The Lord who rules over all was very angry with your people of long ago.

“耶和华曾向你们列祖大大发怒。

“耶和华曾向你们祖先大发烈怒。

“耶和华曾向你们祖先大发烈怒。

“耶和华曾对你们的祖先大发怒气。

“耶和华曾对你们的列祖大发烈怒，

「耶和華曾向你們列祖大大發怒。

「耶和華曾向你們祖先大發烈怒。

「耶和華曾向你們祖先大發烈怒。

「耶和華曾對你們的祖先大發怒氣。

“耶和華曾對你們的列祖大發烈怒，

『永恆主向你們列祖大大震怒。

「耶和華曾對你們的祖先大大發怒，

昔耶和華甚不悅爾列祖、

昔爾列祖、我耶和華嘗震怒之矣、

主曾震怒爾之列祖、

“ The Lord was very angry with your ancestors.

“ The Lord was very angry with your fathers.

“ I, the Lord, was very angry with your ancestors.

“ The LORD was extremely angry with your ancestors.

“ The Lord was very angry with your fathers.

“ The Lord has been very angry with your fathers.

Jehovah was sore displeased with your fathers.

“ The Lord was extremely angry with your ancestors.

The LORD hath been sore displeased with your fathers.

The LORD was very angry with your ancestors.

“ Yahweh was very displeased with your fathers.

So my burning anger was poured out. It blazed out against the towns of Judah and the streets of Jerusalem. It made them the dry and empty places they are today.”

Our people of long ago sinned. And they are now dead. We are being punished because of their sins.

So I will pour out my anger on its people. I will destroy them because of my great anger against them. And anything that happens to them will be their own fault,” announces the Lord and King.

Lord, how long will you be angry with us? Will it be forever? How long will your jealousy burn like fire?Bring your great anger against the nations that don’t pay any attention to you. Bring it against the kingdoms that don’t worship you.

Was there ever a prophet your people didn’t try to hurt? They even killed those who told about the coming of the Blameless One. And now you have handed him over to his enemies. You have murdered him.

In spite of that, the Lord didn’t turn away from his great anger against Judah. That’s because of everything Manasseh had done to make him very angry.

Zedekiah also refused to remain under the control of King Nebuchadnezzar. The king had forced Zedekiah to make a promise in God’s name. But Zedekiah’s heart became very stubborn. He wouldn’t turn to the Lord, the God of Israel.And that’s not all. The people and all the leaders of the priests became more and more unfaithful. They followed all the practices of the nations. The Lord hated those practices. The people and leaders made the Lord’ s temple“ unclean.” The Lord had set the temple in Jerusalem apart in a special way for himself.The Lord, the God of Israel, sent word to his people through his messengers. He sent it to them again and again. He took pity on his people. He also took pity on the temple where he lived.But God’s people made fun of his messengers. They hated his words. They laughed at his prophets. Finally the Lord’ s great anger was stirred up against his people. Nothing could save them.The Lord brought the king of the Babylonians against them. The Babylonian army killed their young people with their swords at the temple. They didn’t spare young men or young women. They didn’t spare the old people or weak people either. God handed all of them over to Nebuchadnezzar.Nebuchadnezzar carried off to Babylon all the objects from God’s temple. Some of those things were large. Others were small. He carried off the treasures of the temple. He also carried off the treasures that belonged to the king and his officials.The Babylonians set God’s temple on fire. They broke down the wall of Jerusalem. They burned all the palaces. They destroyed everything of value there.Nebuchadnezzar took the rest of the people to Babylon as prisoners. They had escaped from being killed by swords. They served him and those who ruled after him. That lasted until the kingdom of Persia came to power.

“ But they didn’t obey you. Instead, they turned against you. They turned their backs on your law. They killed your prophets. The prophets had warned them to return to you. But they did very evil things that dishonored you.So you handed them over to their enemies, who treated them badly. Then they cried out to you. From heaven you heard them. You loved them very much. So you sent leaders to help them. The leaders saved them from the power of their enemies.

