63 Bible Verses about Ruins

"If, after all of this time, you don't listen to me, but instead live life contrary to me, I'll oppose you with vicious rage. Indeed, I myself will punish you seven fold on account of your sins. At that time, you'll eat the flesh of your sons and you'll eat the flesh of your daughters. read more.
I'll destroy your high places and cut down your sun pillars. Then I'll cast your dead bodies on top of the bodies of your idols. I'll loathe you. I'll lay your cities to waste and destroy your sanctuaries so I don't have to smell the scent of your soothing odors. I'll make the land so desolate that your enemies who live in it will be astonished." "I'll scatter you among the nations and draw the sword after you so that your land becomes desolate and your towns become ruins.

Gather whatever you've taken as spoils at the public square of the town, then burn the town, along with whatever you've taken, as an offering to the LORD your God. It will remain a permanent mound of ruins, never to be rebuilt again.

"The LORD will raise a distant nation against you from the other side of the earth. Swooping down like a vulture, it will be a nation whose language you don't understand, whose stern appearance neither shows regard nor extends grace to anyone whether old or young. Its army will consume the offspring of your animals and the produce of your soil until you are exterminated. They will leave you without your grain, wine, oil, the increase of your cattle, and the lamb of your flock, until you are completely destroyed. read more.
They'll besiege all your cities until your high and fortified walls in which you have trusted collapse throughout the land. Indeed, they will besiege all your cities, which the LORD your God gave you."

"I'll make Jerusalem a heap of ruins, a refuge for jackals. I'll make the towns of Judah desolate, without inhabitants."

"So I will turn Samaria into a mound of dirt in a field, a place to plant vineyards. And I will dump her building stones into the valley, uncovering her foundation. All of her carved images will be crushed to pieces, all the earnings of her prostitution will be burned up, and I will destroy all her idols; because she collected the wages of prostitution, and to the wages of prostitution they will return."

"Now, let me tell you, won't you please, what I'm going to do to my vineyard. "I'm going to take away its protective hedge, and it will be devoured; I'll break down its wall, and it will be trampled. I'll make it a wasteland, and it won't be pruned or cultivated. Instead, briers and thorns will grow up. I'll also issue commands to the clouds, that they drop no rain upon it." For the vineyard of the LORD of the Heavenly Armies is the house of Israel, and the men of Judah are the garden in which he delights. He looked for justice, but saw only bloodshed; he searched for righteousness, but heard only an outcry!

Then I asked, "For how long, LORD?" He replied: "Until cities lie waste, without inhabitants, and houses without people; and the land becomes utterly desolate. Until the LORD removes people far away, and there are many empty places in the middle of the land. Even though a tenth of its people remain in it, it will once again be burned, like a terebinth or an oak tree, the stump of which, though the tree has been felled, still contains holy seed."

A lion has gone up from his thicket, and a destroyer of nations has set out. He has left his place to make your land a waste. Your cities will be ruined, and without inhabitants.

But if you don't listen to these words, I swear," declares the LORD, "that this house will become a ruin."'"

In all the places where you live, the cities will be desolate. The high places will also be desolate so that your altars will be laid waste, bearing the punishment appropriate to them. Your idols will be shattered, your sun pillars will be hewn down, and your works will be obliterated. The fatally wounded among you will fall, and at that time you'll know that I am the LORD.

A ruin! A ruin! I'm bringing about ruin!' But this also will not happen until he who has authority over it arrives, because I'll give it to him."

"Listen and testify against the house of Jacob," declares the Lord GOD, the God of the Heavenly Armies, "because on that day I will lay out the charges against Israel. I will also bring judgment upon the altars of Bethel; the horns of the altar will be cut off and will fall to the ground. I will wreck both the winter house and the summer house, and the ivory houses will fall. These palaces will surely fall," declares the LORD.

Isaac's high places will be destroyed, and the sanctuaries of Israel will be ruined. I will rise in opposition to the house of Jeroboam with my sword."

