For this is what the sovereign master has told me: “Go, post a guard! He must report what he sees.

They travel down to Egypt without seeking my will, seeking Pharaoh’s protection, and looking for safety in Egypt’s protective shade.

“I thought, ‘In the middle of my life I must walk through the gates of Sheol, I am deprived of the rest of my years.’

“I will go before you and level mountains. Bronze doors I will shatter and iron bars I will hack through.

They will all be ashamed and embarrassed; those who fashion idols will all be humiliated.

Together they bend low and kneel down; they are unable to rescue the images; they themselves head off into captivity.

They do not thirst as he leads them through dry regions; he makes water flow out of a rock for them; he splits open a rock and water flows out.’

I was angry because of their sinful greed; I attacked them and angrily rejected them, yet they remained disobedient and stubborn.

the one who made his majestic power available to Moses, who divided the water before them, gaining for himself a lasting reputation,

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

Do not go out into the countryside. Do not travel on the roads. For the enemy is there with sword in hand. They are spreading terror everywhere.”

I reported, “All of them are the most stubborn of rebels! They are as hard as bronze or iron. They go about telling lies. They all deal corruptly.

Instead they have followed the stubborn inclinations of their own hearts. They have paid allegiance to the gods called Baal, as their fathers taught them to do.

Lord, we know that people do not control their own destiny. It is not in their power to determine what will happen to them.

You plant them like trees and they put down their roots. They grow prosperous and are very fruitful. They always talk about you, but they really care nothing about you.

But they just keep saying, ‘We do not care what you say! We will do whatever we want to do! We will continue to behave wickedly and stubbornly!’”

The Lord told Jeremiah, “Go and buy a clay jar from a potter. Take with you some of the leaders of the people and some of the leaders of the priests.

The Lord says, “The people of Israel who survived death at the hands of the enemy will find favor in the wilderness as they journey to find rest for themselves.

Jeremiah started to leave Jerusalem to go to the territory of Benjamin. He wanted to make sure he got his share of the property that was being divided up among his family there.

But Ishmael son of Nethaniah managed to escape from Johanan along with eight of his men, and he went on over to Ammon.