They have gone back to the evil ways<n id="1" /> of their ancestors of old who refused to obey what I told them. They, too, have paid allegiance to<n id="2" /> other gods and worshiped them. Both the nation of Israel and the nation of Judah<n id="3" /> have violated the covenant I made with their ancestors.

But they must make sure you learn to follow the religious practices of my people.<n id="1" /> Once they taught my people to swear their oaths using the name of the god Baal.<n id="2" /> But then, they must swear oaths using my name, saying, &#8220;As surely as the <sc>Lordsc> lives, I swear.&#8221;<n id="3" /> If they do these things,<n id="4" /> then they will be included among the people I call my own.<n id="5" />

For,&#8217; I say,<n id="1" /> &#8216;just as shorts cling tightly to a person&#8217;s body, so I bound the whole nation of Israel and the whole nation of Judah<n id="2" /> tightly<n id="3" /> to me.&#8217; I intended for them to be my special people and to bring me fame, honor, and praise.<n id="4" /> But they would not obey me.p>

For I, the <sc>Lordsc>, tell you what will happen to<n id="1" /> the children who are born here in this land and to the men and women who are their mothers and fathers.<n id="2" />

<t /><p class="bodytext">&#8220;When you tell these people about all this,<n id="1" /> they will undoubtedly ask you, &#8216;Why has the <sc>Lordsc> threatened us with such great disaster? What wrong have we done? What sin have we done to offend the <sc>Lordsc> our God?&#8217;

So I will throw you out of this land into a land that neither you nor your ancestors have ever known. There you must worship other gods day and night, for I will show you no mercy.&#8217;&#8221;p>

I will do so because these people<n id="1" /> have rejected me and have defiled<n id="2" /> this place. They have offered sacrifices in it to other gods which neither they nor their ancestors<n id="3" /> nor the kings of Judah knew anything about. They have filled it with the blood of innocent children.<n id="4" />

They have built places here<n id="1" /> for worship of the god Baal so that they could sacrifice their children as burnt offerings to him in the fire. Such sacrifices<n id="2" /> are something I never commanded them to make! They are something I never told them to do! Indeed, such a thing never even entered my mind!

In this place I will thwart<n id="1" /> the plans of the people of Judah and Jerusalem. I will deliver them over to the power of their enemies who are seeking to kill them. They will die by the sword<n id="2" /> at the hands of their enemies.<n id="3" /> I will make their dead bodies food for the birds and wild beasts to eat.

I will reduce the people of this city to desperate straits during the siege imposed on it by their enemies who are seeking to kill them. I will make them so desperate that they will eat the flesh of their own sons and daughters and the flesh of one another.&#8221;&#8217;&#8221;<n id="1" />p>

<p class="poetry">So then I, the <sc>Lordsc> who rules over all,<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">have something to say concerning the prophets of Jerusalem:<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">&#8216;I will make these prophets eat the bitter food of sufferingp> <p class="poetry">and drink the poison water of judgment.<n id="3" />p> <p class="poetry">For the prophets of Jerusalem are the reason<n id="4" />p> <p class="poetry">that ungodliness<n id="5" /> has spread throughout the land.&#8217;&#8221;p>

<p class="bodytext">The <sc>Lordsc> said to me, &#8220;Jeremiah,<n id="1" /> when one of these people, or a prophet, or a priest asks you, &#8216;What burdensome message<n id="2" /> do you have from the <sc>Lordsc>?&#8217; Tell them, &#8216;You are the burden,<n id="3" /> and I will cast you away.<n id="4" /> I, the <sc>Lordsc>, affirm it!<n id="5" />

<p class="bodytext">&#8220;&#8216;But when the seventy years are over, I will punish the king of Babylon and his nation<n id="1" /> for their sins. I will make the land of Babylon<n id="2" /> an everlasting ruin.<n id="3" /> I, the <sc>Lordsc>, affirm it!<n id="4" />

I will bring on that land everything that I said I would. I will bring on it everything that is written in this book. I will bring on it everything that Jeremiah has prophesied against all the nations.<n id="1" />

all the kings of the north, whether near or far from one another; and all the other kingdoms which are on the face of the earth. After all of them have drunk the wine of the <sc>Lordsc>&#8217;s wrath,<n id="1" /> the king of Babylon<n id="2" /> must drink it.p>

Jeremiah had just barely finished saying all the <sc>Lordsc> had commanded him to say to all the people. All at once some<n id="1" /> of the priests, the prophets, and the people grabbed him and shouted, &#8220;You deserve to die!<n id="2" />

But you should take careful note of this: If you put me to death, you will bring on yourselves and this city and those who live in it the guilt of murdering an innocent man. For the <sc>Lordsc> has sent me to speak all this where you can hear it. That is the truth!&#8221;<n id="1" />p>

<p class="bodytext">King Hezekiah and all the people of Judah did not put him to death, did they? Did not Hezekiah show reverence for the <sc>Lordsc> and seek the <sc>Lordsc>&#8217;s favor?<n id="1" /> Did not<n id="2" /> the <sc>Lordsc> forgo destroying them<n id="3" /> as he threatened he would? But we are on the verge of bringing great disaster on ourselves.&#8221;<n id="4" />p>

I have at this time placed all these nations of yours under the power<n id="1" /> of my servant,<n id="2" /> King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon. I have even made all the wild animals subject to him.<n id="3" />

<p class="bodytext">I told King Zedekiah of Judah the same thing. I said,<n id="1" /> &#8220;Submit<n id="2" /> to the yoke of servitude to<n id="3" /> the king of Babylon. Be subject to him and his people. Then you will continue to live.