I take no delight when they offer up to me frankincense that comes from Sheba or sweet-smelling cane imported from a faraway land. I cannot accept the burnt offerings they bring me. I get no pleasure from the sacrifices they offer to me.’

I will purify them from all the sin that they committed against me. I will forgive all their sins which they committed in rebelling against me.

Even now you say to me, ‘You are my father! You have been my faithful companion ever since I was young.

Do not cause me dismay! You are my source of safety in times of trouble.

As to my case, I am in your power. Do to me what you deem fair and proper.

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

Then they will say, ‘Under these conditions I can enjoy sweet sleep when I wake up and look around.’”

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

I planted you in the land like a special vine of the very best stock. Why in the world have you turned into something like a wild vine that produces rotten, foul-smelling grapes?

No, a wind too strong for that will come at my bidding. Yes, even now I, myself, am calling down judgment on them.’

And I cried out, “We are doomed! Our wound is severe! We once thought, ‘This is only an illness. And we will be able to bear it!’

The people I call my own have turned on me like a lion in the forest. They have roared defiantly at me. So I will treat them as though I hate them.

Lord, you coerced me into being a prophet, and I allowed you to do it. You overcame my resistance and prevailed over me. Now I have become a constant laughingstock. Everyone ridicules me.

For he did not kill me before I came from the womb, making my pregnant mother’s womb my grave forever.

In a far-off land the Lord will manifest himself to them. He will say to them, ‘I have loved you with an everlasting love. That is why I have continued to be faithful to you.

“Babylon, you are my war club, my weapon for battle. I used you to smash nations. I used you to destroy kingdoms.

“I thought to myself, ‘Oh what a joy it would be for me to treat you like a son! What a joy it would be for me to give you a pleasant land, the most beautiful piece of property there is in all the world!’ I thought you would call me, ‘Father’ and would never cease being loyal to me.

I said, “Oh, the feeling in the pit of my stomach! I writhe in anguish. Oh, the pain in my heart! My heart pounds within me. I cannot keep silent. For I hear the sound of the trumpet; the sound of the battle cry pierces my soul!

The people I call my own attack me like birds of prey or like hyenas. But other birds of prey are all around them. Let all the nations gather together like wild beasts. Let them come and destroy these people I call my own.

Their widows will become in my sight more numerous than the grains of sand on the seashores. At noontime I will bring a destroyer against the mothers of their young men. I will cause anguish and terror to fall suddenly upon them.