&#8216;So pay attention to what I, the <sc>Lordsc>, have said,<n id="1" /> all you exiles whom I have sent to Babylon from Jerusalem.&#8217;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" />

I also explicitly commanded them:<n id="1" /> &#8220;Obey me. If you do, I<n id="2" /> will be your God and you will be my people. Live exactly the way I tell you<n id="3" /> and things will go well with you.&#8221;

For take note, I am already beginning to bring disaster on the city that I call my own.<n id="1" /> So how can you possibly avoid being punished?<n id="2" /> You will not go unpunished! For I am proclaiming war against all who live on the earth. I, the <sc>Lordsc> who rules over all,<n id="3" /> affirm it!&#8217;<n id="4" />p>

So do not listen to your prophets or to those who claim to predict the future by divination,<n id="1" /> by dreams, by consulting the dead,<n id="2" /> or by practicing magic. They keep telling you, &#8216;You do not need to be<n id="3" /> subject to the king of Babylon.&#8217;

I for my part will stay at Mizpah to represent you before the Babylonians<n id="1" /> whenever they come to us. You for your part go ahead and harvest the wine, the dates, the figs,<n id="2" /> and the olive oil, and store them in jars. Go ahead and settle down in the towns that you have taken over.&#8221;<n id="3" />