<p class="bodytext">At that time<n id="1" /> those left in Israel, those who remain of the family<n id="2" /> of Jacob, will no longer rely on a foreign leader that abuses them.<n id="3" /> Instead they will truly<n id="4" /> rely on the <sc>Lordsc>, the Holy One of Israel.<n id="5" />

<p class="poetry">For look, the <sc>Lordsc> is coming out of the place where he lives,<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">to punish the sin of those who live on the earth.p> <p class="poetry">The earth will display the blood shed on it;p> <p class="poetry">it will no longer cover up its slain.<n id="2" />p>

<t /><p class="poetry">This is what the <sc>Lordsc> says:p> <p class="poetry">&#8220;The profit<n id="1" /> of Egypt and the revenue<n id="2" /> of Ethiopia,p> <p class="poetry">along with the Sabeans, those tall men,p> <p class="poetry">will be brought to you<n id="3" /> and become yours.p> <p class="poetry">They will walk behind you, coming along in chains.<n id="4" />p> <p class="poetry">They will bow down to youp> <p class="poetry">and pray to you:<n id="5" />p> <p class="poetry">&#8216;Truly God is with<n id="6" /> you; he has no peer;<n id="7" />p> <p class="poetry">there is no other God!&#8217;&#8221;p>

<p class="poetry">For this is what the <sc>Lordsc> says,p> <p class="poetry">the one who created the sky &#8211;p> <p class="poetry">he is the true God,<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">the one who formed the earth and made it;p> <p class="poetry">he established it,p> <p class="poetry">he did not create it without order,<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">he formed it to be inhabited &#8211;p> <p class="poetry">&#8220;I am the <sc>Lordsc>, I have no peer.p>

<p class="poetry">Tell me! Present the evidence!<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">Let them consult with one another!p> <p class="poetry">Who predicted this in the past?p> <p class="poetry">Who announced it beforehand?p> <p class="poetry">Was it not I, the <sc>Lordsc>?p> <p class="poetry">I have no peer, there is no God but me,p> <p class="poetry">a God who vindicates and delivers;<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">there is none but me.p>

<p class="poetry">This is what your sovereign master,<n id="1" /> the <sc>Lordsc> your God, says:p> <p class="poetry">&#8220;Look, I have removed from your handp> <p class="poetry">the cup of intoxicating wine,<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">the goblet full of my anger.<n id="3" />p> <p class="poetry">You will no longer have to drink it.p>

<p class="poetry">Wake up! Wake up!p> <p class="poetry">Clothe yourself with strength, O Zion!p> <p class="poetry">Put on your beautiful clothes,p> <p class="poetry">O Jerusalem,<n id="1" /> holy city!p> <p class="poetry">For uncircumcised and unclean pagansp> <p class="poetry">will no longer invade you.p>

<p class="poetry">Don&#8217;t be afraid, for you will not be put to shame!p> <p class="poetry">Don&#8217;t be intimidated,<n id="1" /> for you will not be humiliated!p> <p class="poetry">You will forget about the shame you experienced in your youth;p> <p class="poetry">you will no longer remember the disgrace of your abandonment.<n id="2" />p>

<p class="poetry">&#8220;As far as I am concerned, this is like in Noah&#8217;s time,<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">when I vowed that the waters of Noah&#8217;s flood<n id="2" /> would never again cover the earth.p> <p class="poetry">In the same way I have vowed that I will not be angry at you or shout at you.p>

<p class="poetry">The sun will no longer supply light for you by day,p> <p class="poetry">nor will the moon&#8217;s brightness shine on you;p> <p class="poetry">the <sc>Lordsc> will be your permanent source of light &#8211;p> <p class="poetry">the splendor of your God will shine upon you.<n id="1" />p>

<p class="poetry">The <sc>Lordsc> swears an oath by his right hand,p> <p class="poetry">by his strong arm:<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">&#8220;I will never again give your grainp> <p class="poetry">to your enemies as food,p> <p class="poetry">and foreigners will not drink your wine,p> <p class="poetry">which you worked hard to produce.p>

<p class="poetry">Never again will one of her infants live just a few days<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">or an old man die before his time.<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">Indeed, no one will die before the age of a hundred,<n id="3" />p> <p class="poetry">anyone who fails to reach<n id="4" /> the age of a hundred will be considered cursed.p>

<p class="poetry">You people of this generation,p> <p class="poetry">listen to what the <sc>Lordsc> says.p> <p class="poetry">&#8220;Have I been like a wilderness to you, Israel?p> <p class="poetry">Have I been like a dark and dangerous land to you?<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">Why then do you<n id="2" /> say, &#8216;We are free to wander.<n id="3" />p> <p class="poetry">We will not come to you any more?&#8217;p>

<p class="poetry">&#8220;If a man divorces his wifep> <p class="poetry">and she leaves him and becomes another man&#8217;s wife,p> <p class="poetry">he may not take her back again.<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">Doing that would utterly defile the land.<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">But you, Israel, have given yourself as a prostitute to many gods.<n id="3" />p> <p class="poetry">So what makes you think you can return to me?&#8221;<n id="4" />p> <p class="poetry">says the <sc>Lordsc>.p>

At that time the city of Jerusalem<n id="1" /> will be called the <sc>Lordsc>&#8217;s throne. All nations will gather there in Jerusalem to honor the <sc>Lordsc>&#8217;s name.<n id="2" /> They will no longer follow the stubborn inclinations of their own evil hearts.<n id="3" />

So, watch out!&#8221;<n id="1" /> says the <sc>Lordsc>. &#8220;The time will soon come when people will no longer call those places Topheth or the Valley of Ben Hinnom. But they will call that valley<n id="2" /> the Valley of Slaughter and they will bury so many people in Topheth they will run out of room.<n id="3" />

<p class="poetry">Before this I had been like a docile lamb ready to be led to the slaughter.p> <p class="poetry">I did not know they were making plans to kill me.<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">I did not know they were saying,<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">&#8220;Let&#8217;s destroy the tree along with its fruit!<n id="3" />p> <p class="poetry">Let&#8217;s remove Jeremiah<n id="4" /> from the world of the livingp> <p class="poetry">so people will not even be reminded of him any more.&#8221;<n id="5" />p>

So I, the <sc>Lordsc>, say:<n id="1" /> &#8220;The time will soon come that people will no longer call this place Topheth or the Hinnom Valley. But they will call this valley<n id="2" /> the Valley of Slaughter!

Tell them the <sc>Lordsc> who rules over all says,<n id="1" /> &#8216;I will do just as Jeremiah has done.<n id="2" /> I will smash this nation and this city as though it were a potter&#8217;s vessel which is broken beyond repair.<n id="3" /> The dead will be buried here in Topheth until there is no more room to bury them.&#8217;<n id="4" />

<p class="bodytext">&#8220;&#8216;For the <sc>Lordsc> has spoken about Shallum son of Josiah, who succeeded his father as king of Judah but was carried off into exile. He has said, &#8220;He will never return to this land.<n id="1" />