On the seventh day of the fifth month, which was during the nineteenth year of King Nebuchadnezzar's reign as king of Babylon, captain of the guard Nebuzaradan, a servant of the king of Babylon, arrived in Jerusalem and set fire to the LORD's Temple, the royal palace, and all the houses of Jerusalem. He even incinerated the lavish homes. The Chaldean army that accompanied the captain of the guard demolished the walls that surrounded Jerusalem. read more.
Nebuzaradan, the captain of the guard, carried the survivors of the people who remained in the city, those who had deserted to the king of Babylon, and the rest of the multitude into exile. However, the captain of the guard left some of the poor people of the land to work as vinedressers and farmers. The Chaldeans also broke into pieces and carried back to Babylon the bronze pillars that stood in the LORD's Temple, along with the stands and the bronze sea that used to be in the LORD's Temple. They also confiscated the pots, shovels, snuffers, spoons, and the rest of the bronze vessels that were used in ministry. The captain of the guard also confiscated the fire pans, basins, and whatever had been crafted of pure gold and pure silver.

Therefore he brought up the king of the Chaldeans against them, who executed their young men in the holy Temple, showing no compassion on young man or young virgin, adult men or the aged. God gave them all into the king's control, who took back to Babylon every article in God's Temple, whether large or small, including the treasuries of the LORD's Temple, the king's assets, and those of his officers. After this, they set fire to God's Temple, demolished the wall around Jerusalem, burned all of its fortified buildings, and destroyed everything of value.

The Chaldeans burned the palace and the houses of the people with fire, and they broke down the walls of Jerusalem. Nebuzaradan, the captain of the Babylonian guard, took into exile in Babylon the rest of the people who remained in the city, those who had deserted to Nebuchadnezzar, and the rest of the people who remained. Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard left in the land of Judah some of the poor people who did not have anything, and he gave them vineyards and fields on that day.

In the fifth month, on the tenth day of the month it was the nineteenth year of the reign of King Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard who served the king of Babylon, entered Jerusalem. He burned the LORD's Temple, the king's house, and all the houses in Jerusalem. He also burned every public building with fire. All the Chaldean troops who were with the captain of the guard tore down all the walls around Jerusalem. read more.
Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard carried into exile some of the poorest of the people, the rest of the people left in the city, the deserters who had defected to the king of Babylon, and the rest of the craftsmen. But Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard left some of the poorest people of the land to be vinedressers and farmers. The Chaldeans broke in pieces the bronze pillars that were in the LORD's Temple and the stands and the bronze sea that were in the LORD's Temple, and they carried all the bronze to Babylon. They took away the pots, the shovels, the snuffers, the basins, the pans, and all the bronze utensils that were used in the temple service. The captain of the guard took away the bowls, the fire pans, the basins, the pots, the lamp stands, the pans, and the bowls for libations, both those made of gold and those made of silver.

You have dishonored the covenant with your servant; you have defiled his crown on the ground. You have broken through all his walls; you have laid his fortresses in ruin. All who pass by on their way plunder him; he has become a reproach to his neighbors.

Hurry! Look at the permanent ruins every calamity the enemy brought upon the Holy Place.

Why did you break down its walls so that those who pass by pluck its fruits? Wild boars of the forest gnaw at it, and creatures of the field feed on it. God of the Heavenly Armies, return! Look down from heaven and see. Show care toward this vine.read more.
The root that your right hand planted, the shoot that you tended for yourself, was burned with fire, cut off, and destroyed on account of your rebuke.

But as for you, O LORD, you are our Father; and we are clay, and you are our potter; we are all the work of your hands. Don't be angry beyond measure, LORD, and don't remember our iniquity for a season. Please look now, we are all your people. Your holy cities have become a desert; Zion has become like a desert, Jerusalem a desolation.read more.
Our holy Temple and our splendor, where our ancestors praised you, have become a conflagration of fire, and all our dearest places have become ruins. LORD, after all this, can you hold yourself back? Can you keep silent and punish us so severely?

The Lord has become like an enemy he has devoured Israel. He has devoured all of her palaces, destroying her fortresses. He filled cherished Judah with mourning and lament. He plowed under his Temple like a garden, spoiling his tent. The LORD abolished in Zion both festivals and Sabbaths. In his fierce wrath he despised both king and priest. The Lord rejected his altar, disavowing his sanctuary. He gave up her palace walls to the control of the enemy. They shouted in the LORD's Temple, as though they were attending a day of celebration.read more.
The LORD planned to destroy the walls of cherished Zion. He measured them with his line. He did not withhold his hand from destruction. He made both ramparts and defensive walls mourn; they languish together. Jerusalem's gates collapsed to the ground; he destroyed and broke the bars of her gates. Both king and prince have gone into captivity. There is no instruction, and the prophets receive no vision from the LORD.

