That was when the Lord spoke to Jeremiah,

Then Jeremiah said to Seraiah, “When you arrive in Babylon, make sure you read aloud all these prophecies.

The Lord said to me, “Tell them, ‘The Lord says, Do people not get back up when they fall down? Do they not turn around when they go the wrong way?

Cursed be the day I was born! May that day not be blessed when my mother gave birth to me.

When you seek me in prayer and worship, you will find me available to you. If you seek me with all your heart and soul,

The Lord spoke to Jeremiah when Jehoiakim son of Josiah was ruling over Judah.

You have brought all this on yourself, Israel, by deserting the Lord your God when he was leading you along the right path.

The Lord says, “Watch out! The time is soon coming when I will punish all those who are circumcised only in the flesh.

When you finish reading this scroll aloud, tie a stone to it and throw it into the middle of the Euphrates River.

So if a prophet prophesied peace and prosperity, it was only known that the Lord truly sent him when what he prophesied came true.”

Yes, a time is coming when watchmen will call out on the mountains of Ephraim, “Come! Let us go to Zion to worship the Lord our God!”’”

“Indeed, a time is coming,” says the Lord, “when I will make a new covenant with the people of Israel and Judah.

When all the people that Ishmael had taken captive saw Johanan son of Kareah and all the army officers with him, they were glad.

I will send people to winnow Babylonia like a wind blowing away chaff. They will winnow her and strip her land bare. This will happen when they come against her from every direction, when it is time to destroy her.

Then the Lord said to me, “When you tell them all this, they will not listen to you. When you call out to them, they will not respond to you.

And there are times when I promise to build up and establish a nation or kingdom.

They are worthless, mere objects to be mocked. When the time comes to punish them, they will be destroyed.

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

They are worthless, objects to be ridiculed. When the time comes to punish them, they will be destroyed.

Yes, but the time will certainly come,” says the Lord, “when I will punish her idols. Throughout her land the mortally wounded will groan.