“ The Israelites are like sheep that have been scattered by lions. First the king of Assyria ate them up. Then King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon cracked their bones.”

“以色列是打散的羊，是被狮子赶出的。首先是亚述王将他吞灭，末后是巴比伦王尼布甲尼撒将他的骨头折断。”

以色列是打散的羊，被狮子赶散。首先是亚述王将他吞灭，末后是巴比伦王尼布甲尼撒折断他的骨头。

以色列是打散的羊，被狮子赶散。首先是亚述王将他吞灭，末后是巴比伦王尼布甲尼撒折断他的骨头。

“以色列人是一群被狮子驱散的羊，先被亚述王吞噬，后被巴比伦王尼布甲尼撒咬碎骨头。”

以色列是被赶散的羊，它被狮子赶逐。先是亚述王把它吞灭，现在巴比伦王尼布甲尼撒要咬碎它的骨头。

「以色列是打散的羊，是被獅子趕出的。首先是亞述王將他吞滅，末後是巴比倫王尼布甲尼撒將他的骨頭折斷。」

以色列是打散的羊，被獅子趕散。首先是亞述王將他吞滅，末後是巴比倫王尼布甲尼撒折斷他的骨頭。

以色列是打散的羊，被獅子趕散。首先是亞述王將他吞滅，末後是巴比倫王尼布甲尼撒折斷他的骨頭。

「以色列人是一群被獅子驅散的羊，先被亞述王吞噬，後被巴比倫王尼布甲尼撒咬碎骨頭。」

以色列是被趕散的羊，它被獅子趕逐。先是亞述王把它吞滅，現在巴比倫王尼布甲尼撒要咬碎它的骨頭。

『以色列是被打散的羊，有獅子把他趕逐了：首先是亞述王將他吞滅，末後是他的骨頭被巴比倫王尼布甲尼撒啃斷了。

以色列乃離散之羊、為獅所逐、始則亞述王吞噬之、終則巴比倫王尼布甲尼撒折其骨、

以色列族若亡羊、為獅所驅、初為亞述王吞噬、後為巴比倫王尼布甲尼撒折骨。

以色列族、若亡羊為獅所驅、初、亞述王食其肉、後、巴比倫王尼布甲尼撒折其骨、

“ Israel is a scattered flock that lions have chased away. The first to devour them was the king of Assyria; the last to crush their bones was Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon.”

“ Israel is like a scattered flock that lions have chased away. The first lion that ate them up was the king of Assyria. The last one that broke their bones was Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon.”

“ Israel is a hunted sheep driven away by lions. First the king of Assyria devoured him, and now at last Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon has gnawed his bones.

Israel is a stray lamb, chased by lions. The first who devoured him was the king of Assyria; the last who crushed his bones was King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon.

“ Israel is a scattered flock, the lions have driven them away. The first one who devoured him was the king of Assyria, and this last one who has gnawed his bones is Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon.

“ Israel is like scattered sheep; The lions have driven him away. First the king of Assyria devoured him; Now at last this Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon has broken his bones.”

Israel is a hunted sheep; the lions have driven him away: first, the king of Assyria devoured him; and now at last Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon hath broken his bones.

Israel is a stray lamb, chased by lions. The first who devoured him was the king of Assyria; the last one who crushed his bones was Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon.

Israel[ is] a scattered sheep; the lions have driven[ him] away: first the king of Assyria hath devoured him; and last this Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon hath broken his bones.

“ The people of Israel are like scattered sheep which lions have chased away. First the king of Assyria devoured them. Now last of all King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon has gnawed their bones.

“ Israel is a hunted sheep. The lions have driven him away. First, the king of Assyria devoured him, and now at last Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon has broken his bones.”

Strong lions have roared against him, and the land has been destroyed. The towns are now in ruins, and no one lives in them anymore.

Once you were like sheep who wandered away. But now you have turned to your Shepherd, the Guardian of your souls.

During the fourth year of Hezekiah’s reign, which was the seventh year of King Hoshea’s reign in Israel, King Shalmaneser of Assyria attacked the city of Samaria and began a siege against it.Three years later, during the sixth year of King Hezekiah’s reign and the ninth year of King Hoshea’s reign in Israel, Samaria fell.At that time the king of Assyria exiled the Israelites to Assyria and placed them in colonies in Halah, along the banks of the Habor River in Gozan, and in the cities of the Medes.For they refused to listen to the Lord their God and obey him. Instead, they violated his covenant— all the laws that Moses the Lord’s servant had commanded them to obey.In the fourteenth year of King Hezekiah’s reign, King Sennacherib of Assyria came to attack the fortified towns of Judah and conquered them.