"This is what the LORD of the Heavenly Armies, the God of Israel, says: "You have seen the disaster that I brought on Jerusalem and all the cities of Judah. Look, they're in ruins today, with no one living in them, because of the wickedness that they did, provoking me to anger by continuing to offer sacrifices and worship other gods that neither they nor you nor your ancestors had known. Yet I sent all my servants the prophets to you again and again, saying, "Don't do this repulsive thing that I hate." read more.
"But they didn't listen or pay attention by turning from their wickedness and not offering sacrifices to other gods. My wrath and my anger were poured out, and they burned in the cities of Judah and the streets of Jerusalem so that they have become a ruin and a desolate place, as is the case today.'

As a result, this message came to me from the LORD: "Son of Man, those who are living among these ruins of the land of Israel keep saying, "Abraham was only one man, but he was able to possess the land! As for us, we're a multitude, and the land has been given to us as an inheritance.' So tell them, "This is what the Lord GOD says: "You keep eating flesh along with its blood, you keep looking to your idols, and you keep shedding blood, and you're going to take possession of the land? read more.
You keep trusting in your weapons, you continue to commit loathsome deeds, men keep defiling their neighbors' wives, and you're going to take possession of the land?' "Tell them this: "This is what the Lord GOD says: "As certainly as I'm alive and living, those who live in the wastelands are certain to die violently, I'll give those who die in the open fields to the wild animals for food, and whoever takes refuge in caves and fortified places will die of diseases. Then I'll turn the land into a desolate ruin and her arrogant strength will come to an abrupt end. The mountains of Israel will become so desolate that no one will be able to travel over them." "Then they'll learn that I am the LORD, when I've turned their land into a desolate wasteland because of all of the loathsome deeds that they've committed.'"

For the LORD will have compassion on Zion, have compassion on all her ruins. He will make her wilderness like Eden, and her deserts like the garden of the LORD. Joy and gladness will be found in her, thanksgiving, and the sound of singing. Sorrow and sighing will flee away.

They will rebuild the ancient ruins; they will restore the places long devastated; they will build again the ruined cities, they will build again the places devastated for many generations.

"This is what the LORD says, your Redeemer and the one who formed you in the womb: "I am the LORD, who has made everything, who alone stretched out the heavens, who spread out the earth Who was with me at that time? who frustrates the omens of idle talkers, and drives diviners mad, who turns back the wise, and makes their knowledge foolish; who carries out the words of his servants, and fulfills the predictions of his messengers, who says of Jerusalem, "It will be inhabited," and of Judah's cities, "They will be rebuilt," and of her ruins, "I'll raise them up";

And your people will rebuild the ancient ruins; You'll raise up the age-old foundations, and people will call you "Repairer of Broken Walls,' "Restorer of Streets to Live In.'

"This is what the LORD says: "I'm going to restore the fortunes of the tents of Jacob and have compassion on his dwellings. A city will be rebuilt on its ruins and a palace will sit on its rightful place. Thanksgiving and the sounds of laughter will come out of them. I'll cause them to increase in numbers and not decrease. I'll honor them and not make them insignificant.

"Look, days are coming," declares the LORD, "when I'll sow the house of Israel and the house of Judah using people and animals as seed. Just as I've watched over them to pull up, tear down, overthrow, destroy, and bring disaster, so I'll watch over them to build and to plant," declares the LORD.

But you mountains of Israel are going to sprout branches and bear fruit for my people Israel, because they'll be coming soon.'" "Watch me! I'm on your side! I'll be turning in your direction, and you mountains will be plowed and planted. I'm going to make the entire house of Israel grow every single member and their cities will be inhabited with all the ruins rebuilt. read more.
I'll make both the population and the livestock increase throughout your territories. They'll increase and be fruitful. I'll make your territories to be settled like you were in the past, and you will be treated better than you ever were before. At that time you will know that I am the LORD. "I'll lead my people, my nation of Israel, across you mountains, and they will take possession of you again, and you'll be their inheritance once more. Never again will you leave them robbed of children.

