The following two verses (Jeremiah 33:4–5) are difficult to interpret but they most likely refer to the fact that many houses in Jerusalem, and even the king’s palace, had to be broken down in an attempt to build defences against the Babylonian invaders. These same houses were also filled with the bodies of those who died in battle1. This all happened because the Lord turned his face away from them in anger because of their evil. It describes a scene of a city, Jerusalem, totally devastated by siege and war.
4 For thus says the LORD, the God of Israel, concerning the houses of this city and the houses of the kings of Judah that were torn down to make a defense against the siege mounds and against the sword: