<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>

I also explicitly commanded them:<n id="1" /> &#8220;Obey me. If you do, I<n id="2" /> will be your God and you will be my people. Live exactly the way I tell you<n id="3" /> and things will go well with you.&#8221;

<p class="poetry">Such idols are like scarecrows in a cucumber field.p> <p class="poetry">They cannot talk.p> <p class="poetry">They must be carriedp> <p class="poetry">because they cannot walk.p> <p class="poetry">Do not be afraid of themp> <p class="poetry">because they cannot hurt you.p> <p class="poetry">And they do not have any power to help you.&#8221;<n id="1" />p>

<p class="bodytext">The <sc>Lordsc> said to me, &#8220;Announce all the following words in the towns of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem: &#8216;Listen to the terms of my covenant with you<n id="1" /> and carry them out!

Even if they fast, I will not hear their cries for help. Even if they offer burnt offerings and grain offerings, I will not accept them.<n id="1" /> Instead, I will kill them through wars, famines, and plagues.&#8221;<n id="2" />p>

<p class="poetry">So then I, the <sc>Lordsc> who rules over all,<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">have something to say concerning the prophets of Jerusalem:<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">&#8216;I will make these prophets eat the bitter food of sufferingp> <p class="poetry">and drink the poison water of judgment.<n id="3" />p> <p class="poetry">For the prophets of Jerusalem are the reason<n id="4" />p> <p class="poetry">that ungodliness<n id="5" /> has spread throughout the land.&#8217;&#8221;p>

The <sc>Lordsc> who rules over all<n id="1" /> says, &#8216;I will bring war,<n id="2" /> starvation, and disease on them. I will treat them like figs that are so rotten<n id="3" /> they cannot be eaten.

<p class="poetry">I will make the people of Elam terrified of their enemies,p> <p class="poetry">who are seeking to kill them.p> <p class="poetry">I will vent my fierce angerp> <p class="poetry">and bring disaster upon them,&#8221;<n id="1" /> says the <sc>Lordsc>.<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">&#8220;I will send armies chasing after them<n id="3" />p> <p class="poetry">until I have completely destroyed them.p>

that the <sc>Lord,sc> the God of Israel, says,<n id="1" /> &#8216;The forces at your disposal<n id="2" /> are now outside the walls fighting against King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon and the Babylonians<n id="3" /> who have you under siege. I will gather those forces back inside the city.<n id="4" />