"At that time I will restore David's fallen tent, restoring its torn places. I will restore its ruins, rebuilding it as it was long ago, so my people may inherit the remnant of Edom and all of the nations that bear my name," declares the LORD who is bringing this about.

Seven months after the Israelis had settled in their cities, they all gathered together in Jerusalem as a united body. Then Jozadak's son Jeshua and his brothers got up, along with Shealtiel's son Zerubbabel and his brothers. They built an altar of the God of Israel in order to offer burnt offerings, as prescribed by the Law of Moses, the man of God. Even though they feared the people in neighboring regions, they rebuilt the altar where it had stood before. They offered burnt offerings on it to the LORD burnt offerings both in the morning and in the evening. read more.
They also observed the Festival of Tents as has been prescribed, offering a specific number of daily burnt offerings in accordance with the ordinance of each day. After that, they offered all of the continual burnt offerings and the New Moon sacrifices for all of the designated festivals of the LORD that were being consecrated, along with all the voluntary offerings that were dedicated to the LORD. They began to offer burnt offerings to the LORD from the first day of the seventh month, even though the foundation of the Temple of the LORD had not yet been laid. They paid masons and carpenters in cash. They paid the residents of Sidon and Tyre with food, drink, and oil, for them to bring cedar trees by sea from Lebanon to Joppa in accordance with the order they had obtained from Cyrus, king of Persia. Two years and two months after arriving at the site of the Temple of God in Jerusalem, Shealtiel's son Zerubbabel, Jozadak's son Jeshua, the relatives of the priests and descendants of Levi, and everyone else who had left the Babylonian captivity for Jerusalem appointed descendants of Levi who were 20 years old and older to oversee the work of the LORD's Temple. At this time Jeshua, along with his children and relatives, and Kadmiel, with his children and the descendants of Judah, joined the family of Henadad with his children and relatives, and the descendants of Levi in overseeing the work on the Temple of God. After the builders laid the foundation for the LORD's Temple, the priests stood in their ministerial robes with trumpets and the descendants of Levi (who were also descendants of Asaph) with cymbals to praise the LORD, according to instructions prepared by David, king of Israel. And they sang in unison to one another, giving thanks to the LORD: "He is good, and his gracious love to Israel endures forever." And all the people shouted out loudly in praise to the LORD when the foundation of the LORD's Temple was laid. Now a number of the priests, the Levities, and the leading officials of the elders who were very elderly had seen the former Temple with their own eyes. When they observed the foundation of the Temple being laid, they wept with a loud voice, while the rest of them shouted for joy. As a result, the people couldn't distinguish between the noise coming from the shouts of joy and the noise coming from the weeping people, because everyone was shouting loudly and could be heard a long way off.

They told me, "The survivors of the captivity there in the province are living in great distress and shame. Furthermore, the Jerusalem wall remains broken down and its gates have been burned by fire." When I heard this, I sat down and cried, mourning for a number of days while I fasted and prayed in the presence of the God of Heaven.

I arrived in Jerusalem and remained there for three days. Then I got up at night, along with a few men with me. I had not confided to any person what my God had put in my heart to do for Jerusalem. Furthermore, there was no other animal with me except for the one I was riding. So I went out during the night through the Valley Gate toward Dragon's Well, and from there to the Dung Gate, inspecting the walls of Jerusalem that were broken down and burned by fire. read more.
I proceeded to the Fountain Gate, and then to the King's Pool, but there wasn't sufficient clearance for the animal I was riding to pass. I traveled the valley by night to inspect the wall, returning through the Valley Gate. The local officials did not know where I had gone or what I had done I informed neither the Judeans, nor the priests, nor the nobles, nor the officials, nor any of the rest who would be doing the work. Later I told them, "You all are watching the predicament we're in, how Jerusalem lies desolate, with its gates burned by fire. Let's rebuild the Jerusalem wall so we're no longer a disgrace." Then I told them how good my God had been to me, and about what the king had told me. They replied, "Let's get out there and build!" So they encouraged themselves to do good. But when Sanballat the Horonite, his servant Tobiah the Ammonite, and Geshem the Arab heard about it, they jeered at us and despised us when they said, "What is this thing that you're doing? You're rebelling against the king, aren't you?" In reply to them, I said, "The God of Heaven will prosper us. That's why we're preparing to build. But as far as you're concerned, there exists no ancestral heritage, no legal right, nor any historic claim in Jerusalem.

