And I will smash them like wine bottles against one another, children and parents alike.<n id="1" /> I will not show any pity, mercy, or compassion. Nothing will keep me from destroying them,&#8217;<n id="2" /> says the <sc>Lordsc>.&#8221;p>

<p class="poetry">Show the <sc>Lordsc> your God the respect that is due him.<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">Do it before he brings the darkness of disaster.<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">Do it before you stumble<n id="3" /> into distressp> <p class="poetry">like a traveler on the mountains at twilight.<n id="4" />p> <p class="poetry">Do it before he turns the light of deliverance you hope forp> <p class="poetry">into the darkness and gloom of exile.<n id="5" />p>

<p class="poetry">But if you will not pay attention to this warning,<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">I will weep alone because of your arrogant pride.p> <p class="poetry">I will weep bitterly and my eyes will overflow with tears<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">because you, the <sc>Lordsc>&#8217;s flock,<n id="3" /> will be carried<n id="4" /> into exile.&#8221;p>

<p class="bodytext">Then I said,<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">&#8220;O <sc>Lordsc>, intervene for the honor of your name<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">even though our sins speak out against us.<n id="3" />p> <p class="poetry">Indeed,<n id="4" /> we have turned away from you many times.p> <p class="poetry">We have sinned against you.p>

<p class="poetry">Why should you be like someone who is helpless,<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">like a champion<n id="2" /> who cannot save anyone?p> <p class="poetry">You are indeed with us,<n id="3" />p> <p class="poetry">and we belong to you.<n id="4" />p> <p class="poetry">Do not abandon us!&#8221;p>

<p class="bodytext">Then the <sc>Lordsc> said to me, &#8220;Even if Moses and Samuel stood before me pleading for<n id="1" /> these people, I would not feel pity for them!<n id="2" /> Get them away from me! Tell them to go away!<n id="3" />

<p class="poetry">I, the <sc>Lordsc>, say:<n id="1" /> &#8216;You people have deserted me!p> <p class="poetry">You keep turning your back on me.&#8217;<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">So I have unleashed my power against you<n id="3" /> and have begun to destroy you.<n id="4" />p> <p class="poetry">I have grown tired of feeling sorry for you!&#8221;<n id="5" />p>

<p class="bodytext">The <sc>Lordsc> said,p> <p class="poetry">&#8220;Jerusalem,<n id="1" /> I will surely send you away for your own good.p> <p class="poetry">I will surely<n id="2" /> bring the enemy upon you in a time of trouble and distress.p>

<p class="bodytext">I said,<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">&#8220;<sc>Lordsc>, you know how I suffer.<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">Take thought of me and care for me.p> <p class="poetry">Pay back for me those who have been persecuting me.p> <p class="poetry">Do not be so patient with them that you allow them to kill me.p> <p class="poetry">Be mindful of how I have put up with their insults for your sake.p>

<p class="poetry">As your words came to me I drank them in,<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">and they filled my heart with joy and happinessp> <p class="poetry">because I belong to you.<n id="2" />p>

<p class="poetry">I will make you as strong as a wall to these people,p> <p class="poetry">a fortified wall of bronze.p> <p class="poetry">They will attack you,p> <p class="poetry">but they will not be able to overcome you.p> <p class="poetry">For I will be with you to rescue you and deliver you,&#8221;<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">says the <sc>Lordsc>.p>

<p class="bodytext">The <sc>Lordsc> said,<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">&#8220;So I will now let this wicked people know &#8211;p> <p class="poetry">I will let them know my mighty power in judgment.p> <p class="poetry">Then they will know that my name is the <sc>Lordsc>.&#8221;<n id="2" />p>

As you stand in those places<n id="1" /> announce, &#8216;Listen, all you people who pass through these gates. Listen, all you kings of Judah, all you people of Judah and all you citizens of Jerusalem. Listen to what the <sc>Lordsc> says.<n id="2" />

The <sc>Lordsc> says, &#8216;Be very careful if you value your lives!<n id="1" /> Do not carry any loads<n id="2" /> in through<n id="3" /> the gates of Jerusalem on the Sabbath day.

<p class="bodytext">Therefore, the <sc>Lordsc> says,p> <p class="poetry">&#8220;Ask the people of other nationsp> <p class="poetry">whether they have heard of anything like this.p> <p class="poetry">Israel should have been like a virgin.p> <p class="poetry">But she has done something utterly revolting!p>

<t /><p class="bodytext">Now Pashhur son of Immer heard Jeremiah prophesy these things. He was the priest who was chief of security<n id="1" /> in the <sc>Lordsc>&#8217;s temple.

When he heard Jeremiah&#8217;s prophecy, he had the prophet flogged.<n id="1" /> Then he put him in the stocks<n id="2" /> which were at the Upper Gate of Benjamin in the <sc>Lordsc>&#8217;s temple.<n id="3" />

<p class="poetry">For whenever I prophesy,<n id="1" /> I must cry out,<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">&#8220;Violence and destruction are coming!&#8221;<n id="3" />p> <p class="poetry">This message from the <sc>Lordsc><n id="4" /> has made mep> <p class="poetry">an object of continual insults and derision.p>

<p class="poetry">O <sc>Lordsc> who rules over all,<n id="1" /> you test and prove the righteous.p> <p class="poetry">You see into people&#8217;s hearts and minds.<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">Pay them back for what they have donep> <p class="poetry">because I trust you to vindicate my cause.p>

For I, the <sc>Lordsc>, say that<n id="1" /> I am determined not to deliver this city but to bring disaster on it.<n id="2" /> It will be handed over to the king of Babylon and he will destroy it with fire.&#8217;&#8221;<n id="3" />p>