My message is like a fire that purges dross!<n id="1" /> It is like a hammer that breaks a rock in pieces!<n id="2" /> I, the <sc>Lordsc>, so affirm it!<n id="3" />

<p class="poetry">So my heart moans for Moabp> <p class="poetry">like a flute playing a funeral song.p> <p class="poetry">Yes, like a flute playing a funeral song,p> <p class="poetry">my heart moans for the people of Kir Heres.p> <p class="poetry">For the wealth they have gained will perish.p>

<p class="poetry">&#8220;Hazor will become a permanent wasteland,p> <p class="poetry">a place where only jackals live.<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">No one will live there.p> <p class="poetry">No human being will settle in it.&#8221;<n id="2" />p>

<p class="poetry">I will make you serve your enemies<n id="1" /> in a land that you know nothing about.p> <p class="poetry">For my anger is like a fire that will burn against you.&#8221;p>

<p class="poetry">Babylon will become a heap of ruins.p> <p class="poetry">Jackals will make their home there.<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">It will become an object of horror and of hissing scorn,p> <p class="poetry">a place where no one lives.<n id="2" />p>

And there are times when I promise to build up and establish<n id="1" /> a nation or kingdom.

<p class="poetry">For the religion<n id="1" /> of these people is worthless.p> <p class="poetry">They cut down a tree in the forest,p> <p class="poetry">and a craftsman makes it into an idol with his tools.<n id="2" />p>

<p class="poetry">Listen! News is coming even now.<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">The rumble of a great army is heard approaching<n id="2" /> from a land in the north.<n id="3" />p> <p class="poetry">It is coming to turn the towns of Judah into rubble,p> <p class="poetry">places where only jackals live.p>

<p class="poetry">How long will you vacillate,<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">you who were once like an unfaithful daughter?<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">For I, the <sc>Lordsc>, promise<n id="3" /> to bring about something new<n id="4" /> on the earth,p> <p class="poetry">something as unique as a woman protecting a man!&#8217;&#8221;<n id="5" />p>

<p class="poetry">Just watch! The wrath of the <sc>Lordsc>p> <p class="poetry">will come like a storm.p> <p class="poetry">Like a raging storm it will rage downp> <p class="poetry">on the heads of those who are wicked.p>

<p class="bodytext">&#8220;Indeed, a time is coming,&#8221; says the <sc>Lordsc>,<n id="1" /> &#8220;when I will make a new covenant<n id="2" /> with the people of Israel and Judah.<n id="3" />

<p class="poetry">The <sc>Lordsc> says,<n id="1" /> &#8220;Listen,<n id="2" /> nation of Israel!<n id="3" />p> <p class="poetry">I am about to bring a nation from far away to attack you.p> <p class="poetry">It will be a nation that was founded long agop> <p class="poetry">and has lasted for a long time.p> <p class="poetry">It will be a nation whose language you will not know.p> <p class="poetry">Its people will speak words that you will not be able to understand.p>

<p class="poetry">Egypt is like a beautiful young cow.p> <p class="poetry">But northern armies will attack her like swarms of stinging flies.<n id="1" />p>

<p class="poetry">I planted you in the landp> <p class="poetry">like a special vine of the very best stock.p> <p class="poetry">Why in the world have you turned into something like a wild vinep> <p class="poetry">that produces rotten, foul-smelling grapes?<n id="1" />p>

<p class="poetry">Does a young woman forget to put on her jewels?p> <p class="poetry">Does a bride forget to put on her bridal attire?p> <p class="poetry">But my people have forgotten mep> <p class="poetry">for more days than can even be counted.p>

<p class="bodytext">So<n id="1" /> Jeremiah was put in prison in a cell in the dungeon in Jonathan&#8217;s house.<n id="2" /> He<n id="3" /> was kept there for a long time.

There are times, Jeremiah,<n id="1" /> when I threaten to uproot, tear down, and destroy a nation or kingdom.<n id="2" />

<p class="poetry">In fact,<n id="1" /> I hear a cry like that of a woman in labor,p> <p class="poetry">a cry of anguish like that of a woman giving birth to her first baby.p> <p class="poetry">It is the cry of Daughter Zion<n id="2" /> gasping for breath,p> <p class="poetry">reaching out for help,<n id="3" /> saying, &#8220;I am done in!<n id="4" />p> <p class="poetry">My life is ebbing away before these murderers!&#8221;p>

<p class="poetry">&#8220;This is what the <sc>Lordsc> says:p> <p class="poetry">&#8216;Beware! An army<n id="1" /> is coming from a land in the north.p> <p class="poetry">A mighty nation is stirring into action in faraway parts of the earth.p>

<t /><p class="poetry">&#8220;Israel is not a slave, is he?p> <p class="poetry">He was not born into slavery, was he?<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">If not, why then is he being carried off?p>