<p class="poetry">You will not always be angry with me, will you?p> <p class="poetry">You will not be mad at me forever, will you?&#8217;<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">That is what you say,p> <p class="poetry">but you continually do all the evil that you can.&#8221;<n id="2" />p>

<p class="poetry">They will surround Jerusalem<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">like men guarding a field<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">because they have rebelled against me,&#8221;p> <p class="poetry">says the <sc>Lordsc>.p>

<p class="poetry">They do not say to themselves,<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">&#8220;Let us revere the <sc>Lordsc> our God.p> <p class="poetry">It is he who gives us the autumn rains and the spring rains at the proper time.p> <p class="poetry">It is he who assures us of the regular weeks of harvest.&#8221;<n id="2" />p>

<p class="poetry">Even the stork knowsp> <p class="poetry">when it is time to move on.<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">The turtledove, swallow, and crane<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">recognize<n id="3" /> the normal times for their migration.p> <p class="poetry">But my people pay no attentionp> <p class="poetry">to<n id="4" /> what I, the <sc>Lordsc>, require of them.<n id="5" />p>

<p class="poetry">Everyone must be on his guard around his friends.p> <p class="poetry">He must not even trust any of his relatives.<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">For every one of them will find some way to cheat him.<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">And all of his friends will tell lies about him.p>

The <sc>Lordsc> says, &#8216;Be very careful if you value your lives!<n id="1" /> Do not carry any loads<n id="2" /> in through<n id="3" /> the gates of Jerusalem on the Sabbath day.

<p class="poetry">Hear what the <sc>Lordsc> has to say, O nations.p> <p class="poetry">Proclaim it in the faraway lands along the sea.p> <p class="poetry">Say, &#8220;The one who scattered Israel will regather them.p> <p class="poetry">He will watch over his people like a shepherd watches over his flock.&#8221;p>

<p class="bodytext">The captain of the royal guard took Seraiah the chief priest, Zephaniah the priest who was second in rank, and the three doorkeepers.<n id="1" />

Then tell them that the <sc>Lordsc> says,<n id="1" /> &#8216;It is because your ancestors<n id="2" /> rejected me and paid allegiance to<n id="3" /> other gods. They have served them and worshiped them. But they have rejected me and not obeyed my law.<n id="4" />

<p class="poetry">I<n id="1" /> hear many whispering words of intrigue against me.p> <p class="poetry">Those who would cause me terror are everywhere!<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">They are saying, &#8220;Come on, let&#8217;s publicly denounce him!&#8221;<n id="3" />p> <p class="poetry">All my so-called friends<n id="4" /> are just watching forp> <p class="poetry">something that would lead to my downfall.<n id="5" />p> <p class="poetry">They say, &#8220;Perhaps he can be enticed into slipping up,p> <p class="poetry">so we can prevail over<n id="6" /> him and get our revenge on him.p>

I took them to the <sc>Lordsc>&#8217;s temple. I took them into the room where the disciples of the prophet Hanan son of Igdaliah stayed.<n id="1" /> That room was next to the one where the temple officers stayed and above the room where Maaseiah son of Shallum, one of the doorkeepers<n id="2" /> of the temple, stayed.

<p class="bodytext">Then Jeremiah spoke to the Rechabite community, &#8220;The <sc>Lordsc> God of Israel who rules over all<n id="1" /> says, &#8216;You have obeyed the orders of your ancestor Jonadab. You have followed all his instructions. You have done exactly as he commanded you.&#8217;

<p class="poetry">Give the signal to attack Babylon&#8217;s wall!<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">Bring more guards!<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">Post them all around the city!<n id="3" />p> <p class="poetry">Put men in ambush!<n id="4" />p> <p class="poetry">For the <sc>Lordsc> will do what he has planned.p> <p class="poetry">He will do what he said he would do to the people of Babylon.<n id="5" />p>