I will gather the armies of the world into the valley of Jehoshaphat. There I will judge them for harming my people, my special possession, for scattering my people among the nations, and for dividing up my land.

“ My people have been lost sheep. Their shepherds have led them astray and turned them loose in the mountains. They have lost their way and can’t remember how to get back to the sheepfold.

Zedekiah was twenty one years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem eleven years. His mother was Hamutal, the daughter of Jeremiah from Libnah.

So now a lion from the forest will attack them; a wolf from the desert will pounce on them. A leopard will lurk near their towns, tearing apart any who dare to venture out. For their rebellion is great, and their sins are many.

“ What sorrow awaits the leaders of my people— the shepherds of my sheep— for they have destroyed and scattered the very ones they were expected to care for,” says the Lord.Therefore, this is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says to these shepherds:“ Instead of caring for my flock and leading them to safety, you have deserted them and driven them to destruction. Now I will pour out judgment on you for the evil you have done to them.

In January of the ninth year of King Zedekiah’s reign, King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon came with his entire army to besiege Jerusalem.Two and a half years later, on July 18 in the eleventh year of Zedekiah’s reign, a section of the city wall was broken down.All the officers of the Babylonian army came in and sat in triumph at the Middle Gate: Nergal sharezer of Samgar, and Nebo sarsekim, a chief officer, and Nergal sharezer, the king’s adviser, and all the other officers of the king of Babylon.When King Zedekiah of Judah and all the soldiers saw that the Babylonians had broken into the city, they fled. They waited for nightfall and then slipped through the gate between the two walls behind the king’s garden and headed toward the Jordan Valley.But the Babylonian troops chased them and overtook Zedekiah on the plains of Jericho. They captured him and took him to King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon, who was at Riblah in the land of Hamath. There the king of Babylon pronounced judgment upon Zedekiah.The king of Babylon made Zedekiah watch as he slaughtered his sons at Riblah. The king of Babylon also slaughtered all the nobles of Judah.Then he gouged out Zedekiah’s eyes and bound him in bronze chains to lead him away to Babylon.Meanwhile, the Babylonians burned Jerusalem, including the royal palace and the houses of the people, and they tore down the walls of the city.

Therefore, the Lord will overwhelm them with a mighty flood from the Euphrates River— the king of Assyria and all his glory. This flood will overflow all its channelsand sweep into Judah until it is chin deep. It will spread its wings, submerging your land from one end to the other, O Immanuel.

“ What sorrow awaits Assyria, the rod of my anger. I use it as a club to express my anger.I am sending Assyria against a godless nation, against a people with whom I am angry. Assyria will plunder them, trampling them like dirt beneath its feet.But the king of Assyria will not understand that he is my tool; his mind does not work that way. His plan is simply to destroy, to cut down nation after nation.

So the Lord sent the commanders of the Assyrian armies, and they took Manasseh prisoner. They put a ring through his nose, bound him in bronze chains, and led him away to Babylon.

