I, the <sc>Lordsc>,<n id="1" /> hereby promise to make you<n id="2" /> as strong as a fortified city, an iron pillar, and a bronze wall. You will be able to stand up against all who live in<n id="3" /> the land, including the kings of Judah, its officials, its priests and all the people of the land.

<p class="poetry">Your priests<n id="1" /> did not ask, &#8216;Where is the <sc>Lordsc>?&#8217;<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">Those responsible for teaching my law<n id="3" /> did not really know me.<n id="4" />p> <p class="poetry">Your rulers rebelled against me.p> <p class="poetry">Your prophets prophesied in the name of the god Baal.<n id="5" />p> <p class="poetry">They all worshiped idols that could not help them.<n id="6" />p>

<p class="bodytext">The <sc>Lordsc> says, &#8220;When that time comes,<n id="1" /> the bones of the kings of Judah and its leaders, the bones of the priests and prophets and of all the other people who lived in Jerusalem will be dug up from their graves.

<n id="1" /><p class="poetry">So I will give their wives to other menp> <p class="poetry">and their fields to new owners.p> <p class="poetry">For from the least important to the most important of them,p> <p class="poetry">all of them are greedy for dishonest gain.p> <p class="poetry">Prophets and priests alike,p> <p class="poetry">all practice deceit.p>

Then<n id="1" /> tell them, &#8216;The <sc>Lordsc> says, &#8220;I will soon fill all the people who live in this land with stupor.<n id="2" /> I will also fill the kings from David&#8217;s dynasty,<n id="3" /> the priests, the prophets, and the citizens of Jerusalem with stupor.<n id="4" />

<p class="poetry">If I go out into the countryside,p> <p class="poetry">I see those who have been killed in battle.p> <p class="poetry">If I go into the city,p> <p class="poetry">I see those who are sick because of starvation.<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">For both prophet and priest go about their own businessp> <p class="poetry">in the land without having any real understanding.&#8217;&#8221;<n id="2" />p>

<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>

<t /><p class="bodytext">The <sc>Lordsc> spoke to Jeremiah<n id="1" /> when King Zedekiah<n id="2" /> sent to him Pashhur son of Malkijah and the priest Zephaniah son of Maaseiah.<n id="3" /> Zedekiah sent them to Jeremiah to ask,<n id="4" />

<p class="bodytext">The <sc>Lordsc> said to me, &#8220;Jeremiah,<n id="1" /> when one of these people, or a prophet, or a priest asks you, &#8216;What burdensome message<n id="2" /> do you have from the <sc>Lordsc>?&#8217; Tell them, &#8216;You are the burden,<n id="3" /> and I will cast you away.<n id="4" /> I, the <sc>Lordsc>, affirm it!<n id="5" />

Jeremiah had just barely finished saying all the <sc>Lordsc> had commanded him to say to all the people. All at once some<n id="1" /> of the priests, the prophets, and the people grabbed him and shouted, &#8220;You deserve to die!<n id="2" />

Then the priests and the prophets made their charges before the officials and all the people. They said,<n id="1" /> &#8220;This man should be condemned to die<n id="2" /> because he prophesied against this city. You have heard him do so<n id="3" /> with your own ears.&#8221;p>

<p class="bodytext">Then the officials and all the people rendered their verdict to the priests and the prophets. They said,<n id="1" /> &#8220;This man should not be condemned to die.<n id="2" /> For he has spoken to us under the authority of the <sc>Lordsc> our God.&#8221;<n id="3" />

<t /><p class="bodytext">The following events occurred in that same year, early in the reign of King Zedekiah of Judah. To be more precise, it was the fifth month of the fourth year of his reign.<n id="1" /> The prophet Hananiah son of Azzur, who was from Gibeon, spoke to Jeremiah<n id="2" /> in the <sc>Lordsc>&#8217;s temple in the presence of the priests and all the people.<n id="3" />

<t /><p class="bodytext">The prophet Jeremiah sent a letter to the exiles Nebuchadnezzar had carried off from Jerusalem<n id="1" /> to Babylon. It was addressed to the elders who were left among the exiles, to the priests, to the prophets, and to all the other people who were exiled in Babylon.<n id="2" />

I am determined to do so because the people of Israel and Judah have made me angry with all their wickedness &#8211; they, their kings, their officials, their priests, their prophets, and especially the people of Judah and the citizens of Jerusalem<n id="1" /> have done this wickedness.<n id="2" />

<t /><p class="bodytext">King Zedekiah sent<n id="1" /> Jehucal<n id="2" /> son of Shelemiah and the priest Zephaniah<n id="3" /> son of Maaseiah to the prophet Jeremiah. He told them to say, &#8220;Please pray to the <sc>Lordsc> our God on our behalf.&#8221;

<p class="poetry">Wail, you people in Heshbon, because Ai in Ammon is destroyed.p> <p class="poetry">Cry out in anguish, you people in the villages surrounding<n id="1" /> Rabbah.p> <p class="poetry">Put on sackcloth and cry out in mourning.p> <p class="poetry">Run about covered with gashes.<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">For your god Milcom will go into exilep> <p class="poetry">along with his priests and officials.<n id="3" />p>

<p class="bodytext">I also told the priests and all the people, &#8220;The <sc>Lordsc> says, &#8216;Do not listen to what your prophets are saying. They are prophesying to you that<n id="1" /> the valuable articles taken from the <sc>Lordsc>&#8217;s temple will be brought back from Babylon very soon.<n id="2" /> But they are prophesying a lie to you.