On the first day of the sixth month of the second year of the reign of King Darius, this message from the LORD came by Haggai the prophet to Shealtiel's son Zerubbabel, governor of Judah, and to Jehozadak's son Joshua, the high priest: "This is what the LORD of the Heavenly Armies says: "These people keep saying, "No, the right time for rebuilding the LORD's Temple has not yet come."'" Then this message from the LORD came by Haggai the prophet: read more.
"Is it the right time for all of you to live in your own paneled houses while this house remains in ruins?" "Now this is what the LORD of the Heavenly Armies, says: "Carefully consider your ways: You have sowed much but have reaped little. You have eaten but don't have enough to become satisfied. You have drunk but don't have enough to become intoxicated. You have clothed yourself but don't have enough to keep warm. And the hired laborer deposits his salary in a bag full of holes!'" "This is what the LORD of the Heavenly Armies says: "Carefully consider your ways: Go up into the mountains, bring timber, and reconstruct my house. Then I will be pleased with it and I will be honored,' says the LORD. "You turned away in pursuit of abundance, but look at how little you found! What you did manage to bring home, I blew away! And why?' declares the LORD of the Heavenly Armies. "It's because of my house! It lies in ruins while each of you runs off to his own house! That is why the heavens keep withholding dew from you, and the earth withholds her fruit. I sent a drought on the land, on the mountains, on your grain, on your new wines, on your oil on everything the ground produces on men, on livestock, and on everything you do!'" Then Shealtiel's son Zerubbabel, Jehozadak's son Joshua the high priest, and all the rest of the people obeyed the LORD their God and the words of Haggai the prophet, because the LORD their God had sent him. And the people feared the LORD. Haggai, the messenger of the LORD, spoke to the people with a special commission from the LORD: ""I am with you,' declares the LORD." Then the LORD revitalized the spirit of Shealtiel's son Zerubbabel, governor of Judah, the spirit of Jehozadak's son Joshua the high priest, and the spirit of all the rest of the people, so they came and began to work on the house of their God, the LORD of the Heavenly Armies. This took place on the twenty-fourth day of the sixth month of the second year of the reign of King Darius.

It will be that everyone who looks at you will run away, saying, "Nineveh has been violently overthrown! Who will mourn for her? Where will I find anyone to comfort you?'"

"And the LORD will attack the north, destroying Assyria. He will turn Nineveh into a desolate ruin, as dry as a desert wilderness. Flocks will lie down in her midst, along with animals of every kind. Desert owls and screeching owls will nest at the top of the pillars, hooting through the vacant windows, "Ruin sits at these doorsills,' for he will expose even the cedar framework. This is that carefree city that lived irresponsibly, that told herself, "Me first!' and, "There will be no one else!' How ruined she has become a habitat for wild animals! Everyone who passes by her will sneer at her and make obscene gestures!"

Babylon, that jewel of kingdoms, the splendor and pride of the Chaldeans, will be like Sodom and Gomorrah, when God overthrew them It will never be inhabited or lived in through all generations; no Bedouin will pitch his tent there; no shepherds will make their flocks lie down there. But desert beasts will lie down there, and their houses will be full of howling creatures; there owls will dwell, and goat-demons will dance there.read more.
Hyenas will howl in its strongholds, and jackals will make their dens in its citadels. Its time is close at hand, and its days will not be extended any further.

"Look at the land of the Chaldeans! This is a people that no longer exist; Assyria destined her for desert creatures. They raised up her siege towers, they stripped her fortresses bare and turned her into a ruin.

Babylon will become a heap of ruins, a refuge for jackals, a desolate place and an object of scorn.