Then the people of the land took Josiah’s son Jehoahaz and made him the next king in Jerusalem.Jehoahaz was twenty three years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem three months.Then he was deposed by the king of Egypt, who demanded that Judah pay 7,500 pounds of silver and 75 pounds of gold as tribute.The king of Egypt then installed Eliakim, the brother of Jehoahaz, as the next king of Judah and Jerusalem, and he changed Eliakim’s name to Jehoiakim. Then Neco took Jehoahaz to Egypt as a prisoner.Jehoiakim was twenty five years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem eleven years. He did what was evil in the sight of the Lord his God.Then King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon came to Jerusalem and captured it, and he bound Jehoiakim in bronze chains and led him away to Babylon.Nebuchadnezzar also took some of the treasures from the Temple of the Lord, and he placed them in his palace in Babylon.The rest of the events in Jehoiakim’s reign, including all the evil things he did and everything found against him, are recorded in The Book of the Kings of Israel and Judah. Then his son Jehoiachin became the next king.Jehoiachin was eighteen years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem three months and ten days. Jehoiachin did what was evil in the Lord’s sight.In the spring of the year King Nebuchadnezzar took Jehoiachin to Babylon. Many treasures from the Temple of the Lord were also taken to Babylon at that time. And Nebuchadnezzar installed Jehoiachin’s uncle, Zedekiah, as the next king in Judah and Jerusalem.Zedekiah was twenty one years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem eleven years.But Zedekiah did what was evil in the sight of the Lord his God, and he refused to humble himself when the prophet Jeremiah spoke to him directly from the Lord.He also rebelled against King Nebuchadnezzar, even though he had taken an oath of loyalty in God’s name. Zedekiah was a hard and stubborn man, refusing to turn to the Lord, the God of Israel.Likewise, all the leaders of the priests and the people became more and more unfaithful. They followed all the pagan practices of the surrounding nations, desecrating the Temple of the Lord that had been consecrated in Jerusalem.The Lord, the God of their ancestors, repeatedly sent his prophets to warn them, for he had compassion on his people and his Temple.But the people mocked these messengers of God and despised their words. They scoffed at the prophets until the Lord’s anger could no longer be restrained and nothing could be done.So the Lord brought the king of Babylon against them. The Babylonians killed Judah’s young men, even chasing after them into the Temple. They had no pity on the people, killing both young men and young women, the old and the infirm. God handed all of them over to Nebuchadnezzar.The king took home to Babylon all the articles, large and small, used in the Temple of God, and the treasures from both the Lord’s Temple and from the palace of the king and his officials.Then his army burned the Temple of God, tore down the walls of Jerusalem, burned all the palaces, and completely destroyed everything of value.The few who survived were taken as exiles to Babylon, and they became servants to the king and his sons until the kingdom of Persia came to power.So the message of the Lord spoken through Jeremiah was fulfilled. The land finally enjoyed its Sabbath rest, lying desolate until the seventy years were fulfilled, just as the prophet had said.In the first year of King Cyrus of Persia, the Lord fulfilled the prophecy he had given through Jeremiah. He stirred the heart of Cyrus to put this proclamation in writing and to send it throughout his kingdom:“ This is what King Cyrus of Persia says:“ The Lord, the God of heaven, has given me all the kingdoms of the earth. He has appointed me to build him a Temple at Jerusalem, which is in Judah. Any of you who are his people may go there for this task. And may the Lord your God be with you!”

During Jehoiakim’s reign, King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon invaded the land of Judah. Jehoiakim surrendered and paid him tribute for three years but then rebelled.Then the Lord sent bands of Babylonian, Aramean, Moabite, and Ammonite raiders against Judah to destroy it, just as the Lord had promised through his prophets.These disasters happened to Judah because of the Lord’s command. He had decided to banish Judah from his presence because of the many sins of Manasseh,who had filled Jerusalem with innocent blood. The Lord would not forgive this.The rest of the events in Jehoiakim’s reign and all his deeds are recorded in The Book of the History of the Kings of Judah.When Jehoiakim died, his son Jehoiachin became the next king.The king of Egypt did not venture out of his country after that, for the king of Babylon captured the entire area formerly claimed by Egypt— from the Brook of Egypt to the Euphrates River.Jehoiachin was eighteen years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem three months. His mother was Nehushta, the daughter of Elnathan from Jerusalem.Jehoiachin did what was evil in the Lord’s sight, just as his father had done.During Jehoiachin’s reign, the officers of King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon came up against Jerusalem and besieged it.Nebuchadnezzar himself arrived at the city during the siege.Then King Jehoiachin, along with the queen mother, his advisers, his commanders, and his officials, surrendered to the Babylonians. In the eighth year of Nebuchadnezzar’s reign, he took Jehoiachin prisoner.As the Lord had said beforehand, Nebuchadnezzar carried away all the treasures from the Lord’s Temple and the royal palace. He stripped away all the gold objects that King Solomon of Israel had placed in the Temple.King Nebuchadnezzar took all of Jerusalem captive, including all the commanders and the best of the soldiers, craftsmen, and artisans— 10,000 in all. Only the poorest people were left in the land.Nebuchadnezzar led King Jehoiachin away as a captive to Babylon, along with the queen mother, his wives and officials, and all Jerusalem’s elite.He also exiled 7,000 of the best troops and 1,000 craftsmen and artisans, all of whom were strong and fit for war.Then the king of Babylon installed Mattaniah, Jehoiachin’s uncle, as the next king, and he changed Mattaniah’s name to Zedekiah.Zedekiah was twenty one years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem eleven years. His mother was Hamutal, the daughter of Jeremiah from Libnah.But Zedekiah did what was evil in the Lord’s sight, just as Jehoiakim had done.These things happened because of the Lord’s anger against the people of Jerusalem and Judah, until he finally banished them from his presence and sent them into exile. Zedekiah rebelled against the king of Babylon.So on January 15, during the ninth year of Zedekiah’s reign, King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon led his entire army against Jerusalem. They surrounded the city and built siege ramps against its walls.Jerusalem was kept under siege until the eleventh year of King Zedekiah’s reign.By July 18 in the eleventh year of Zedekiah’s reign, the famine in the city had become very severe, and the last of the food was entirely gone.Then a section of the city wall was broken down. Since the city was surrounded by the Babylonians, the soldiers waited for nightfall and escaped through the gate between the two walls behind the king’s garden. Then they headed toward the Jordan Valley.But the Babylonian troops chased the king and overtook him on the plains of Jericho, for his men had all deserted him and scattered.They captured the king and took him to the king of Babylon at Riblah, where they pronounced judgment upon Zedekiah.They made Zedekiah watch as they slaughtered his sons. Then they gouged out Zedekiah’s eyes, bound him in bronze chains, and led him away to Babylon.

