Out of those places you will hear songs of thanksgiving ¹  and the sounds of laughter and merriment. I will increase their number and they will not dwindle away. ²  I will bring them honor and they will no longer be despised.

“You must not disobey the Lord your God by saying, ‘We will not stay in this land.’

This day ¹  I have told you what he said. ²  But you do not want to obey the Lord by doing what he sent me to tell you. ³ 

They went on to Egypt ¹  because they refused to obey the Lord, and came to Tahpanhes. ² 

Egypt will run away, hissing like a snake, ¹  as the enemy comes marching up in force. They will come against her with axes as if they were woodsmen chopping down trees.

In fact, ¹  I hear a cry like that of a woman in labor, a cry of anguish like that of a woman giving birth to her first baby. It is the cry of Daughter Zion ²  gasping for breath, reaching out for help, ³  saying, “I am done in! ⁴  My life is ebbing away before these murderers!”

We will obey what the Lord our God to whom we are sending you tells us to do. It does not matter whether we like what he tells us or not. We will obey what he tells us to do so that things will go well for us.” ¹ 

“A noise is heard on the hilltops. It is the sound of the people of Israel crying and pleading to their gods. Indeed they have followed sinful ways; ¹  they have forgotten to be true to the Lord their God. ² 

They are saying, ¹  ‘Announce to the surrounding nations, ²  “The enemy is coming!” ³  Proclaim this message ⁴  to Jerusalem: “Those who besiege cities ⁵  are coming from a distant land. They are ready to raise the battle cry against ⁶  the towns in Judah.”’

I said, ¹  “Oh, the feeling in the pit of my stomach! ²  I writhe in anguish. Oh, the pain in my heart! ³  My heart pounds within me. I cannot keep silent. For I hear the sound of the trumpet; ⁴  the sound of the battle cry pierces my soul! ⁵ 

At the sound of the approaching horsemen and archers the people of every town will flee. Some of them will hide in the thickets. Others will climb up among the rocks. All the cities will be deserted. No one will remain in them.

So tell them: ‘This is a nation that has not obeyed the Lord their God and has not accepted correction. Faithfulness is nowhere to be found in it. These people do not even profess it anymore. ¹ 

The snorting of the enemy’s horses is already being heard in the city of Dan. The sound of the neighing of their stallions ¹  causes the whole land to tremble with fear. They are coming to destroy the land and everything in it! They are coming to destroy ²  the cities and everyone who lives in them!”

The Lord answered, “This has happened because these people have rejected my laws which I gave them. They have not obeyed me or followed those laws. ¹ 

For the sound of wailing is soon to be heard in Zion. They will wail, ¹  ‘We are utterly ruined! ²  We are completely disgraced! For our houses have been torn down and we must leave our land.’” ³ 

When his voice thunders, ¹  the heavenly ocean roars. He makes the clouds rise from the far-off horizons. ²  He makes the lightning flash out in the midst of the rain. He unleashes the wind from the places where he stores it. ³ 

Listen! News is coming even now. ¹  The rumble of a great army is heard approaching ²  from a land in the north. ³  It is coming to turn the towns of Judah into rubble, places where only jackals live.

For I solemnly warned your ancestors to obey me. ¹  I warned them again and again, ²  ever since I delivered them out of Egypt until this very day.

I, the Lord, once called ¹  you a thriving olive tree, one that produced beautiful fruit. But I will set you ²  on fire, fire that will blaze with a mighty roar. ³  Then all your branches will be good for nothing. ⁴ 

But if that nation does what displeases me and does not obey me, then I will cancel the good I promised to do to it.