The priests left the holy place. All the priests who participated had consecrated themselves, no matter which division they represented.

The Jews struck all their enemies with the sword, bringing death and destruction, and they did as they pleased with their enemies.

Far from where people live he sinks a shaft, in places travelers have long forgotten, far from other people he dangles and sways.

“But now they mock me, those who are younger than I, whose fathers I disdained too much to put with my sheep dogs.

Remember your people whom you acquired in ancient times, whom you rescued so they could be your very own nation, as well as Mount Zion, where you dwell!

For he is our God; we are the people of his pasture, the sheep he owns. Today, if only you would obey him!

Just as he came forth from his mother's womb, naked will he return as he came, and he will take nothing in his hand that he may carry away from his toil.

The Beloved to Her Lover: “I have already taken off my robe – must I put it on again? I have already washed my feet – must I soil them again?”

Indeed every boot that marches and shakes the earth and every garment dragged through blood is used as fuel for the fire.

On this mountain he will swallow up the shroud that is over all the peoples, the woven covering that is over all the nations;

So this sin will become your downfall. You will be like a high wall that bulges and cracks and is ready to collapse; it crumbles suddenly, in a flash.

you will be blessed, you who plant seed by all the banks of the streams, you who let your ox and donkey graze.

He is your constant source of stability; he abundantly provides safety and great wisdom; he gives all this to those who fear him.

“Listen to me, O family of Jacob, all you who are left from the family of Israel, you who have been carried from birth, you who have been supported from the time you left the womb.

They will disappoint you, those you have so faithfully dealt with since your youth. Each strays off in his own direction, leaving no one to rescue you.”

“Indeed, the Lord will call you back like a wife who has been abandoned and suffers from depression, like a young wife when she has been rejected,” says your God.

Since ancient times no one has heard or perceived, no eye has seen any God besides you, who intervenes for those who wait for him.

Israel was set apart to the Lord; they were like the first fruits of a harvest to him. All who tried to devour them were punished; disaster came upon them,” says the Lord.’”

From earliest times our worship of that shameful god, Baal, has taken away all that our ancestors worked for. It has taken away our flocks and our herds, and even our sons and daughters.

Before two years are over, I will bring back to this place everything that King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon took from it and carried away to Babylon.