<p class="poetry">&#8220;Do so because my people have committed a double wrong:p> <p class="poetry">they have rejected me,p> <p class="poetry">the fountain of life-giving water,<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">and they have dug cisterns for themselves,p> <p class="poetry">cracked cisterns which cannot even hold water.&#8221;p>

<t /><p class="poetry">&#8220;Indeed,<n id="1" /> long ago you threw off my authorityp> <p class="poetry">and refused to be subject to me.<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">You said, &#8216;I will not serve you.&#8217;<n id="3" />p> <p class="poetry">Instead, you gave yourself to other gods on every high hillp> <p class="poetry">and under every green tree,p> <p class="poetry">like a prostitute sprawls out before her lovers.<n id="4" />p>

<p class="poetry">I will go to the leaders<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">and speak with them.p> <p class="poetry">Surely they know what the <sc>Lordsc> demands.<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">Surely they know what their God requires of them.&#8221;<n id="3" />p> <p class="poetry">Yet all of them, too, have rejected his authorityp> <p class="poetry">and refuse to submit to him.<n id="4" />p>

<t /><p class="poetry">&#8220;Tell these people this, Jeremiah:<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">&#8216;My eyes overflow with tearsp> <p class="poetry">day and night without ceasing.<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">For my people, my dear children,<n id="3" /> have suffered a crushing blow.p> <p class="poetry">They have suffered a serious wound.<n id="4" />p>

I will also bring back to this place Jehoiakim&#8217;s son King Jeconiah of Judah and all the exiles who were taken to Babylon.&#8217; Indeed, the <sc>Lordsc> affirms,<n id="1" /> &#8216;I will break the yoke of servitude to the king of Babylon.&#8217;&#8221;p>

Then he spoke up in the presence of all the people. &#8220;The <sc>Lordsc> says, &#8216;In the same way I will break the yoke of servitude of all the nations to King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon<n id="1" /> before two years are over.&#8217;&#8221; After he heard this, the prophet Jeremiah departed and went on his way.<n id="2" />p>

<p class="bodytext">The Babylonians broke the two bronze pillars in the temple of the <sc>Lordsc>, as well as the movable stands and the large bronze basin called the &#8220;The Sea.&#8221;<n id="1" /> They took all the bronze to Babylon.