&#8220;Go and declare in the hearing of the people of Jerusalem:<n id="1" /> &#8216;This is what the <sc>Lordsc> says: &#8220;I have fond memories of you,<n id="2" /> how devoted you were to me in your early years.<n id="3" /> I remember how you loved me like a new bride; you followed me through the wilderness, through a land that had never been planted.

<p class="bodytext">The <sc>Lordsc> said to his people:<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">&#8220;You are standing at the crossroads. So consider your path.<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">Ask where the old, reliable paths<n id="3" /> are.p> <p class="poetry">Ask where the path is that leads to blessing<n id="4" /> and follow it.p> <p class="poetry">If you do, you will find rest for your souls.&#8221;p> <p class="poetry">But they said, &#8220;We will not follow it!&#8221;p>

These wicked people refuse to obey what I have said.<n id="1" /> They follow the stubborn inclinations of their own hearts and pay allegiance<n id="2" /> to other gods by worshiping and serving them. So<n id="3" /> they will become just like these linen shorts which are good for nothing.

<t /><p class="bodytext">Then some people<n id="1" /> said, &#8220;Come on! Let us consider how to deal with Jeremiah!<n id="2" /> There will still be priests to instruct us, wise men to give us advice, and prophets to declare God&#8217;s word.<n id="3" /> Come on! Let&#8217;s bring charges against him and get rid of him!<n id="4" /> Then we will not need to pay attention to anything he says.&#8221;p>

Ishmael son of Nethaniah went out from Mizpah to meet them. He was pretending to cry<n id="1" /> as he walked along. When he met them, he said to them, &#8220;Come with me to meet Gedaliah son of Ahikam.&#8221;<n id="2" />

<p class="poetry">&#8220;When that time comes,&#8221; says the <sc>Lordsc>,<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">&#8220;the people of Israel and Judah will return to the land together.p> <p class="poetry">They will come back with tears of repentancep> <p class="poetry">as they seek the <sc>Lordsc> their God.<n id="2" />p>

The <sc>Lordsc> said to me, &#8220;Do not say, &#8216;I am too young.&#8217; But go<n id="1" /> to whomever I send you and say whatever I tell you.

<p class="poetry">This is what the Lord says:p> <p class="poetry">&#8220;What fault could your ancestors<n id="1" /> have possibly found in mep> <p class="poetry">that they strayed so far from me?<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">They paid allegiance to<n id="3" /> worthless idols, and so became worthless to me.<n id="4" />p>

<p class="poetry">&#8220;How can you say, &#8216;I have not made myself unclean.p> <p class="poetry">I have not paid allegiance to<n id="1" /> the gods called Baal.&#8217;p> <p class="poetry">Just look at the way you have behaved in the Valley of Hinnom!<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">Think about the things you have done there!p> <p class="poetry">You are like a flighty, young female camelp> <p class="poetry">that rushes here and there, crisscrossing its path.<n id="3" />p>

<p class="poetry">Do not chase after other gods until your shoes wear outp> <p class="poetry">and your throats become dry.<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">But you say, &#8216;It is useless for you to try and stop mep> <p class="poetry">because I love those foreign gods<n id="2" /> and want to pursue them!&#8217;p>

At that time<n id="1" /> the nation of Judah and the nation of Israel will be reunited.<n id="2" /> Together they will come back from a land in the north to the land that I gave to your ancestors as a permanent possession. &#8221;<n id="3" />p>

Stop oppressing foreigners who live in your land, children who have lost their fathers, and women who have lost their husbands.<n id="1" /> Stop killing innocent people<n id="2" /> in this land. Stop paying allegiance to<n id="3" /> other gods. That will only bring about your ruin.<n id="4" />

You steal.<n id="1" /> You murder. You commit adultery. You lie when you swear on oath. You sacrifice to the god Baal. You pay allegiance to<n id="2" /> other gods whom you have not previously known.

But they did not listen to me or pay any attention to me. They followed the stubborn inclinations of their own wicked hearts. They acted worse and worse instead of better.<n id="1" />

<p class="poetry"><v id="(9:1)" /> I wish I had a lodging place in the desertp> <p class="poetry">where I could spend some time like a weary traveler.<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">Then I would desert my peoplep> <p class="poetry">and walk away from themp> <p class="poetry">because they are all unfaithful to God,p> <p class="poetry">a congregation<n id="2" /> of people that has been disloyal to him.<n id="3" />p>

<p class="poetry">Everyone must be on his guard around his friends.p> <p class="poetry">He must not even trust any of his relatives.<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">For every one of them will find some way to cheat him.<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">And all of his friends will tell lies about him.p>

<p class="bodytext">The <sc>Lordsc> answered, &#8220;This has happened because these people have rejected my laws which I gave them. They have not obeyed me or followed those laws.<n id="1" />

Then those living in the towns of Judah and in Jerusalem will<n id="1" /> go and cry out for help to the gods to whom they have been sacrificing. However, those gods will by no means<n id="2" /> be able to save them when disaster strikes them.

<p class="poetry">The people I call my own attack me like birds of prey or like hyenas.<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">But other birds of prey are all around them.<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">Let all the nations gather together like wild beasts.p> <p class="poetry">Let them come and destroy these people I call my own.<n id="3" />p>

<t /><p class="bodytext">The <sc>Lordsc> said to me, &#8220;Go and buy some linen shorts<n id="1" /> and put them on.<n id="2" /> Do not put them in water.&#8221;<n id="3" />