15 The Lord, the God of their ancestors, sent prophets again and again to warn his people. He did this because he felt sorry for them and for his Temple. He didn’t want to destroy them or his Temple.
16 But they made fun of God’s prophets and refused to listen to them. They hated God’s messages. Finally, the Lord could not hold his anger any longer. He became angry with his people and there was nothing that could be done to stop it.
17 So God brought the king of Babylon to attack the people of Judah and Jerusalem. The king of Babylon killed the young men even when they were in the Temple. He didn’t have mercy on the people of Judah and Jerusalem. The king of Babylon killed young and old people. He killed men and women. He killed sick and healthy people. God permitted Nebuchadnezzar to punish the people of Judah and Jerusalem.
18 Nebuchadnezzar carried all the things in God’s Temple away to Babylon. He took all the valuable things from the Lord’S Temple, from the king, and from the king’s officials.
19 Nebuchadnezzar and his army burned the Temple. They broke down Jerusalem’s wall and burned all the houses that belonged to the king and his officials. They took or destroyed every valuable thing in Jerusalem.
20 Nebuchadnezzar took the people who were still alive back to Babylon and forced them to be slaves. They stayed in Babylon as slaves until the Persian kingdom defeated the kingdom of Babylon.
21 The land of Judah became an empty desert and stayed that way for 70 years. All this time the land rested to make up for the Sabbath rests that the people had not kept. This is just what the Lord said would happen in the warning he gave through the prophet Jeremiah.