When he was very angry, he took away Israel’s power. He pulled back his powerful right hand as the enemy approached. His burning anger blazed out in Jacob’s land. It burned up everything near it.Like an enemy the Lord got his bow ready to use. He had a sword in his right hand. Like an enemy he destroyed everything that used to be pleasing to him. His anger blazed out like fire. It burned up the homes in the city of Zion.The Lord was like an enemy. He swallowed up Israel. He swallowed up all of its palaces. He destroyed its forts. He filled the people of Judah with sorrow and sadness.

All the people of Israel have broken your law and turned away from it. They have refused to obey you.“ Curses and warnings are written down in the Law of Moses. He was your servant. Those curses have been poured out on us. That’s because we have sinned against you.The warnings you gave us and our rulers have come true. You have brought great trouble on us. Nothing like what has been done to Jerusalem has ever happened anywhere else on earth.

I prayed,“ I’m filled with shame and dishonor, my God. I can hardly look to you and pray. That’s because our sins are piled up above our heads. Our guilt reaches all the way to the heavens.We are filled with it. It has been like that ever since the days of our people who lived long ago. Kings of other countries have killed many of us and our kings and priests with their swords. They’ve forced others to leave their own land. They’ve taken them away as prisoners. They’ve robbed others. They’ve made still others feel ashamed and dishonored. All these things have happened to us because we’ve committed so many sins. And that’s how things still are to this day.

Let’s say,“ We have sinned. We’ve refused to obey you. And you haven’t forgiven us.“ You have covered yourself with the cloud of your anger. You have chased us. You have killed us without pity.You have covered yourself with the cloud of your anger. Our prayers can’t get through to you.You have made us become like trash and garbage among the nations.

“ Our evil acts and our terrible sins have brought about the things that have happened to us. You are our God. Because we sinned so much, you should have punished us even more than you have. But you have left many of your people alive.

Tell him,“ The Lord says,‘ I am going to bring horrible trouble on this place and its people. Everything written in the book the king of Judah has read will take place.That’s because the people have deserted me. They have burned incense to other gods. They have made me very angry because of the statues of gods their hands have made. So my anger will burn like a fire against this place. And the fire of my anger will not be put out.’ ” ’

And you say,‘ If we had lived in the days of those who lived before us, we wouldn’t have done what they did. We wouldn’t have helped to kill the prophets.’So you are witnesses against yourselves. You admit that you are the children of those who murdered the prophets.So go ahead and finish the sins that those who lived before you started!

“ Your heart was tender. You made yourself humble in the eyes of the Lord. You heard what I spoke against this place and its people. I said they would be under a curse. I told them they would be destroyed. You tore your royal robes and wept in front of me. And I have heard you,” announces the Lord.

God, you have turned away from us. You have attacked us. You have been angry. Now turn back to us!

Jerusalem also says,“ All you who are passing by, don’t you care about what has happened to me? Just look at my condition. Has anyone suffered the way I have? The Lord has brought all this on me. He has made me suffer. His anger has burned against me.“ He sent down fire from heaven. It went deep down into my bones. He spread a net to catch me by the feet. He stopped me right where I was. He made me empty. I am sick all the time.“ My sins have been made into a heavy yoke. They were woven together by his hands. They have been placed on my neck. The Lord has taken away my strength. He has handed me over to my enemies. I can’t win the battle over them.“ The Lord has refused to accept any of my soldiers. He has sent for an army to crush my young men. I am like grapes in the Lord’s winepress. He has stomped on me, even though I am his very own.

Gather together, you shameful nation of Judah! Gather yourselves together!Come together before the Lord’ s judgment arrives. The day of the Lord’ s judgment will sweep in like straw blown by the wind. Soon the Lord’ s great anger will come against you. The day of his wrath will come against you.So look to him, all you people in the land who worship him faithfully. You always do what he commands you to do. Continue to do what is right. Don’t be proud. Then perhaps the Lord will keep you safe on the day he pours out his anger on the world.