<p class="poetry">Yes,<n id="1" /> the <sc>Lordsc> has this to sayp> <p class="poetry">to the people of Judah and Jerusalem:p> <p class="poetry">&#8220;Like a farmer breaking up hard unplowed ground,p> <p class="poetry">you must break your rebellious will and make a new beginning;p> <p class="poetry">just as a farmer must clear away thorns lest the seed is wasted,p> <p class="poetry">you must get rid of the sin that is ruining your lives.<n id="2" />p>

<p class="poetry">So put on sackcloth!p> <p class="poetry">Mourn and wail, saying,p> <p class="poetry">&#8216;The fierce anger of the <sc>Lordsc>p> <p class="poetry">has not turned away from us!&#8217;&#8221;<n id="1" />p>

<p class="poetry">&#8220;When this happens,&#8221;<n id="1" /> says the <sc>Lordsc>,p> <p class="poetry">&#8220;the king and his officials will lose their courage.p> <p class="poetry">The priests will be struck with horror,p> <p class="poetry">and the prophets will be speechless in astonishment.&#8221;p>

<p class="poetry"><sc>Lordsc>, I know you look for faithfulness.<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">But even when you punish these people, they feel no remorse.<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">Even when you nearly destroy them, they refuse to be corrected.p> <p class="poetry">They have become as hardheaded as a rock.<n id="3" />p> <p class="poetry">They refuse to change their ways.<n id="4" />p>

<p class="poetry">I thought, &#8220;Surely it is only the ignorant poor who act this way.<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">They act like fools because they do not know what the <sc>Lordsc> demands.<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">They do not know what their God requires of them.<n id="3" />p>

<p class="poetry">I will surely punish them for doing such things!&#8221; says the <sc>Lordsc>.p> <p class="poetry">&#8220;I will surely bring retribution on such a nation as this!&#8221;<n id="1" />p>

<p class="poetry">&#8220;These people have denied what the <sc>Lordsc> says.<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">They have said, &#8216;That is not so!<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">No harm will come to us.p> <p class="poetry">We will not experience war and famine.<n id="3" />p>

<p class="poetry">They do not say to themselves,<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">&#8220;Let us revere the <sc>Lordsc> our God.p> <p class="poetry">It is he who gives us the autumn rains and the spring rains at the proper time.p> <p class="poetry">It is he who assures us of the regular weeks of harvest.&#8221;<n id="2" />p>

<p class="poetry">I will certainly punish them for doing such things!&#8221; says the <sc>Lordsc>.p> <p class="poetry">&#8220;I will certainly bring retribution on such a nation as this!<n id="1" />p>

<p class="poetry">All of this is because<n id="1" /> the <sc>Lordsc> who rules over all<n id="2" /> has said:p> <p class="poetry">&#8216;Cut down the trees around Jerusalemp> <p class="poetry">and build up a siege ramp against its walls.<n id="3" />p> <p class="poetry">This is the city which is to be punished.<n id="4" />p> <p class="poetry">Nothing but oppression happens in it.<n id="5" />p>

<p class="bodytext">This is what the <sc>Lordsc> who rules over all<n id="1" /> said to me:<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">&#8220;Those who remain in Israel will bep> <p class="poetry">like the grapes thoroughly gleaned<n id="3" /> from a vine.p> <p class="poetry">So go over them again, as though you were a grape harvesterp> <p class="poetry">passing your hand over the branches one last time.&#8221;<n id="4" />p>

<p class="poetry">Their houses will be turned over to othersp> <p class="poetry">as will their fields and their wives.p> <p class="poetry">For I will unleash my power<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">against those who live in this land,&#8221;p> <p class="bodytext">says the <sc>Lordsc>.p>

<p class="poetry">&#8220;This is what the <sc>Lordsc> says:p> <p class="poetry">&#8216;Beware! An army<n id="1" /> is coming from a land in the north.p> <p class="poetry">A mighty nation is stirring into action in faraway parts of the earth.p>

The <sc>Lordsc> God of Israel who rules over all<n id="1" /> says: Change the way you have been living and do what is right.<n id="2" /> If you do, I will allow you to continue to live in this land.<n id="3" />

So tell them: &#8216;This is a nation that has not obeyed the <sc>Lordsc> their God and has not accepted correction. Faithfulness is nowhere to be found in it. These people do not even profess it anymore.<n id="1" />

So, mourn,<n id="1" /> you people of this nation.<n id="2" /> Cut off your hair and throw it away. Sing a song of mourning on the hilltops. For the <sc>Lordsc> has decided to reject<n id="3" /> and forsake this generation that has provoked his wrath!&#8217;&#8221;<n id="4" />p>

<p class="bodytext">The <sc>Lordsc> says, &#8220;I have rejected them because<n id="1" /> the people of Judah have done what I consider evil.<n id="2" /> They have set up their disgusting idols in the temple<n id="3" /> which I have claimed for my own<n id="4" /> and have defiled it.

<p class="poetry">Even the stork knowsp> <p class="poetry">when it is time to move on.<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">The turtledove, swallow, and crane<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">recognize<n id="3" /> the normal times for their migration.p> <p class="poetry">But my people pay no attentionp> <p class="poetry">to<n id="4" /> what I, the <sc>Lordsc>, require of them.<n id="5" />p>

<p class="poetry">How can you say, &#8220;We are wise!p> <p class="poetry">We have the law of the <sc>Lordsc>&#8221;?p> <p class="poetry">The truth is,<n id="1" /> those who teach it<n id="2" /> have used their writingsp> <p class="poetry">to make it say what it does not really mean.<n id="3" />p>

<p class="bodytext">The <sc>Lordsc> says,<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">&#8220;Yes indeed,<n id="2" /> I am sending an enemy against youp> <p class="poetry">that will be like poisonous snakes which cannot be charmed away.<n id="3" />p> <p class="poetry">And they will inflict fatal wounds on you.&#8221;<n id="4" />p>