<p class="poetry">Even now you say to me, &#8216;You are my father!<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">You have been my faithful companion ever since I was young.p>

<p class="poetry"><sc>Lordsc>, we confess that we have been wicked.p> <p class="poetry">We confess that our ancestors have done wrong.<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">We have indeed<n id="2" /> sinned against you.p>

If you stop doing these things,<n id="1" /> I will allow you to continue to live in this land<n id="2" /> which I gave to your ancestors as a lasting possession.<n id="3" />p>

But your ancestors<n id="1" /> did not listen to me nor pay attention to me. They became obstinate<n id="2" /> and were more wicked than even their own forefathers.&#8217;&#8221;p>

Instead they have followed the stubborn inclinations of their own hearts. They have paid allegiance to<n id="1" /> the gods called Baal,<n id="2" /> as their fathers<n id="3" /> taught them to do.

<t /><p class="bodytext">&#8220;When that time comes, people will no longer say, &#8216;The parents have eaten sour grapes, but the children&#8217;s teeth have grown numb.&#8217;<n id="1" />

We have lived in tents. We have obeyed our ancestor Jonadab and done exactly as he commanded us.<n id="1" />

They have gone back to the evil ways<n id="1" /> of their ancestors of old who refused to obey what I told them. They, too, have paid allegiance to<n id="2" /> other gods and worshiped them. Both the nation of Israel and the nation of Judah<n id="3" /> have violated the covenant I made with their ancestors.

<p class="poetry">This is what the Lord says:p> <p class="poetry">&#8220;What fault could your ancestors<n id="1" /> have possibly found in mep> <p class="poetry">that they strayed so far from me?<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">They paid allegiance to<n id="3" /> worthless idols, and so became worthless to me.<n id="4" />p>

<p class="poetry">They say to a wooden idol,<n id="1" /> &#8216;You are my father.&#8217;p> <p class="poetry">They say to a stone image, &#8216;You gave birth to me.&#8217;<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">Yes, they have turned away from me instead of turning to me.<n id="3" />p> <p class="poetry">Yet when they are in trouble, they say, &#8216;Come and save us!&#8217;p>

At that time<n id="1" /> the nation of Judah and the nation of Israel will be reunited.<n id="2" /> Together they will come back from a land in the north to the land that I gave to your ancestors as a permanent possession. &#8221;<n id="3" />p>

<p class="poetry">From earliest times our worship of that shameful god, Baal,p> <p class="poetry">has taken away<n id="1" /> all that our ancestors<n id="2" /> worked for.p> <p class="poetry">It has taken away our flocks and our herds,p> <p class="poetry">and even our sons and daughters.p>

So I will destroy this temple which I have claimed as my own,<n id="1" /> this temple that you are trusting to protect you. I will destroy this place that I gave to you and your ancestors,<n id="2" /> just like I destroyed Shiloh.<n id="3" />

Consider this:<n id="1" /> When I spoke to your ancestors after I brought them out of Egypt, I did not merely give them commands about burnt offerings and sacrifices.

I will scatter them among nations that neither they nor their ancestors<n id="1" /> have known anything about. I will send people chasing after them with swords<n id="2" /> until I have destroyed them.&#8217;&#8221;<n id="3" />p>

For I solemnly warned your ancestors to obey me.<n id="1" /> I warned them again and again,<n id="2" /> ever since I delivered them out of Egypt until this very day.

And I will smash them like wine bottles against one another, children and parents alike.<n id="1" /> I will not show any pity, mercy, or compassion. Nothing will keep me from destroying them,&#8217;<n id="2" /> says the <sc>Lordsc>.&#8221;p>

No one will take any food to those who mourn for the dead to comfort them. No one will give them any wine to drink to console them for the loss of their father or mother.p>

And you have acted even more wickedly than your ancestors! Each one of you has followed the stubborn inclinations of your own wicked heart and not obeyed me.<n id="1" />

Do not carry any loads out of your houses or do any work on the Sabbath day.<n id="1" /> But observe the Sabbath day as a day set apart to the <sc>Lord,sc><n id="2" /> as I commanded your ancestors.<n id="3" />