“Thus says Yahweh!
The God of Israel!
Concerning the houses
Of this city.
This concerns
The houses
Of the kings of Judah.
They were torn down
To make a defense
Against the siege mounds,
Before the sword.
The Chaldeans
Are coming in
To fight.
They are coming
To fill them
With the dead bodies
Of those whom
I shall strike down,
In my anger,
In my wrath.
I have hidden my face
From this city
Because of all their wickedness.”
Yahweh explains, via Jeremiah, why they had to tear down the buildings in the city, including the houses of the kings of Judah. The military needed to protect themselves from the siege ramps that the Chaldeans had put up against the city walls. These Chaldeans or Babylonians were coming to fight. They would find the dead bodies that Yahweh had struck down inside the city walls. Yahweh had killed these Israelites because of his anger and wrath. He had hidden his face from this city because of their wickedness.
Eugene Finnegan Bible Project 