'Down' in the Bible

“See, I have appointed you this day over the nations and over the kingdoms,To uproot and break down,To destroy and to overthrow,To build and to plant.”

But you [Jeremiah], gird up your loins [in preparation]! Get up and tell them all which I command you. Do not be distraught and break down at the sight of their [hostile] faces, or I will bewilder you before them and allow you to be overcome.

“They will consume your harvest and [eat up] your bread;They will consume your sons and your daughters;They will consume your flocks and your herds;They will consume your vines and your fig trees.With the sword they will break down and demolish your fortified cities in which you trust.

For the Lord of hosts has said,“Cut down her treesAnd build a siege [mound] against Jerusalem.This is the city which must be punished;There is nothing but oppression inside her [walls].

“Let them hurry and take up a wailing for us,That our eyes may shed tearsAnd our eyelids flow with water.

“For a sound of wailing is heard [coming] from Zion:‘How we are ruined!We are greatly perplexed and utterly shamed,Because we have left the land,Because they have torn down our dwellings.’”

But if you will not listen and obey,My soul will weep in secret for your pride;My eyes will weep bitterlyAnd flow with tears,Because the Lord’s flock has been taken captive.

Say to the king and the queen mother,“Humble yourselves and take a lowly seat,For your beautiful crown [the crown of your glory]Has come down from your head.”

“Therefore [Jeremiah] you will say this word to them,‘Let my eyes flow with tears night and day,And let them never cease;For the virgin daughter of my people has been crushed with a great blow,With a very serious and severely infected wound.

“She who has borne seven [sons] languishes;She has breathed out her soul.Her sun has set while it was still day;She has been shamed and humiliated.So I will hand over [the rest of] the survivors to the swordBefore their enemies,” says the Lord.

“Arise and go down to the potter’s house, and there I will make you hear My words.”

Then I went down to the potter’s house, and saw that he was working at the wheel.

At one moment I might [suddenly] speak concerning a nation or kingdom, that I will uproot and break down and destroy;

‘Will the snow of [Mount] Lebanon melt and vanish from its rocks [which tower above Israel]?Will the cold, rushing waters of foreign lands [that flow down from the distant land] be dried up?

“Understand this, I am against you, O inhabitant of the valley,O rock of the plain,” says the Lord—“You who say, ‘Who will come down against us?Or who will enter into our dwelling places?’

Thus says the Lord, “Go down to the house of the king of Judah and speak this word there:

“For I will prepare and appoint destroyers [to execute My judgments] against you,Each with his weapons;And they will cut down your [palaces built of] choicest cedarsAnd throw them in the fire.

Thus says the Lord,‘Write this man [Coniah] down as childless,A man who will not prosper (succeed) in his lifetime;For not one of his descendants will succeedIn sitting on the throne of DavidOr ruling again in Judah.’”

For I will set My eyes on them for good, and I will bring them again to this land; and I will build them up and not overwhelm them, and I will plant them and not uproot them.

When the princes (court officials) of Judah heard these things, they came up from the king’s house to the house of the Lord and sat in the entrance of the New Gate of the house of the Lord.

‘Fear not, O Jacob My servant,’ says the Lord,‘Nor be dismayed or downcast, O Israel;For behold, I will save you from a distant land [of exile]And your descendants from the land of their captivity.Jacob will return and will be quiet and at ease,And no one will make him afraid.

It will be that as I have watched over them to uproot and to break down, to overthrow, destroy, and afflict with disaster, so I will watch over them to build and to plant [with good],” says the Lord.

For thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, concerning the houses of this city and the houses of the kings of Judah which are torn down to make a defense against the siege ramps and against the sword,

he went down to the king’s house, into the scribe’s chamber; and behold, all the princes were sitting there: Elishama the scribe, Delaiah the son of Shemaiah, Elnathan the son of Achbor, Gemariah the son of Shaphan, Zedekiah the son of Hananiah, and all the [other] princes.

