I have indeed ¹  heard the people of Israel ²  say mournfully, ‘We were like a calf untrained to the yoke. ³  You disciplined us and we learned from it. ⁴  Let us come back to you and we will do so, ⁵  for you are the Lord our God.

How long will you vacillate, ¹  you who were once like an unfaithful daughter? ²  For I, the Lord, promise ³  to bring about something new ⁴  on the earth, something as unique as a woman protecting a man!’” ⁵ 

Zedekiah will be carried off to Babylon and will remain there until I have fully dealt with him. ¹  I, the Lord, affirm it! ²  Even if you ³  continue to fight against the Babylonians, ⁴  you cannot win.’”

For the Lord God of Israel who rules over all ¹  says, “Houses, fields, and vineyards will again be bought in this land.”’ ² 

For I, the Lord, promise: “David will never lack a successor to occupy ¹  the throne over the nation of Israel. ² 

Yes, ¹  the descendants of Jonadab son of Rechab have carried out the orders that their ancestor gave them. But you people ²  have not obeyed me!

Moreover, I, the Lord, warn you not to deceive yourselves into thinking that the Babylonian forces ¹  will go away and leave you alone. For they will not go away. ² 

The officials were very angry ¹  at Jeremiah. They had him flogged and put in prison in the house of Jonathan, the royal secretary, which they had converted into a place for confining prisoners. ² 

So ¹  Jeremiah was put in prison in a cell in the dungeon in Jonathan’s house. ²  He ³  was kept there for a long time.

Then Jeremiah asked King Zedekiah, “What crime have I committed against you, or the officials who serve you, or the people of Judah? What have I done to make you people throw me into prison? ¹ 

“Find Jeremiah ¹  and look out for him. ²  Do not do anything to harm him, ³  but do with him whatever he tells you.”

Now he has brought it about. The Lord has done just as he threatened to do. This disaster has happened because you people sinned against the Lord and did not obey him. ¹ 

“The Lord has told you people who remain in Judah, ‘Do not go to Egypt.’ Be very sure of this: I warn you ¹  here and now. ² 

So now be very sure of this: You will die from war, starvation, or disease in the place where you want to go and live.”

But Baruch son of Neriah is stirring you up against us. ¹  He wants to hand us over ²  to the Babylonians ³  so that they will kill us or carry us off into exile in Babylon.”

The women added, ¹  “We did indeed sacrifice and pour out drink offerings to the Queen of Heaven. But it was with the full knowledge and approval of our husbands that we made cakes in her image and poured out drink offerings to her.” ² 

‘You have said, “I feel so hopeless! ¹  For the Lord has added sorrow to my suffering. ²  I am worn out from groaning. I can’t find any rest.”’”

The nations will hear of your devastating defeat. ¹  your cries of distress will echo throughout the earth. In the panic of their flight one soldier will trip over another and both of them will fall down defeated.” ² 

“Make an announcement throughout Egypt. Proclaim it in Migdol, Memphis, and Tahpanhes. ¹  ‘Take your positions and prepare to do battle. For the enemy army is destroying all the nations around you.’ ² 

I the King, whose name is the Lord who rules over all, ¹  swear this: I swear as surely as I live that ²  a conqueror is coming. He will be as imposing as Mount Tabor is among the mountains, as Mount Carmel is against the backdrop of the sea. ³