Then I said, “Lord, pay attention to me. Listen to what my enemies are saying.

The Lord told me to say to the royal court of Judah, “Listen to what the Lord says,

O land of Judah, land of Judah, land of Judah! Listen to what the Lord has to say!

“Moab will be crushed. Her children will cry out in distress.

Tell them: ‘Hear this, you foolish people who have no understanding, who have eyes but do not discern, who have ears but do not perceive:

Your ancestors, however, did not listen to me or pay any attention to me. They stubbornly refused to pay attention or to respond to any discipline.’

While you were feeling secure I gave you warning. But you said, “I refuse to listen to you.” That is the way you have acted from your earliest history onward. Indeed, you have never paid attention to me.

Yet which of them has ever stood in the Lord’s inner circle so they could see and hear what he has to say? Which of them have ever paid attention or listened to what he has said?

Over and over again the Lord has sent his servants the prophets to you. But you have not listened or paid attention.

You must pay attention to the exhortations of my servants the prophets. I have sent them to you over and over again. But you have not paid any attention to them.

When the king and all his bodyguards and officials heard what he was prophesying, the king sought to have him executed. But Uriah found out about it and fled to Egypt out of fear.

I have indeed heard the people of Israel say mournfully, ‘We were like a calf untrained to the yoke. You disciplined us and we learned from it. Let us come back to you and we will do so, for you are the Lord our God.

“Make an announcement throughout Egypt. Proclaim it in Migdol, Memphis, and Tahpanhes. ‘Take your positions and prepare to do battle. For the enemy army is destroying all the nations around you.’

For messengers are coming, heralding disaster, from the city of Dan and from the hills of Ephraim.

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

“Proclaim this message among the descendants of Jacob. Make it known throughout Judah.

So the Lord said, “Hear, you nations! Be witnesses and take note of what will happen to these people.

Then I said to the people of Judah, “Listen and pay attention! Do not be arrogant! For the Lord has spoken.

“Go down at once to the potter’s house. I will speak to you further there.”

When you call out to me and come to me in prayer, I will hear your prayers.