“I am bringing evil
From the north.
I am bringing great destruction.
A lion has gone up from its thicket.
A destroyer of nations has set out.
He has gone forth from his place
To make your land a waste.
Your cities will be in ruins
Without inhabitants.
Because of this
Put on sackcloth!
Lament!
Wail!’
The fierce anger of Yahweh
Has not turned away from us.”
Now Jeremiah says that Yahweh was going to bring this evil and great destruction from the north, without indicating whether it was the Assyrians or the Babylonians. However, this lion and destroyer of nations has set out from his den in order to create a wasteland. He would reduce their cities to ruins by decimating its inhabitants. They were to put on sackcloth, wail, and lament because the fierce anger of Yahweh was against them. They are in the line of fire of this destroyer.
Eugene Finnegan Bible Project 