And they said to him, “Sit down now and read it to us.” So Baruch read it to them.

So they took Jeremiah and threw him into the cistern of Malchijah the king’s son, which was in the court of the guardhouse; and they let Jeremiah down [into the cistern] with ropes. Now there was no water in the cistern but only mud, and Jeremiah sank in the mud.

So Ebed-melech took the men with him and went into the palace of the king to a place under the storeroom and took from there old rags and worn-out clothes and let them down by ropes into the cistern to Jeremiah.

The Chaldeans also burned down the king’s palace and the houses of the people, and they broke down the walls of Jerusalem.

Ishmael the son of Nethaniah and the ten men who were with him got up and struck down Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan, with the sword and killed the one whom the king of Babylon had appointed [governor] over the land.

‘If you will indeed remain in this land, then I will build you up and not tear you down, and I will plant you and not uproot you; for I will relent and be satisfied concerning the disaster that I have inflicted on you [as discipline, and I will replace judgment with compassion].

Say this to him, ‘The Lord speaks in this way, “Behold, what I have built I will break down, and that which I have planted I will uproot, that is, the whole land.”

“Why have I seen it?They are terrifiedAnd have turned back,And their warriors are beaten down.They take flight in hasteWithout looking back;Terror is on every side!”Says the Lord.

The nations have heard of your disgrace and shame,And your cry [of distress] has filled the earth.For warrior has stumbled against warrior,And both of them have fallen together.

“Why have your strong ones been cut down?They do not stand because the Lord drove them away.

“They have cut down her forest,” says the Lord;“Certainly it will no longer be found,Because they (the invaders) are more numerous than locustsAnd cannot be counted.

Concerning Moab.Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel,“Woe (judgment is coming) to [the city of] Nebo, for it has been destroyed!Kiriathaim has been shamed, it has been captured;Misgab [the high fortress] has been shamed, broken down and crushed.

“Moab has been made desolate and his cities have gone up [in smoke and flame];And his chosen young men have gone down to the slaughter,”Says the King, whose name is the Lord of hosts.

“Come down from your glory,O Daughter living in Dibon,And sit on the parched ground [among the thirsty]!For the destroyer of Moab has advanced against you;He has destroyed your strongholds.

“Moab is shamed, for she has been broken down and shattered.Wail and cry out!Tell by [the banks of] the ArnonThat Moab has been destroyed.

“How it is broken down! How they have wailed! How Moab has turned his back in shame! So Moab will become a laughingstock and a [horrifying] terror to all who are around him.”

“As for Your terror,The pride and arrogance of your heart have deceived you,O you who live in the clefts of the rock (Sela also called Petra),Who hold and occupy the height of the hill.Though you make your nest as high as the eagle’s,I will bring you down from there,” says the Lord.

“Declare among the nations.Lift up a signal [to spread the news]—publish and proclaim it,Do not conceal it; say,‘Babylon has been taken,Bel [the patron god] has been shamed, Marduk (Bel) has been shattered.Babylon’s images have been shamed, her [worthless] idols have been thrown down.’

“Raise the battle cry against her on every side!She has given her hand [in agreement] and has surrendered; her pillars have fallen,Her walls have been torn down.For this is the vengeance of the Lord:Take vengeance on her;As she has done [to others], do to her.

Kill all her young bulls [her strength—her young men];Let them go down to the slaughter!Woe (judgment is coming) to the Chaldeans, for their day has come,The time of their punishment.

“They shall fall down dead in the land of the Chaldeans,And wounded in her streets.”

“Behold, I am against you,O destroying mountain [conqueror of nations],Who destroys the whole earth,” declares the Lord,“I will stretch out My hand against you,And roll you down from the [rugged] cliffs,And will make you a burnt mountain (extinct volcano).

“I will bring them down like lambs to the slaughter,Like rams together with male goats.

So all the army of the Chaldeans who were with the captain of the guard broke down all the walls around Jerusalem.