Her people will roar together like strong lions. They will growl like lion cubs.

So my sheep have been scattered without a shepherd, and they are easy prey for any wild animal.They have wandered through all the mountains and all the hills, across the face of the earth, yet no one has gone to search for them.

A lion stalks from its den, a destroyer of nations. It has left its lair and is headed your way. It’s going to devastate your land! Your towns will lie in ruins, with no one living in them anymore.

So when King Tiglath pileser of Assyria arrived, he attacked Ahaz instead of helping him.

“ Then the Lord will bring things on you, your nation, and your family unlike anything since Israel broke away from Judah. He will bring the king of Assyria upon you!”In that day the Lord will whistle for the army of southern Egypt and for the army of Assyria. They will swarm around you like flies and bees.They will come in vast hordes and settle in the fertile areas and also in the desolate valleys, caves, and thorny places.In that day the Lord will hire a“ razor” from beyond the Euphrates River— the king of Assyria— and use it to shave off everything: your land, your crops, and your people.

In the fourteenth year of King Hezekiah’s reign, King Sennacherib of Assyria came to attack the fortified towns of Judah and conquered them.Then the king of Assyria sent his chief of staff from Lachish with a huge army to confront King Hezekiah in Jerusalem. The Assyrians took up a position beside the aqueduct that feeds water into the upper pool, near the road leading to the field where cloth is washed.These are the officials who went out to meet with them: Eliakim son of Hilkiah, the palace administrator; Shebna the court secretary; and Joah son of Asaph, the royal historian.Then the Assyrian king’s chief of staff told them to give this message to Hezekiah:“ This is what the great king of Assyria says: What are you trusting in that makes you so confident?Do you think that mere words can substitute for military skill and strength? Who are you counting on, that you have rebelled against me?On Egypt? If you lean on Egypt, it will be like a reed that splinters beneath your weight and pierces your hand. Pharaoh, the king of Egypt, is completely unreliable!“ But perhaps you will say to me,‘ We are trusting in the Lord our God!’ But isn’t he the one who was insulted by Hezekiah? Didn’t Hezekiah tear down his shrines and altars and make everyone in Judah and Jerusalem worship only at the altar here in Jerusalem?“ I’ll tell you what! Strike a bargain with my master, the king of Assyria. I will give you 2,000 horses if you can find that many men to ride on them!With your tiny army, how can you think of challenging even the weakest contingent of my master’s troops, even with the help of Egypt’s chariots and charioteers?What’s more, do you think we have invaded your land without the Lord’s direction? The Lord himself told us,‘ Attack this land and destroy it!’”Then Eliakim, Shebna, and Joah said to the Assyrian chief of staff,“ Please speak to us in Aramaic, for we understand it well. Don’t speak in Hebrew, for the people on the wall will hear.”But Sennacherib’s chief of staff replied,“ Do you think my master sent this message only to you and your master? He wants all the people to hear it, for when we put this city under siege, they will suffer along with you. They will be so hungry and thirsty that they will eat their own dung and drink their own urine.”Then the chief of staff stood and shouted in Hebrew to the people on the wall,“ Listen to this message from the great king of Assyria!This is what the king says: Don’t let Hezekiah deceive you. He will never be able to rescue you.Don’t let him fool you into trusting in the Lord by saying,‘ The Lord will surely rescue us. This city will never fall into the hands of the Assyrian king!’“ Don’t listen to Hezekiah! These are the terms the king of Assyria is offering: Make peace with me— open the gates and come out. Then each of you can continue eating from your own grapevine and fig tree and drinking from your own well.Then I will arrange to take you to another land like this one— a land of grain and new wine, bread and vineyards.“ Don’t let Hezekiah mislead you by saying,‘ The Lord will rescue us!’ Have the gods of any other nations ever saved their people from the king of Assyria?What happened to the gods of Hamath and Arpad? And what about the gods of Sepharvaim? Did any god rescue Samaria from my power?What god of any nation has ever been able to save its people from my power? So what makes you think that the Lord can rescue Jerusalem from me?”But the people were silent and did not utter a word because Hezekiah had commanded them,“ Do not answer him.”Then Eliakim son of Hilkiah, the palace administrator; Shebna the court secretary; and Joah son of Asaph, the royal historian, went back to Hezekiah. They tore their clothes in despair, and they went in to see the king and told him what the Assyrian chief of staff had said.

