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

There are times, Jeremiah, when I threaten to uproot, tear down, and destroy a nation or kingdom.

For the Lord says, ‘I will make both you and your friends terrified of what will happen to you. You will see all of them die by the swords of their enemies. I will hand all the people of Judah over to the king of Babylon. He will carry some of them away into exile in Babylon and he will kill others of them with the sword.

Cursed be the man who made my father very glad when he brought him the news that a baby boy had been born to him!

Why did I ever come forth from my mother’s womb? All I experience is trouble and grief, and I spend my days in shame.

He will be left unburied just like a dead donkey. His body will be dragged off and thrown outside the gates of Jerusalem.’”

You will never come back to this land to which you will long to return!”

The Lord says, “The leaders of my people are sure to be judged. They were supposed to watch over my people like shepherds watch over their sheep. But they are causing my people to be destroyed and scattered.

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

Then the Babylonian forces will return. They will attack the city and will capture it and burn it down.

The Babylonians burned down the royal palace, the temple of the Lord, and the people’s homes, and they tore down the wall of Jerusalem.

“Find Jeremiah and look out for him. Do not do anything to harm him, but do with him whatever he tells you.”

“You must not disobey the Lord your God by saying, ‘We will not stay in this land.’

But the people of Jerusalem and Judah would not listen or pay any attention. They would not stop the wickedness they were doing nor quit sacrificing to other gods.

But even the swiftest cannot get away. Even the strongest cannot escape. There in the north by the Euphrates River they stumble and fall in defeat.

The Lord spoke to the prophet Jeremiah about Nebuchadnezzar coming to attack the land of Egypt.

There at home they will say, ‘Pharaoh king of Egypt is just a big noise! He has let the most opportune moment pass by.’

The Lord spoke to the prophet Jeremiah about the Philistines before Pharaoh attacked Gaza.

Set up a gravestone for Moab, for it will certainly be laid in ruins! Its cities will be laid waste and become uninhabited.”

I, the Lord, affirm that I know how arrogant they are. But their pride is ill-founded. Their boastings will prove to be false.