# Were these not the same words ... were inhabited?

Yahweh uses a question to scold the people. This question can be translated as a statement. Alternate translation: "These are the same words ... were inhabited." (See: [[rc://en/ta/man/jit/figs-rquestion]])

# by the hand of the former prophets

Here "hand" is a metonym for the words spoken by the mouth. Alternate translation: "by the words of the former prophets" or "through the former prophets" (See: [[rc://en/ta/man/jit/figs-metonymy]])

# when Jerusalem and the surrounding cities were inhabited and prosperous

"you still lived in Jerusalem and everyone who lived in the surrounding cities was prosperous"