After Hezekiah had faithfully carried out this work, King Sennacherib of Assyria invaded Judah. He laid siege to the fortified towns, giving orders for his army to break through their walls.When Hezekiah realized that Sennacherib also intended to attack Jerusalem,he consulted with his officials and military advisers, and they decided to stop the flow of the springs outside the city.They organized a huge work crew to stop the flow of the springs, cutting off the brook that ran through the fields. For they said,“ Why should the kings of Assyria come here and find plenty of water?”Then Hezekiah worked hard at repairing all the broken sections of the wall, erecting towers, and constructing a second wall outside the first. He also reinforced the supporting terraces in the City of David and manufactured 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. Then Hezekiah encouraged them by saying:“ Be strong and courageous! Don’t be afraid or discouraged because of the king of Assyria or his mighty army, for there is a power far greater on our side!He may have a great army, but they are merely men. We have the Lord our God to help us and to fight our battles for us!” Hezekiah’s words greatly encouraged the people.While King Sennacherib of Assyria was still besieging the town of Lachish, he sent his officers to Jerusalem with this message for Hezekiah and all the people in the city:“ This is what King Sennacherib of Assyria says: What are you trusting in that makes you think you can survive my siege of Jerusalem?Hezekiah has said,‘ The Lord our God will rescue us from the king of Assyria.’ Surely Hezekiah is misleading you, sentencing you to death by famine and thirst!Don’t you realize that Hezekiah is the very person who destroyed all the Lord’s shrines and altars? He commanded Judah and Jerusalem to worship only at the altar at the Temple and to offer sacrifices on it alone.“ Surely you must realize what I and the other kings of Assyria before me have done to all the people of the earth! Were any of the gods of those nations able to rescue their people from my power?Which of their gods was able to rescue its people from the destructive power of my predecessors? What makes you think your God can rescue you from me?Don’t let Hezekiah deceive you! Don’t let him fool you like this! I say it again— no god of any nation or kingdom has ever yet been able to rescue his people from me or my ancestors. How much less will your God rescue you from my power!”And Sennacherib’s officers further mocked the Lord God and his servant Hezekiah, heaping insult upon insult.The king also sent letters scorning the Lord, the God of Israel. He wrote,“ Just as the gods of all the other nations failed to rescue their people from my power, so the God of Hezekiah will also fail.”The Assyrian officials who brought the letters shouted this in Hebrew to the people gathered on the walls of the city, trying to terrify them so it would be easier to capture the city.These officers talked about the God of Jerusalem as though he were one of the pagan gods, made by human hands.Then King Hezekiah and the prophet Isaiah son of Amoz cried out in prayer to God in heaven.And the Lord sent an angel who destroyed the Assyrian army with all its commanders and officers. So Sennacherib was forced to return home in disgrace to his own land. And when he entered the temple of his god, some of his own sons killed him there with a sword.That is how the Lord rescued Hezekiah and the people of Jerusalem from King Sennacherib of Assyria and from all the others who threatened them. So there was peace throughout the land.From then on King Hezekiah became highly respected among all the surrounding nations, and many gifts for the Lord arrived at Jerusalem, with valuable presents for King Hezekiah, too.

“ If a man has a hundred sheep and one of them gets lost, what will he do? Won’t he leave the ninety nine others in the wilderness and go to search for the one that is lost until he finds it?And when he has found it, he will joyfully carry it home on his shoulders.When he arrives, he will call together his friends and neighbors, saying,‘ Rejoice with me because I have found my lost sheep.’

