<p class="poetry">Listen, you<n id="1" /> who sit enthroned above the valley on a rocky plateau.p> <p class="poetry">I am opposed to you,&#8217;<n id="2" /> says the <sc>Lordsc>.<n id="3" />p> <p class="poetry">&#8216;You boast, &#8220;No one can swoop down on us.p> <p class="poetry">No one can penetrate into our places of refuge.&#8221;<n id="4" />p>

Say: &#8216;Listen, O king of Judah who follows in David&#8217;s succession.<n id="1" /> You, your officials, and your subjects who pass through the gates of this palace must listen to what the <sc>Lordsc> says.<n id="2" />

But, if you do not obey these commands, I solemnly swear<n id="1" /> that this palace will become a pile of rubble. I, the <sc>Lordsc>, affirm it!&#8221;<n id="2" />p>

<p class="bodytext">&#8220;&#8216;People from other nations will pass by this city. They will ask one another, &#8220;Why has the <sc>Lordsc> done such a thing to this great city?&#8221;

I will install rulers<n id="1" /> over them who will care for them. Then they will no longer need to fear or be terrified. None of them will turn up missing.<n id="2" /> I, the <sc>Lordsc>, promise it!<n id="3" />p>

<p class="poetry">&#8220;I, the <sc>Lordsc>, promise<n id="1" /> that a new time will certainly come<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">when I will raise up for them a righteous branch,<n id="3" /> a descendant of David.p> <p class="poetry">He will rule over them with wisdom and understanding<n id="4" />p> <p class="poetry">and will do what is just and right in the land.<n id="5" />p>

<t /><p class="poetry">Here is what the <sc>Lordsc> says concerning the false prophets:<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">My heart and my mind are deeply disturbed.p> <p class="poetry">I tremble all over.<n id="3" />p> <p class="poetry">I am like a drunk person,p> <p class="poetry">like a person who has had too much wine,<n id="4" />p> <p class="poetry">because of the way the <sc>Lordsc>p> <p class="poetry">and his holy word are being mistreated.<n id="5" />p>

<p class="poetry">They continually say<n id="1" /> to those who reject what the <sc>Lordsc> has said,<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">&#8216;Things will go well for you!&#8217;<n id="3" />p> <p class="poetry">They say to all those who follow the stubborn inclinations of their own hearts,p> <p class="poetry">&#8216;Nothing bad will happen to you!&#8217;p>

<p class="poetry">Yet which of them has ever stood in the <sc>Lordsc>&#8217;s inner circle<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">so they<n id="2" /> could see and hear what he has to say?<n id="3" />p> <p class="poetry">Which of them have ever paid attention or listened to what he has said?p>

<p class="poetry">The anger of the <sc>Lordsc> will not turn backp> <p class="poetry">until he has fully carried out his intended purposes.<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">In days to come<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">you people will come to understand this clearly.<n id="3" />p>

Let the prophet who has had a dream go ahead and tell his dream. Let the person who has received my message report that message faithfully. What is like straw cannot compare to what is like grain!<n id="1" /> I, the <sc>Lordsc>, affirm it!<n id="2" />

I will punish any prophet, priest, or other person who says &#8220;The <sc>Lordsc>&#8217;s message is burdensome.&#8221;<n id="1" /> I will punish both that person and his whole family.&#8217;&#8221;<n id="2" />p>

Over and over again<n id="1" /> the <sc>Lordsc> has sent<n id="2" /> his servants the prophets to you. But you have not listened or paid attention.<n id="3" />

If they refuse to take the cup from your hand and drink it, tell them that the <sc>Lordsc> who rules over all says<n id="1" /> &#8216;You most certainly must drink it!<n id="2" />

<p class="poetry">The <sc>Lordsc> who rules over all<n id="1" /> says,p> <p class="poetry">&#8216;Disaster will soon come on one nation after another.<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">A mighty storm of military destruction<n id="3" /> is rising upp> <p class="poetry">from the distant parts of the earth.&#8217;p>

<t /><p class="bodytext">The <sc>Lordsc> spoke to Jeremiah<n id="2" /> at the beginning of the reign<n id="3" /> of Josiah&#8217;s son, King Jehoiakim of Judah.

Tell them that the <sc>Lordsc> says,<n id="1" /> &#8216;You must obey me! You must live according to the way I have instructed you in my laws.<n id="2" />

<p class="bodytext">The priests, the prophets, and all the people heard Jeremiah say these things in the <sc>Lordsc>&#8217;s temple.

Charge them to give their masters a message from me. Tell them, &#8216;The <sc>Lordsc> God of Israel who rules over all<n id="1" /> says to give your masters this message.<n id="2" />

Things will go better for the nation that submits to the yoke of servitude to<n id="1" /> the king of Babylon and is subject to him. I will leave that nation<n id="2" /> in its native land. Its people can continue to farm it and live in it. I, the <sc>Lordsc>, affirm it!&#8221;&#8217;&#8221;<n id="3" />p>