<t /><p class="bodytext">The <sc>Lordsc> spoke to Jeremiah<n id="1" /> early in the reign of Josiah&#8217;s son, King Zedekiah of Judah.<n id="2" />

<t /><p class="bodytext">In the tenth year that Zedekiah was ruling over Judah the <sc>Lordsc> spoke to Jeremiah.<n id="1" /> That was the same as the eighteenth year of Nebuchadnezzar.p>

<p class="bodytext">Now at that time,<n id="1" /> the armies of the king of Babylon were besieging Jerusalem.<n id="2" /> The prophet Jeremiah was confined in the courtyard of the guardhouse<n id="3" /> attached to the royal palace of Judah.

<t /><p class="bodytext">The <sc>Lordsc> spoke to Jeremiah when Jehoiakim<n id="1" /> son of Josiah was ruling over Judah.<n id="2" />

<t /><p class="bodytext">The <sc>Lordsc> spoke to Jeremiah in the fourth year<n id="1" /> that Jehoiakim son of Josiah was ruling over Judah.<n id="2" />

<t /><p class="bodytext">The <sc>Lordsc> spoke to Jeremiah concerning<n id="1" /> all the Judeans who were living in the land of Egypt, those in Migdol, Tahpanhes, Memphis, and in the region of southern Egypt.<n id="2" />

<t /><p class="bodytext">The <sc>Lordsc> spoke to the prophet Jeremiah<n id="1" /> about the Philistines before Pharaoh attacked Gaza.<n id="2" />p>

<p class="poetry">For did not you people of Moab laugh at the people of Israel?p> <p class="poetry">Did you think that they were nothing but thieves,<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">that you shook your head in contempt<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">every time you talked about them?<n id="3" />p>

<t /><p class="bodytext">Early in the reign<n id="1" /> of King Zedekiah of Judah, the <sc>Lordsc> spoke to the prophet Jeremiah about Elam.<n id="2" />p>

<p class="poetry">&#8220;My people have been lost sheep.p> <p class="poetry">Their shepherds<n id="1" /> have allow them to go astray.p> <p class="poetry">They have wandered around in the mountains.p> <p class="poetry">They have roamed from one mountain and hill to another.<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">They have forgotten their resting place.p>

<p class="lamhebrew">&#1492; (<i>Hei>)p> <p class="poetry">The Lord,<n id="1" /> like an enemy,p> <p class="poetry">destroyed<n id="2" /> Israel.p> <p class="poetry">He destroyed<n id="3" /> all her palaces;p> <p class="poetry">he ruined her<n id="4" /> fortified cities.p> <p class="poetry">He made everyone in Daughter Judahp> <p class="poetry">mourn and lament.<n id="5" />p>

<p class="lamhebrew">&#1514; (<i>Tavi>)p> <p class="poetry">As if it were a feast day, you call<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">enemies<n id="2" /> to terrify me<n id="3" /> on every side.<n id="4" />p> <p class="poetry">On the day of the Lord&#8217;s angerp> <p class="poetry">no one escaped or survived.p> <p class="poetry">My enemy has finished offp> <p class="poetry">those healthy infants whom I bore<n id="5" /> and raised.<n id="6" />p>

<p class="lamhebrew">&#1495; (<i>Kheti>)p> <p class="poetry">Now their appearance<n id="1" /> is darker than soot;p> <p class="poetry">they are not recognized in the streets.p> <p class="poetry">Their skin has shriveled on their bones;p> <p class="poetry">it is dried up, like tree bark.p>

And as for them,<n id="1" /> whether they listen<n id="2" /> or not &#8211; for they are a rebellious<n id="3" /> house<n id="4" /> &#8211; they will know that a prophet has been among them.

Tell the ones who coat it with whitewash that it will fall. When there is a deluge of rain, hailstones<n id="1" /> will fall and a violent wind will break out.<n id="2" />

&#8220;Son of man, of all the woody branches among the trees of the forest, what happens to the wood of the vine?<n id="1" />

<p class="poetry">A fire has gone out from its branch; it has consumed its shoot and its fruit.<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">No strong branch was left in it, nor a scepter to rule.&#8217;p> <p class="bodytext">This is a lament song, and has become a lament song.&#8221;p>

<p class="poetry">It is sharpened for slaughter,p> <p class="poetry">it is polished to flash like lightning!p> <p class="bodytext">&#8220;&#8216;Should we rejoice in the scepter of my son? No! The sword despises every tree!<n id="1" />p>

<p class="poetry">A total ruin I will make it!<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">It will come to an endp> <p class="poetry">when the one arrives to whom I have assigned judgment.&#8217;<n id="2" />p>

<p class="poetry">For her blood was in it;p> <p class="poetry">she poured it on an exposed rock;p> <p class="poetry">she did not pour it on the ground to cover it up with dust.p>