A message came to me from the LORD and it went like this: "Son of Man, turn your attention toward Mount Seir and begin to prophesy against it. Tell them, "This is what the Lord GOD says: "Watch out! I'm coming to get you, Mount Seir! I'm stretching out my hand to strike you, and I'm going to turn you into a desolate wasteland.read more.
I'm going to turn your cities into ghost towns, and you will become a ruin. Then you will learn that I am the LORD.

"I've loved you," says the LORD. "But you ask, "How have you loved us?' "Was not Esau Jacob's brother?" declares the LORD, "yet I loved Jacob, hated Esau, turned his mountains into a wasteland, and gave his inheritance to desert jackals. Even though Edom may claim, "We were crushed, but we will return and rebuild the ruins,' this is what the LORD of the Heavenly Armies says: "They may rebuild, but I'll demolish. People will call them, "The Wicked Land,' and, "The People With Whom the LORD is Forever Angry.'

Prepare your baggage for exile, daughter living in Egypt, for Memphis will become a desolate place. It will become a ruin without inhabitant.

"Therefore this is what the Lord GOD says: "Look out! I'm bringing violent death in your direction! I'm going to kill every person and animal, and the land of Egypt will be turned into a desolate ruin. Then you will know that I am the LORD. Because Egypt said, "The Nile is mine. I made it!" therefore watch out! I'm coming to get you! I'm going to attack your waterways, and then I'm going to make the land of Egypt a total wasteland from the Aswan fortress to the border of Ethiopia! read more.
Neither man nor beast will walk through that area. It won't even be inhabited for 40 years. I'll see to it that Egypt becomes a devastated land in the midst of devastated lands. Her cities deep inside her territories will be laid waste and desolate for 40 years. I will scatter Egypt among the nations and disperse them throughout the land.'"

To Moab: This is what the LORD of the Heavenly Armies, the God of Israel, says: "How terrible for Nebo, for it's laid waste. Kiriathaim is put to shame, it's captured. The fortress is put to shame, it's shattered.

"For Gaza will be forsaken, and Ashkelon deserted Ashdod will be emptied at high noon; even Ekron will be uprooted. Woe to those who live along the coast, the people of Philistia! This message from the LORD is being spoken against you, Canaan, land of the Philistines: "I'll destroy you until no one lives there!' The Philistine coast will become meadows for shepherds and sheep pens.

"Therefore this is what the Lord GOD says: "Watch out! I'm coming to get you, Tyre! I'm about to bring many nations to attack you. They'll come in wave after wave, like the advancing tide, and will destroy the city walls of Tyre. After they break down her fortified towers, I'll scrape away the city's debris, right down to the bare bedrock,

When Israel had completed executing all of the residents of Ai in the open wilderness where they had chased them, and after all of them to the very last of them had been killed by swords, the entire fighting force of Israel returned to Ai and attacked it with swords. The total of all who fell that day, including men and women, was 12,000 the entire population of Ai. Joshua did not cease his attack until he had completely destroyed every inhabitant of Ai. read more.
Israel took only the livestock and the spoil of that city as their war booty, in accordance with what the LORD had commanded to Joshua. Joshua burned Ai, turning it into a permanent mound of ruins, and it remains so to this day. He hanged the king of Ai on a tree until dusk, and at sunset Joshua ordered his body brought down from the tree and laid at the entrance to the gate of the town. There he raised over it a large mound of stones, which stands there to this day.

Later the next spring, at the time that kings go out to fight, Joab led out the army, ravaged the territory of the Ammonites, and then went out and attacked Rabbah, while David remained behind in Jerusalem. Joab besieged Rabbah and conquered it.

Indeed, a nation has invaded my land it is strong and its population is too large to count with teeth like a lion and fangs like a lioness. That nation laid waste my vines, and stripped bare my fig tree, discarding it. It stripped off its bark. "Grieve like a virgin, who, dressed in her mourner's clothes, cries out in memory of the man she was going to marry.read more.
Both grain offering and wine offering have been removed from the LORD's Temple; the priests and ministering servants of the LORD are mourning." "The fields lie in ruins and the ground is dried up. Indeed, the grain is ruined, the new wine has evaporated, and the olive oil has run out. Be dismayed, you farmers! Cry aloud, you vintners, for the wheat and barley, because the harvest in your fields has been lost. The grapevine is shriveled and the fig tree is withered, along with the pomegranate tree, the palm tree, the apple tree and all of the cultivated trees. Truly, joy has evaporated from Adam's children."

