“That is because, from the least important to the most important of them, all of them are greedy for dishonest gain. Prophets and priests alike, all of them practice deceit.

The anger of the Lord will not turn back until he has fully carried out his intended purposes. In days to come you people will come to understand this clearly.

The anger of the Lord will not turn back until he has fully carried out his intended purposes. In days to come you will come to understand this.

“How long must I see the enemy’s battle flags and hear the military signals of their bugles?”

Cries of anguish raised from Heshbon and Elealeh will be sounded as far as Jahaz. They will be sounded from Zoar as far as Horonaim and Eglath Shelishiyah. For even the waters of Nimrim will be dried up.

“Oh people of Jerusalem, purify your hearts from evil so that you may yet be delivered. How long will you continue to harbor up wicked schemes within you?

If you stop doing these things, I will allow you to continue to live in this land which I gave to your ancestors as a lasting possession.

Those prophets are just prophesying lies. They are prophesying the delusions of their own minds.

They went on to Egypt because they refused to obey the Lord, and came to Tahpanhes.

The people of Gaza will shave their heads in mourning. The people of Ashkelon will be struck dumb. How long will you gash yourselves to show your sorrow, you who remain of Philistia’s power?

How long will you cry out, ‘Oh, sword of the Lord, how long will it be before you stop killing? Go back into your sheath! Stay there and rest!’

Yet in days to come I will reverse Moab’s ill fortune.” says the Lord. The judgment against Moab ends here.

The city remained under siege until Zedekiah’s eleventh year.

The Lord also spoke to him when Jehoiakim son of Josiah ruled over Judah, and he continued to speak to him until the fifth month of the eleventh year that Zedekiah son of Josiah ruled over Judah. That was when the people of Jerusalem were taken into exile.

So I will give their wives to other men and their fields to new owners. For from the least important to the most important of them, all of them are greedy for dishonest gain. Prophets and priests alike, all practice deceit.

The whole valley where dead bodies and sacrificial ashes are thrown and all the terraced fields out to the Kidron Valley on the east as far north as the Horse Gate will be included within this city that is sacred to the Lord. The city will never again be torn down or destroyed.”

In response to all this I said, “Ah, Lord God, you have surely allowed the people of Judah and Jerusalem to be deceived by those who say, ‘You will be safe!’ But in fact a sword is already at our throats.”

“The way you have lived and the things you have done will bring this on you. This is the punishment you deserve, and it will be painful indeed. The pain will be so bad it will pierce your heart.”

I will scatter them among nations that neither they nor their ancestors have known anything about. I will send people chasing after them with swords until I have destroyed them.’”

For I solemnly warned your ancestors to obey me. I warned them again and again, ever since I delivered them out of Egypt until this very day.