I will bring them into the center of this city.

“I will strike the residents of this city, both people and animals. They will die in a severe plague.

“Whoever stays in this city will die by the sword, famine, and plague, but whoever goes out and surrenders to the Chaldeans who are besieging you will live and will retain his life like the spoils of war.

“Many nations will pass by this city and ask one another, ‘Why did the LORD do such a thing to this great city? ’

“but he will die in the place where they deported him, never seeing this land again.”

“I will keep my eyes on them for their good and will return them to this land. I will build them up and not demolish them; I will plant them and not uproot them.

“But as for the bad figs, so bad they are inedible, this is what the LORD says: In this way I will deal with King Zedekiah of Judah, his officials, and the remnant of Jerusalem ​— ​those remaining in this land or living in the land of Egypt.

“I am going to send for all the families of the north’ ​— ​this is the LORD’s declaration ​— ​‘and send for my servant Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and I will bring them against this land, against its residents, and against all these surrounding nations, and I will completely destroy them and make them an example of horror and scorn, and ruins forever.

“This whole land will become a desolate ruin, and these nations will serve the king of Babylon for seventy years.

This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, said to me: “Take this cup of the wine of wrath from my hand and make all the nations to whom I am sending you drink from it.

“I will make this temple like Shiloh. I will make this city an example for cursing for all the nations of the earth.’ ”

“How dare you prophesy in the name of the LORD, ‘This temple will become like Shiloh and this city will become an uninhabited ruin’! ” Then all the people crowded around Jeremiah at the LORD’s temple.

Then the priests and prophets said to the officials and all the people, “This man deserves the death sentence because he has prophesied against this city, as you have heard with your own ears.”

“But know for certain that if you put me to death, you will bring innocent blood on yourselves, on this city, and on its residents, for it is certain the LORD has sent me to speak all these things directly to you.”

Another man was also prophesying in the name of the LORD ​— ​Uriah son of Shemaiah from Kiriath-jearim. He prophesied against this city and against this land in words like all those of Jeremiah.