"Watch out! The LORD is about to depopulate the land and devastate it; he will turn it upside down and scatter its inhabitants. It will be the same for the lay people as for priests, the same for servants as for their masters, for female servants as for their mistresses, for buyers as for sellers, for lenders as for borrowers, and for creditors as for debtors. The earth will be utterly depopulated and completely laid waste for the LORD has spoken this message.read more.
"The earth dries up and withers; the world languishes and fades away; heaven fades away, along with the earth. The earth lies defiled beneath its inhabitants; because they have transgressed the laws, violated the statutes, and broken the everlasting covenant. Therefore the curse keeps on consuming, and its inhabitants are declared guilty. Furthermore, the inhabitants of earth are ablaze, and few people are left. The new wine evaporates; the vine and the oil dry up; all the merrymakers groan. "The celebrations of the tambourine have ended, the noise of the jubilant has stopped, and the mirth that the harp produces has ended. No longer do they drink wine accompanied by singing; even beer tastes bitter to those who drink it. The chaotic city lies broken down; every house is closed up so that no one can enter them. There is an outcry in the streets over wine; all cheer turns to gloom; the fun times of the earth are banished. Desolation remains in the city whose gates lie battered into ruins. So it will be on the earth and among the nations as when an olive tree is beaten, or as gleanings when the grape harvest has ended."

By this, then, Jacob's guilt will be atoned for, and this will be the full harvest that comes from the removal of his sin: when he makes all the altar stones like pulverized chalkstones, no Asherah poles or incense altars will be left standing. For the fortified city stands desolate, a settlement abandoned and forsaken like the desert; calves graze there, and there they lie down and strip bare its branches.

The seventh angel threw the contents of his bowl across the sky. A loud voice came from the throne in the Temple and said, "It has happened!" There were flashes of lightning, noises, peals of thunder, and a powerful earthquake. There has never been such a powerful earthquake since people have been on the earth. The great city was split into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell. God remembered to give Babylon the Great the cup of wine filled with the fury of his wrath. read more.
Every island vanished, and the mountains could no longer be found. Huge hailstones, each weighing about a talent, fell from the sky on people, who cursed God because the plague of hail was so terrible.

Then a powerful angel picked up a stone that was like a large millstone and threw it into the sea, saying, "The great city Babylon will be thrown down violently and will never be found again. The sound of harpists, musicians, flutists, and trumpeters will never be heard within you again. No artisan of any trade will ever be found within you again. The sound of a millstone will never be heard within you again. The light from a lamp will never shine within you again. The voice of a bridegroom and bride will never be heard within you again. For your merchants were the important people of the world, and all the nations were deceived by your witchcraft.

Eventually, Elijah told everybody, "Come here!" So everybody approached him, and he repaired the LORD's altar that had been torn down.

ascending to the throne in the seventh year of the reign of Jehu and then reigning for 40 years in Jerusalem. His mother's name was Zibiah from Beer-sheba. Jehoash did what the LORD considered to be right during the entire time when Jehoiada the priest was instructing him, except that the high places were not demolished, so the people continued to sacrifice and burn incense on the high places.read more.
Jehoash spoke to the priests about all of the proceeds of the consecrated gifts that were being brought into the LORD's Temple, cash from every man who was traveling through the area, cash obtained by personal assessment, and all the cash that came through voluntary gifts into the LORD's Temple: "Let the priests get support for themselves from their own donors, and let them repair the Temple wherever a leak in need of repair is discovered." But 23 years into the reign of King Jehoash, the priests still had not repaired the leaks in the Temple. So King Jehoash called for Jehoiada the priest, along with other priests, and asked them, "Why haven't you fixed the leaks in the Temple? Stop receiving donations from your acquaintances for repairing the leaks in the Temple." So the priests agreed to receive no more cash from the people, but they didn't repair the leaks in the Temple, either. So Jehoiada the priest grabbed a chest, bored an opening in its lid, and placed it next to the altar, on the right side as one enters the LORD's Temple. The priests who tended the entryway put all the money that was brought into the LORD's Temple into the chest. As a result, whenever they noticed that there was a lot of money in the chest, the king's secretary and the high priest went forward, put the money in bags, counted the money that had been given over to the LORD's Temple, and disbursed the cash directly into the hands of those who did the work and who were in charge of the oversight of the LORD's Temple. They paid it to the carpenters and builders who worked on the LORD's Temple, to masons and stonecutters, and for procurement of timber and quarried stone for making repairs to the LORD's Temple, and for all outlays needed for repairs of the Temple.

