<t /><p class="bodytext">The <sc>Lordsc> told me to say<n id="1" /> to the royal court<n id="2" /> of Judah,p> <p class="poetry">&#8220;Listen to what the <sc>Lordsc> says,p>

As you stand in those places<n id="1" /> announce, &#8216;Listen, all you people who pass through these gates. Listen, all you kings of Judah, all you people of Judah and all you citizens of Jerusalem. Listen to what the <sc>Lordsc> says.<n id="2" />

<p class="poetry">&#8220;Proclaim<n id="1" /> this message among the descendants of Jacob.<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">Make it known throughout Judah.p>

Then the <sc>Lordsc> said to me, &#8220;Under the circumstances, wayward Israel could even be considered less guilty than unfaithful Judah.<n id="1" />p>

<p class="poetry">For the nations of Israel and Judah<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">have been very unfaithful to me,&#8221;p> <p class="bodytext">says the <sc>Lordsc>.p>

Do you see<n id="1" /> what they are doing in the towns of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem?<n id="2" />

&#8220;Hear<n id="1" /> the terms of the covenant<n id="2" /> I made with Israel<n id="3" /> and pass them on<n id="4" /> to the people of Judah and the citizens of Jerusalem.<n id="5" />

<p class="bodytext">The <sc>Lordsc> said to me, &#8220;The people of Judah and the citizens of Jerusalem have plotted rebellion against me!<n id="1" />

&#8220;I, the <sc>Lordsc>, say:<n id="1" /> &#8216;This shows how<n id="2" /> I will ruin the highly exalted position<n id="3" /> in which Judah and Jerusalem<n id="4" /> take pride.

<p class="poetry">The gates of the towns in southern Judah will be shut tight.<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">No one will be able to go in or out of them.<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">All Judah will be carried off into exile.p> <p class="poetry">They will be completely carried off into exile.&#8217;&#8221;<n id="3" />p>

<p class="poetry">&#8220;The people of Judah are in mourning.p> <p class="poetry">The people in her cities are pining away.p> <p class="poetry">They lie on the ground expressing their sorrow.<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">Cries of distress come up to me<n id="2" /> from Jerusalem.<n id="3" />p>

<p class="bodytext">The <sc>Lordsc> told me,<n id="1" /> &#8220;Go down<n id="2" /> to the palace of the king of Judah. Give him a message from me there.<n id="3" />

<p class="poetry">Under his rule<n id="1" /> Judah will enjoy safety<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">and Israel will live in security.<n id="3" />p> <p class="poetry">This is the name he will go by:p> <p class="poetry">&#8216;The <sc>Lordsc> has provided us with justice.&#8217;<n id="4" />p>

He sent it after King Jeconiah, the queen mother, the palace officials,<n id="1" /> the leaders of Judah and Jerusalem, the craftsmen, and the metal workers had been exiled from Jerusalem.<n id="2" />

<t /><p class="bodytext">So here is what the <sc>Lordsc> has to say about Israel and Judah.<n id="1" />p>

<p class="poetry">The land of Judah will be inhabited by people who live in its townsp> <p class="poetry">as well as by farmers and shepherds with their flocks.<n id="1" />p>

I will restore Judah and Israel<n id="1" /> and will rebuild them as they were in days of old.<n id="2" />

<p class="bodytext">The prophet Jeremiah told all this to King Zedekiah of Judah in Jerusalem.

The king of Babylon ordered them to be executed<n id="1" /> at Riblah in the territory of Hamath.p> <p class="bodytext">So Judah was taken into exile away from its land.

The <sc>Lordsc> also spoke to him when Jehoiakim son of Josiah ruled over Judah, and he continued to speak to him until the fifth month of the eleventh year<n id="1" /> that Zedekiah son of Josiah ruled over Judah. That was when the people of Jerusalem<n id="2" /> were taken into exile.<n id="3" />p>