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 God of Israel who rules over all says, ‘I will break the yoke of servitude to the king of Babylon.

But they will be subject to the Lord their God and to the Davidic ruler whom I will raise up as king over them.

At that time I will be the God of all the clans of Israel and they will be my people. I, the Lord, affirm it!”

The captain of the royal guard took Jeremiah aside and said to him, “The Lord your God threatened this place with this disaster.

Then Jeremiah said to them, “You sent me to the Lord God of Israel to make your request known to him. Here is what he says to you:

Let us acknowledge our shame. Let us bear the disgrace that we deserve. For we have sinned against the Lord our God, both we and our ancestors. From earliest times to this very day we have not obeyed the Lord our God.’

You people of Israel should tell those nations this: ‘These gods did not make heaven and earth. They will disappear from the earth and from under the heavens.’

I answered, “Oh, Lord God, I really do not know how to speak well enough for that, for I am too young.”

Come back to me, you wayward people. I want to cure your waywardness. Say, ‘Here we are. We come to you because you are the Lord our God.

Tell them that the Lord, the God of Israel, says, ‘Anyone who does not keep the terms of the covenant will be under a curse.

Charge them to give their masters a message from me. Tell them, ‘The Lord God of Israel who rules over all says to give your masters this message.

“The Lord God of Israel who rules over all says to all those he sent into exile to Babylon from Jerusalem,

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!”’”

For the Lord God of Israel who rules over all says, “Houses, fields, and vineyards will again be bought in this land.”’

So the Lord God of Israel who rules over all says, ‘Jonadab son of Rechab will never lack a male descendant to serve me.’”

He will demolish the sacred pillars in the temple of the sun in Egypt and will burn down the temples of the gods of Egypt.”’”

“So then, Jeremiah, when your people ask, ‘Why has the Lord our God done all this to us?’ tell them, ‘It is because you rejected me and served foreign gods in your own land. So you must serve foreigners in a land that does not belong to you.’

So I, the Lord, the God who rules over all, the God of Israel, say: “I will soon bring on Judah and all the citizens of Jerusalem all the disaster that I threatened to bring on them. I will do this because I spoke to them but they did not listen. I called out to them but they did not answer.”’”

Then Jeremiah said to Zedekiah, “The Lord, the God who rules over all, the God of Israel, says, ‘You must surrender to the officers of the king of Babylon. If you do, your life will be spared and this city will not be burned down. Indeed, you and your whole family will be spared.