But that day belongs to the Lord God who rules over all. ¹  It is the day when he will pay back his enemies. ²  His sword will devour them until its appetite is satisfied! It will drink their blood until it is full! ³  For the Lord God who rules over all ⁴  will offer them up as a sacrifice in the land of the north by the Euphrates River.

“So then, Jeremiah, ¹  when your people ²  ask, ‘Why has the Lord our God done all this to us?’ tell them, ‘It is because you rejected me and served foreign gods in your own land. So ³  you must serve foreigners ⁴  in a land that does not belong to you.’

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 Lord has sent me to speak all this where you can hear it. That is the truth!” ¹ 

King Hezekiah and all the people of Judah did not put him to death, did they? Did not Hezekiah show reverence for the Lord and seek the Lord’s favor? ¹  Did not ²  the Lord forgo destroying them ³  as he threatened he would? But we are on the verge of bringing great disaster on ourselves.” ⁴ 

For I, the Lord, affirm ¹  that I will be with you and will rescue you. I will completely destroy all the nations where I scattered you. But I will not completely destroy you. I will indeed discipline you, but only in due measure. I will not allow you to go entirely unpunished.” ² 

“People will no longer need to teach their neighbors and relatives to know me. ¹  For all of them, from the least important to the most important, will know me,” ²  says the Lord. “For ³  I will forgive their sin and will no longer call to mind the wrong they have done.”

All the officials sent Jehudi, who was the son of Nethaniah and the grandson of Cushi, to Baruch. They ordered him to tell Baruch, “Come here and bring with you ¹  the scroll you read in the hearing of the people.” ²  So Baruch son of Neriah went to them, carrying the scroll in his hand. ³ 

Then King Zedekiah ordered that Jeremiah be committed to the courtyard of the guardhouse. He also ordered that a loaf of bread ¹  be given to him every day from the baker’s street until all the bread in the city was gone. So Jeremiah was kept ²  in the courtyard of the guardhouse.

So these officials said to the king, “This man must be put to death. For he is demoralizing ¹  the soldiers who are left in the city as well as all the other people there by these things he is saying. ²  This ³  man is not seeking to help these people but is trying to harm them.” ⁴ 

When King Zedekiah of Judah and all his soldiers saw them, they tried to escape. They departed from the city during the night. They took a path through the king’s garden and passed out through the gate between the two walls. ¹  Then they headed for the Jordan Valley. ² 

The Lord spoke to Jeremiah ¹  after Nebuzaradan the captain of the royal guard had set him free at Ramah. ²  He had taken him there in chains ³  along with all the people from Jerusalem ⁴  and Judah who were being carried off to exile to Babylon.

Then Johanan son of Kareah spoke privately to Gedaliah there at Mizpah, “Let me go and kill Ishmael the son of Nethaniah before anyone knows about it. Otherwise he will kill you ¹  and all the Judeans who have rallied around you will be scattered. Then what remains of Judah will disappear.”

I, the Lord, tell ¹  you not to be afraid, you descendants of Jacob, my servant, for I am with you. Though I completely destroy all the nations where I scatter you, I will not completely destroy you. I will indeed discipline you but only in due measure. I will not allow you to go entirely unpunished.” ² 

At the sound of the approaching horsemen and archers the people of every town will flee. Some of them will hide in the thickets. Others will climb up among the rocks. All the cities will be deserted. No one will remain in them.

I said, ¹  “Oh, mother, how I regret ²  that you ever gave birth to me! I am always starting arguments and quarrels with the people of this land. ³  I have not lent money to anyone and I have not borrowed from anyone. Yet all of these people are treating me with contempt.” ⁴ 

Ask yourselves this and consider it carefully: ¹  Have you ever seen a man give birth to a baby? Why then do I see all these strong men grabbing their stomachs in pain like ²  a woman giving birth? And why do their faces turn so deathly pale?

Now the cistern where Ishmael threw all the dead bodies of those he had killed was a large one ¹  that King Asa had constructed as part of his defenses against King Baasha of Israel. ²  Ishmael son of Nethaniah filled it with dead bodies. ³ 

The Lord God of Israel who rules over all ¹  says: Change the way you have been living and do what is right. ²  If you do, I will allow you to continue to live in this land. ³ 

Therefore the Lord who rules over all says, ¹  “I will now purify them in the fires of affliction ²  and test them. The wickedness of my dear people ³  has left me no choice. What else can I do? ⁴ 

So then, listen to what I, the Lord God of Israel who rules over all, ¹  say. ²  ‘I will make these people eat the bitter food of suffering and drink the poison water of judgment. ³