I will come like a lion from the thickets of the Jordan, leaping on the sheep in the pasture. I will chase Edom from its land, and I will appoint the leader of my choice. For who is like me, and who can challenge me? What ruler can oppose my will?”

I will be like a shepherd looking for his scattered flock. I will find my sheep and rescue them from all the places where they were scattered on that dark and cloudy day.

The thief’s purpose is to steal and kill and destroy. My purpose is to give them a rich and satisfying life.“ I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd sacrifices his life for the sheep.A hired hand will run when he sees a wolf coming. He will abandon the sheep because they don’t belong to him and he isn’t their shepherd. And so the wolf attacks them and scatters the flock.

Finally, in the ninth year of King Hoshea’s reign, Samaria fell, and the people of Israel were exiled to Assyria. They were settled in colonies in Halah, along the banks of the Habor River in Gozan, and in the cities of the Medes.This disaster came upon the people of Israel because they worshiped other gods. They sinned against the Lord their God, who had brought them safely out of Egypt and had rescued them from the power of Pharaoh, the king of Egypt.They had followed the practices of the pagan nations the Lord had driven from the land ahead of them, as well as the practices the kings of Israel had introduced.The people of Israel had also secretly done many things that were not pleasing to the Lord their God. They built pagan shrines for themselves in all their towns, from the smallest outpost to the largest walled city.They set up sacred pillars and Asherah poles at the top of every hill and under every green tree.They offered sacrifices on all the hilltops, just like the nations the Lord had driven from the land ahead of them. So the people of Israel had done many evil things, arousing the Lord’s anger.Yes, they worshiped idols, despite the Lord’s specific and repeated warnings.Again and again the Lord had sent his prophets and seers to warn both Israel and Judah:“ Turn from all your evil ways. Obey my commands and decrees— the entire law that I commanded your ancestors to obey, and that I gave you through my servants the prophets.”But the Israelites would not listen. They were as stubborn as their ancestors who had refused to believe in the Lord their God.They rejected his decrees and the covenant he had made with their ancestors, and they despised all his warnings. They worshiped worthless idols, so they became worthless themselves. They followed the example of the nations around them, disobeying the Lord’s command not to imitate them.They rejected all the commands of the Lord their God and made two calves from metal. They set up an Asherah pole and worshiped Baal and all the forces of heaven.They even sacrificed their own sons and daughters in the fire. They consulted fortune tellers and practiced sorcery and sold themselves to evil, arousing the Lord’s anger.Because the Lord was very angry with Israel, he swept them away from his presence. Only the tribe of Judah remained in the land.But even the people of Judah refused to obey the commands of the Lord their God, for they followed the evil practices that Israel had introduced.The Lord rejected all the descendants of Israel. He punished them by handing them over to their attackers until he had banished Israel from his presence.For when the Lord tore Israel away from the kingdom of David, they chose Jeroboam son of Nebat as their king. But Jeroboam drew Israel away from following the Lord and made them commit a great sin.And the people of Israel persisted in all the evil ways of Jeroboam. They did not turn from these sinsuntil the Lord finally swept them away from his presence, just as all his prophets had warned. So Israel was exiled from their land to Assyria, where they remain to this day.

Then the king gave orders to arrest the men who had maliciously accused Daniel. He had them thrown into the lions’ den, along with their wives and children. The lions leaped on them and tore them apart before they even hit the floor of the den.

When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them because they were confused and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.He said to his disciples,“ The harvest is great, but the workers are few.So pray to the Lord who is in charge of the harvest; ask him to send more workers into his fields.”

“ King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon has eaten and crushed us and drained us of strength. He has swallowed us like a great monster and filled his belly with our riches. He has thrown us out of our own country.Make Babylon suffer as she made us suffer,” say the people of Zion.“ Make the people of Babylonia pay for spilling our blood,” says Jerusalem.

During Pekah’s reign, King Tiglath pileser of Assyria attacked Israel again, and he captured the towns of Ijon, Abel beth maacah, Janoah, Kedesh, and Hazor. He also conquered the regions of Gilead, Galilee, and all of Naphtali, and he took the people to Assyria as captives.

For I was angry with my chosen people and punished them by letting them fall into your hands. But you, Babylon, showed them no mercy. You oppressed even the elderly.