The land also shall be left of them, and shall enjoy her sabbaths, while she lieth desolate without them: and they shall accept of the punishment of their iniquity: because, even because they despised my judgments, and because their soul abhorred my statutes.
The land will be left empty by them and will finally enjoy its sabbath rests while it lies desolate without them. And they will accept the punishment for their wrongdoing, because they rejected my laws and their hearts despised my rules.
God is saying that when His people are exiled from their land due to disobedience, the land itself will get the rest it was supposed to have, and the people will finally accept that their punishment came from rejecting God's ways.
📚 Historical Context
This verse is part of God's covenant warnings to Israel about the consequences of persistent disobedience. The 'sabbaths' refer to the sabbatical years when the land was supposed to rest every seventh year, which Israel often ignored. This prophecy was fulfilled during the Babylonian exile (586-516 BC) when the land lay desolate for 70 years.
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