“I will abandon my nation. ¹  I will forsake the people I call my own. ²  I will turn my beloved people ³  over to the power ⁴  of their enemies.

Therefore the Lord says, “I will stand up for your cause. I will pay the Babylonians back for what they have done to you. ¹  I will dry up their sea. I will make their springs run dry. ² 

From earliest times our worship of that shameful god, Baal, has taken away ¹  all that our ancestors ²  worked for. It has taken away our flocks and our herds, and even our sons and daughters.

“My, how good you have become at chasing after your lovers! ¹  Why, you could even teach prostitutes a thing or two! ² 

Because she took her prostitution so lightly, she defiled the land ¹  through her adulterous worship of gods made of wood and stone. ² 

But your ancestors ¹  did not listen to me nor pay attention to me. They became obstinate ²  and were more wicked than even their own forefathers.’”

Sing to the Lord! Praise the Lord! For he rescues the oppressed from the clutches of evildoers. ¹ 

The Lord says, ¹  “I saw the prophets of Samaria ²  doing something that was disgusting. ³  They prophesied in the name of the god Baal and led my people Israel astray. ⁴ 

There were two copies of the deed of purchase. One was sealed and contained the order of transfer and the conditions of purchase. ¹  The other was left unsealed.

The exiles from Judah will say, ¹  ‘The Lord has brought about a great deliverance for us! ²  Come on, let’s go and proclaim in Zion what the Lord our God has done!’

In the presence of all these people I instructed Baruch,

“A noise is heard on the hilltops. It is the sound of the people of Israel crying and pleading to their gods. Indeed they have followed sinful ways; ¹  they have forgotten to be true to the Lord their God. ² 

And I will drive you out of my sight just like I drove out your relatives, the people of Israel.’” ¹ 

Even the stork knows when it is time to move on. ¹  The turtledove, swallow, and crane ²  recognize ³  the normal times for their migration. But my people pay no attention to ⁴  what I, the Lord, require of them. ⁵ 

The Lord answered, ¹  “If you have raced on foot against men and they have worn you out, how will you be able to compete with horses? And if you feel secure only ²  in safe and open country, ³  how will you manage in the thick undergrowth along the Jordan River? ⁴ 

Many foreign rulers ¹  will ruin the land where I planted my people. ²  They will trample all over my chosen land. ³  They will turn my beautiful land into a desolate wasteland.

I, the Lord, say: ¹  ‘You people have deserted me! You keep turning your back on me.’ ²  So I have unleashed my power against you ³  and have begun to destroy you. ⁴  I have grown tired of feeling sorry for you!” ⁵ 

Before I restore them ¹  I will punish them in full ²  for their sins and the wrongs they have done. For they have polluted my land with the lifeless statues of their disgusting idols. They have filled the land I have claimed as my own ³  with their detestable idols.” ⁴ 

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

Your ancestors, ¹  however, did not listen to me or pay any attention to me. They stubbornly refused ²  to pay attention or to respond to any discipline.’