<p class="poetry">Their children are always thinking about<n id="1" /> their<n id="2" /> altarsp> <p class="poetry">and their sacred poles dedicated to the goddess Asherah,<n id="3" />p> <p class="poetry">set up beside the green trees on the high hillsp>

<p class="poetry">Indeed, the people of Israel are my dear children.p> <p class="poetry">They are the children I take delight in.<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">For even though I must often rebuke them,p> <p class="poetry">I still remember them with fondness.p> <p class="poetry">So I am deeply moved with pity for them<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">and will surely have compassion on them.p> <p class="poetry">I, the <sc>Lordsc>, affirm it!<n id="3" />p>

<p class="poetry">They are saying,<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">&#8216;Announce to the surrounding nations,<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">&#8220;The enemy is coming!&#8221;<n id="3" />p> <p class="poetry">Proclaim this message<n id="4" /> to Jerusalem:p> <p class="poetry">&#8220;Those who besiege cities<n id="5" /> are coming from a distant land.p> <p class="poetry">They are ready to raise the battle cry against<n id="6" /> the towns in Judah.&#8221;&#8217;p>

<p class="poetry">For the honor of your name,<n id="1" /> do not treat Jerusalem<n id="2" /> with contempt.p> <p class="poetry">Do not treat with disdain the place where your glorious throne sits.<n id="3" />p> <p class="poetry">Be mindful of your covenant with us. Do not break it!<n id="4" />p>

<p class="bodytext">I said,<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">&#8220;<sc>Lordsc>, you know how I suffer.<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">Take thought of me and care for me.p> <p class="poetry">Pay back for me those who have been persecuting me.p> <p class="poetry">Do not be so patient with them that you allow them to kill me.p> <p class="poetry">Be mindful of how I have put up with their insults for your sake.p>

<p class="poetry">Should good be paid back with evil?p> <p class="poetry">Yet they are virtually digging a pit to kill me.<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">Just remember how I stood before youp> <p class="poetry">pleading on their behalf<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">to keep you from venting your anger on them.<n id="3" />p>

<p class="poetry">Sometimes I think, &#8220;I will make no mention of his message.p> <p class="poetry">I will not speak as his messenger<n id="1" /> any more.&#8221;p> <p class="poetry">But then<n id="2" /> his message becomes like a firep> <p class="poetry">locked up inside of me, burning in my heart and soul.<n id="3" />p> <p class="poetry">I grow weary of trying to hold it in;p> <p class="poetry">I cannot contain it.p>

You must no longer say that the <sc>Lordsc>&#8217;s message is burdensome.<n id="1" /> For what is &#8216;burdensome&#8217;<n id="2" /> really pertains to what a person himself says.<n id="3" /> You are misrepresenting<n id="4" /> the words of our God, the living God, the <sc>Lordsc> who rules over all.<n id="5" />

<p class="poetry">You who have escaped the sword,<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">go, do not delay.<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">Remember the <sc>Lordsc> in a faraway land.p> <p class="poetry">Think about Jerusalem.<n id="3" />p>

&#8220;Go and declare in the hearing of the people of Jerusalem:<n id="1" /> &#8216;This is what the <sc>Lordsc> says: &#8220;I have fond memories of you,<n id="2" /> how devoted you were to me in your early years.<n id="3" /> I remember how you loved me like a new bride; you followed me through the wilderness, through a land that had never been planted.

In those days, your population will greatly increase<n id="1" /> in the land. At that time,&#8221; says the <sc>Lordsc>, &#8220;people will no longer talk about having the ark<n id="2" /> that contains the <sc>Lordsc>&#8217;s covenant with us.<n id="3" /> They will not call it to mind, remember it, or miss it. No, that will not be done any more!<n id="4" />

<p class="poetry">Before this I had been like a docile lamb ready to be led to the slaughter.p> <p class="poetry">I did not know they were making plans to kill me.<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">I did not know they were saying,<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">&#8220;Let&#8217;s destroy the tree along with its fruit!<n id="3" />p> <p class="poetry">Let&#8217;s remove Jeremiah<n id="4" /> from the world of the livingp> <p class="poetry">so people will not even be reminded of him any more.&#8221;<n id="5" />p>

<p class="bodytext">Then the <sc>Lordsc> spoke about these people.<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">&#8220;They truly<n id="2" /> love to go astray.p> <p class="poetry">They cannot keep from running away from me.<n id="3" />p> <p class="poetry">So I am not pleased with them.p> <p class="poetry">I will now call to mind<n id="4" /> the wrongs they have done<n id="5" />p> <p class="poetry">and punish them for their sins.&#8221;p>

<p class="bodytext">&#8220;People will no longer need to teach their neighbors and relatives to know me.<n id="1" /> For all of them, from the least important to the most important, will know me,&#8221;<n id="2" /> says the <sc>Lordsc>. &#8220;For<n id="3" /> I will forgive their sin and will no longer call to mind the wrong they have done.&#8221;p>

&#8220;The <sc>Lordsc> did indeed remember and call to mind what you did! He remembered the sacrifices you and your ancestors, your kings, your leaders, and all the rest of the people of the land offered to other gods<n id="1" /> in the towns of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem.<n id="2" />