<t /><p class="poetry">Here is a message about the Valley of Vision:<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">What is the reason<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">that all of you go up to the rooftops?p>

<p class="poetry">Her fortresses will be overgrown with thorns;p> <p class="poetry">thickets and weeds will grow<n id="1" /> in her fortified cities.p> <p class="poetry">Jackals will settle there;p> <p class="poetry">ostriches will live there.<n id="2" />p>

<p class="poetry">On every high, elevated hill you prepare your bed;p> <p class="poetry">you go up there to offer sacrifices.p>

<p class="poetry">Look! The enemy is approaching like gathering clouds.<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">The roar of his chariots is like that of a whirlwind.<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">His horses move more swiftly than eagles.&#8221;p> <p class="poetry">I cry out,<n id="3" /> &#8220;We are doomed,<n id="4" /> for we will be destroyed!&#8221;p>

<p class="poetry">The <sc>Lordsc> commanded the enemy,<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">&#8220;March through the vineyards of Israel and Judah and ruin them.<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">But do not destroy them completely.p> <p class="poetry">Strip off their branchesp> <p class="poetry">for these people do not belong to the <sc>Lordsc>.<n id="3" />p>

<p class="poetry">&#8216;Death has climbed in<n id="1" /> through our windows.p> <p class="poetry">It has entered into our fortified houses.p> <p class="poetry">It has taken away our children who play in the streets.p> <p class="poetry">It has taken away our young men who gather in the city squares.&#8217;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>

<t /><p class="poetry">People of Jerusalem,<n id="1" /> go up to Lebanon and cry out in mourning.p> <p class="poetry">Go to the land of Bashan and cry out loudly.p> <p class="poetry">Cry out in mourning from the mountains of Moab.<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">For your allies<n id="3" /> have all been defeated.p>

But I will most surely<n id="1" /> heal the wounds of this city and restore it and its people to health.<n id="2" /> I will show them abundant<n id="3" /> peace and security.

<t /><p class="bodytext">The following events also occurred<n id="1" /> while the Babylonian forces<n id="2" /> had temporarily withdrawn from Jerusalem<n id="3" /> because the army of Pharaoh was coming.

So they pulled Jeremiah up from the cistern with ropes. Jeremiah, however, still remained confined<n id="1" /> to the courtyard of the guardhouse.p>

<p class="poetry">Harness the horses to the chariots!p> <p class="poetry">Mount your horses!p> <p class="poetry">Put on your helmets and take your positions!p> <p class="poetry">Sharpen you spears!p> <p class="poetry">Put on your armor!p>

The glory of the <sc>Lordsc> rose up from within the city and stopped<n id="1" /> over the mountain east of it.

You have not gone up in the breaks in the wall, nor repaired a wall for the house of Israel that it would stand strong in the battle on the day of the <sc>Lordsc>.

<p class="poetry">She reared one of her cubs; he became a young lion.p> <p class="poetry">He learned to tear prey; he devoured people.<n id="1" />p>

<p class="bodytext">&#8220;For this is what the sovereign <sc>Lordsc> says: Bring up an army<n id="1" /> against them and subject them<n id="2" /> to terror and plunder.

<p class="poetry">To arouse anger, to take vengeance,p> <p class="poetry">I have placed her blood on an exposed rock so that it cannot be covered up.p>

<p class="poetry">They will lament loudly<n id="1" /> over you and cry bitterly.p> <p class="poetry">They will throw dust on their heads and roll in the ashes;<n id="2" />p>

Then you will know that I am the <sc>Lordsc>, when I open your graves and raise you from your graves, my people.

I will turn you around and drag you along;<n id="1" /> I will lead you up from the remotest parts of the north and bring you against the mountains of Israel.