“At that time the people of Judah and Jerusalem will be told, ‘A scorching wind will sweep down from the hilltops in the desert on my dear people. It will not be a gentle breeze for winnowing the grain and blowing away the chaff.

Then Jeremiah replied to all the people, both men and women, who responded to him in this way.

But these people have stubborn and rebellious hearts. They have turned aside and gone their own way.

The Lord said to me, “I have made you like a metal assayer to test my people like ore. You are to observe them and evaluate how they behave.”

My heart is crushed because my dear people are being crushed. I go about crying and grieving. I am overwhelmed with dismay.

Then you will again be my people and I will be your God.

They will be my people, and I will be their God.

Poor dear Egypt will be put to shame. She will be handed over to the people from the north.”

Moab will be destroyed and no longer be a nation, because she has vaunted herself against the Lord.

But they must make sure you learn to follow the religious practices of my people. Once they taught my people to swear their oaths using the name of the god Baal. But then, they must swear oaths using my name, saying, “As surely as the Lord lives, I swear.” If they do these things, then they will be included among the people I call my own.

Has a nation ever changed its gods (even though they are not really gods at all)? But my people have exchanged me, their glorious God, for a god that cannot help them at all!

Does a young woman forget to put on her jewels? Does a bride forget to put on her bridal attire? But my people have forgotten me for more days than can even be counted.

“Indeed, there are wicked scoundrels among my people. They lie in wait like bird catchers hiding in ambush. They set deadly traps to catch people.

They offer only superficial help for the harm my people have suffered. They say, ‘Everything will be all right!’ But everything is not all right!

Then the dead bodies of these people will be left on the ground for the birds and wild animals to eat. There will not be any survivors to scare them away.

Why, then, do these people of Jerusalem continually turn away from me in apostasy? They hold fast to their deception. They refuse to turn back to me.

They offer only superficial help for the hurt my dear people have suffered. They say, “Everything will be all right!” But everything is not all right!

Then the Lord said to me, “Do not pray for good to come to these people!

The Lord continued, “In every town in the land I will purge them like straw blown away by the wind. I will destroy my people. I will kill off their children. I will do so because they did not change their behavior.

The Lord told Jeremiah, “Go and buy a clay jar from a potter. Take with you some of the leaders of the people and some of the leaders of the priests.