<p class="bodytext">Then all the men who were aware that their wives were sacrificing to other gods, as well as all their wives, answered Jeremiah. There was a great crowd of them representing all the people who lived in northern and southern Egypt.<n id="1" /> They answered,

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" />

<p class="poetry">You will probably ask yourself,<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">&#8216;Why have these things happened to me?p> <p class="poetry">Why have I been treated like a disgraced adulteressp> <p class="poetry">whose skirt has been torn off and her limbs exposed?&#8217;<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">It is because you have sinned so much.<n id="3" />p>

<t /><p class="bodytext">I said,<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">&#8220;I will weep and mourn<n id="2" /> for the grasslands on the mountains,<n id="3" />p> <p class="poetry">I will sing a mournful song for the pastures in the wildernessp> <p class="poetry">because they are so scorched no one travels through them.p> <p class="poetry">The sound of livestock is no longer heard there.p> <p class="poetry">Even the birds in the sky and the wild animals in the fieldsp> <p class="poetry">have fled and are gone.&#8221;p>

She also saw<n id="1" /> that I gave wayward Israel her divorce papers and sent her away because of her adulterous worship of other gods.<n id="2" /> Even after her unfaithful sister Judah had seen this,<n id="3" /> she still was not afraid, and she too went and gave herself like a prostitute to other gods.<n id="4" />

<p class="poetry">I take no delight<n id="1" /> when they offer up to me<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">frankincense that comes from Shebap> <p class="poetry">or sweet-smelling cane imported from a faraway land.p> <p class="poetry">I cannot accept the burnt offerings they bring me.p> <p class="poetry">I get no pleasure from the sacrifices they offer to me.&#8217;<n id="3" />p>

<p class="poetry">I have listened to them very carefully,<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">but they do not speak honestly.p> <p class="poetry">None of them regrets the evil he has done.p> <p class="poetry">None of them says, &#8220;I have done wrong!&#8221;<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">All of them persist in their own wayward course<n id="3" />p> <p class="poetry">like a horse charging recklessly into battle.p>

<p class="poetry">Does it make you any more of a kingp> <p class="poetry">that you outstrip everyone else in<n id="1" /> building with cedar?p> <p class="poetry">Just think about your father.p> <p class="poetry">He was content that he had food and drink.<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">He did what was just and right.<n id="3" />p> <p class="poetry">So things went well with him.p>

<p class="bodytext">The <sc>Lordsc> says,p> <p class="poetry">&#8220;Enroll this man in the register as though he were childless.<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">Enroll him as a man who will not enjoy success during his lifetime.p> <p class="poetry">For none of his sons will succeed in occupying the throne of Davidp> <p class="poetry">or ever succeed in ruling over Judah.&#8221;p>

<p class="poetry">But that day belongs to the Lord God who rules over all.<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">It is the day when he will pay back his enemies.<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">His sword will devour them until its appetite is satisfied!p> <p class="poetry">It will drink their blood until it is full!<n id="3" />p> <p class="poetry">For the Lord <sc>Godsc> who rules over all<n id="4" /> will offer them up as a sacrificep> <p class="poetry">in the land of the north by the Euphrates River.p>

<p class="poetry">But there is little hope for you ever doing good,p> <p class="poetry">you who are so accustomed to doing evil.p> <p class="poetry">Can an Ethiopian<n id="1" /> change the color of his skin?p> <p class="poetry">Can a leopard remove its spots?<n id="2" />p>

<p class="poetry">I will scatter them before their enemiesp> <p class="poetry">like dust blowing in front of a burning east wind.p> <p class="poetry">I will turn my back on them and not look favorably on them<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">when disaster strikes them.&#8221;p>

<p class="poetry">My judgment will carry off all your leaders like a storm wind!<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">Your allies will go into captivity.p> <p class="poetry">Then you will certainly<n id="2" /> be disgraced and put to shamep> <p class="poetry">because of all the wickedness you have done.p>

I will force you and your mother who gave you birth into exile. You will be exiled to<n id="1" /> a country where neither of you were born, and you will both die there.

<p class="poetry">For the <sc>Lordsc> is ready to destroy Babylon,p> <p class="poetry">and put an end to her loud noise.p> <p class="poetry">Their waves<n id="1" /> will roar like turbulent<n id="2" /> waters.p> <p class="poetry">They will make a deafening noise.<n id="3" />p>

<p class="poetry">Sometimes I think, &#8220;I will make no mention of his message.p> <p class="poetry">I will not speak as his messenger<n id="1" /> any more.&#8221;p> <p class="poetry">But then<n id="2" /> his message becomes like a firep> <p class="poetry">locked up inside of me, burning in my heart and soul.<n id="3" />p> <p class="poetry">I grow weary of trying to hold it in;p> <p class="poetry">I cannot contain it.p>

<t /><p class="bodytext">The <sc>Lordsc> said,<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">&#8220;Go up and down<n id="2" /> through the streets of Jerusalem.<n id="3" />p> <p class="poetry">Look around and see for yourselves.p> <p class="poetry">Search through its public squares.p> <p class="poetry">See if any of you can find a single personp> <p class="poetry">who deals honestly and tries to be truthful.<n id="4" />p> <p class="poetry">If you can,<n id="5" /> then I will not punish this city.<n id="6" />p>

They said to him, &#8220;Please grant our request<n id="1" /> and pray to the <sc>Lordsc> your God for all those of us who are still left alive here.<n id="2" /> For, as you yourself can see, there are only a few of us left out of the many there were before.<n id="3" />

<p class="poetry">People will not praise Moab any more.p> <p class="poetry">The enemy will capture Heshbon<n id="1" /> and plot<n id="2" /> how to destroy Moab,<n id="3" />p> <p class="poetry">saying, &#8216;Come, let&#8217;s put an end to that nation!&#8217;p> <p class="poetry">City of Madmen, you will also be destroyed.<n id="4" />p> <p class="poetry">A destructive army will march against you.<n id="5" />p>

You are making a fatal mistake.<n id="1" /> For you sent me to the <sc>Lordsc> your God and asked me, &#8216;Pray to the <sc>Lordsc> our God for us. Tell us what the <sc>Lordsc> our God says and we will do it.&#8217;<n id="2" />