Later on, Joash decided to rebuild the LORD's Temple, so he assembled the priests and descendants of Levi and ordered them, "Go throughout the cities of Judah and take up a collection from all of Israel for the annual upkeep of the Temple of your God. And make sure that you act quickly." But the descendants of Levi did not act quickly, so the king summoned Jehoiada the chief priest and asked him, "Why haven't you required the descendants of Levi to bring from Judah and Jerusalem the tax levied by Moses, the LORD's servant, and the assembly of Israel for the Tent of Testimony?"read more.
Because that wicked woman Athaliah's family members had broken into the Temple of God and used the consecrated implements of the LORD's Temple for service to the Baals, the king issued an order and a chest was made and set outside the entrance gate to the LORD's Temple. A public notice was sent throughout Judah and Jerusalem to bring in the tax that Moses the servant of the LORD had levied on Israel when they were in the wilderness. So all the princes and all the people gladly brought their tax and placed it into the chest until they had completed paying the tax. Whenever the chest was brought to the king's officials by the descendants of Levi, the royal secretary and the chief priest's designated officer would come, empty the chest, and take it back to its place. They did this day after day until they had collected a large amount of cash. Both the king and Jehoiada paid the money to those who were working to maintain the service of the LORD's Temple, and they, in turn, hired masons and carpenters to restore the LORD's Temple. Iron and bronze workers also were brought in to repair the Lord's Temple. As a result, the workmen did their labor, and the repair work progressed steadily under their supervision, and they restored God's Temple back to what it should be, and strengthened it, too.

Eighteen years after King Josiah had begun to reign, the king sent Azaliah's son Shaphan, grandson of Meshullam the scribe, to the LORD's Temple. He told him, "Go to the high priest Hilkiah, so he can count the money that has been brought into the LORD's Temple by the doorkeepers who have been gathering it from the people. Have them deliver it to the workmen who are supervising the LORD's Temple, so that they may pay it over to the workmen who serve in the LORD's Temple to repair its damages, read more.
including paying the carpenters, builders, and masons, as well as buying timber and pre-carved stone to repair the Temple. But you won't need to force them to be accountable for money already paid to them, since they're faithful."

In the eighteenth year of his reign, after he had purged the land and the Temple, he sent Azaliah's son Shaphan, Maaseiah, mayor of Jerusalem, and Joahaz's son Joah, the recorder, to repair the Temple of the LORD his God. They approached Hilkiah the high priest and delivered to him the money that had been brought into God's Temple that the descendants of Levi and gatekeepers had collected from Manasseh, Ephraim, the surviving Israelis, Judah, Benjamin, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem. They paid it to the workmen who supervised the LORD's Temple, and the workmen who were employed in the LORD's Temple to supervise restoration and repair of the Temple. read more.
They, in turn, paid the carpenters and builders to purchase quarried stone and timber for binders and beams for the buildings that previous kings of Judah had let deteriorate. The workmen did their duties faithfully with these foremen supervising them: Jahath and Obadiah, descendants of Levi who were Merari's sons, Zechariah and Meshullam, descendants of Kohath, and various descendants of Levi, who were skilled musicians. These men also supervised the heavy lift workers and supervised all the workmen from job to job, while some of the descendants of Levi served as scribes, officials, and gatekeepers.

Like a city with breached walls is a man without self-control.

"If I had died, I would be lying down by now, undisturbed, asleep, and at rest, along with kings and counselors of the earth, who used to build for themselves what are now only ruins,

Though he covered his face with fat, and is grossly overweight at the waist, He will live in devastated towns, in abandoned houses that are about to become heaps of rubble.