Jeremiah ends his lament with yet more words from the Lord. The Lord will make Jerusalem a heap of ruins, a lair of jackals.
This image of wild animals making devastated cities their home must have been a familiar one in Jeremiah’s time as the prophet uses it often (see Jeremiah 10:22; Jeremiah 49:33; Jeremiah 51:37).1 Not even Jerusalem or any of the cities of Judah will provide the people with any kind of refuge from the Lord’s judgment. The Lord’s judgment of Babylon is described in the same way (Jeremiah 51:37).2 Again, there is no longer any distinction between Judah and the nations around her.
11 Je ferai de Jérusalem un monceau de ruines, un repaire de chacals, Et je réduirai les villes de Juda en un désert sans habitants.