<p class="poetry">I the King, whose name is the <sc>Lordsc> who rules over all,<n id="1" /> swear this:p> <p class="poetry">I swear as surely as I live that<n id="2" /> a conqueror is coming.p> <p class="poetry">He will be as imposing as Mount Tabor is among the mountains,p> <p class="poetry">as Mount Carmel is against the backdrop of the sea.<n id="3" />p>

<p class="poetry">But I will strip everything away from Esau&#8217;s descendants.p> <p class="poetry">I will uncover their hiding places so they cannot hide.p> <p class="poetry">Their children, relatives, and neighbors will all be destroyed.p> <p class="poetry">Not one of them will be left!p>

<t /><p class="bodytext">&#8220;Go and shout this message to my people in the countries in the north.<n id="1" /> Tell them,p> <p class="poetry">&#8216;Come back to me, wayward Israel,&#8217; says the <sc>Lordsc>.p> <p class="poetry">&#8216;I will not continue to look on you with displeasure.<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">For I am merciful,&#8217; says the <sc>Lordsc>.p> <p class="poetry">&#8216;I will not be angry with you forever.p>

<p class="poetry">If people want to boast, they should boast about this:p> <p class="poetry">They should boast that they understand and know me.p> <p class="poetry">They should boast that they know and understandp> <p class="poetry">that I, the <sc>Lordsc>, act out of faithfulness, fairness, and justice in the earthp> <p class="poetry">and that I desire people to do these things,&#8221;<n id="1" />p> <p class="bodytext">says the <sc>Lordsc>.p>

<t /><p class="bodytext">The <sc>Lordsc> says,<n id="1" />p> <p class="bodytext">&#8220;As surely as I am the living God, you, Jeconiah,<n id="2" /> king of Judah, son of Jehoiakim, will not be the earthly representative of my authority. Indeed, I will take that right away from you.<n id="3" />

I will give them the desire to acknowledge that I<n id="1" /> am the <sc>Lordsc>. I will be their God and they will be my people. For they will wholeheartedly<n id="2" /> return to me.&#8217;p>

For take note, I am already beginning to bring disaster on the city that I call my own.<n id="1" /> So how can you possibly avoid being punished?<n id="2" /> You will not go unpunished! For I am proclaiming war against all who live on the earth. I, the <sc>Lordsc> who rules over all,<n id="3" /> affirm it!&#8217;<n id="4" />p>

Before two years are over, I will bring back to this place everything that King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon took from it and carried away to Babylon.

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>

<p class="poetry">For I, the <sc>Lordsc>, affirm<n id="1" /> thatp> <p class="poetry">I will be with you and will rescue you.p> <p class="poetry">I will completely destroy all the nations where I scattered you.p> <p class="poetry">But I will not completely destroy you.p> <p class="poetry">I will indeed discipline you, but only in due measure.p> <p class="poetry">I will not allow you to go entirely unpunished.&#8221;<n id="2" />p>

<p class="poetry">The <sc>Lordsc> says, &#8220;I will not reject all the descendants of Israelp> <p class="poetry">because of all that they have done.<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">That could only happen if the heavens above could be measuredp> <p class="poetry">or the foundations of the earth below could all be explored,&#8221;<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">says the <sc>Lordsc>.<n id="3" />p>

You will die a peaceful death. They will burn incense at your burial just as they did at the burial of your ancestors, the former kings who preceded you.<n id="1" /> They will mourn for you, saying, &#8220;Poor, poor master!&#8221;<n id="2" /> Indeed, you have my own word on this.<n id="3" /> I, the <sc>Lordsc>, affirm it!&#8217;&#8221;<n id="4" />p>

<t /><p class="bodytext">Some time later<n id="1" /> Zedekiah sent and had Jeremiah brought to him at the third entrance<n id="2" /> of the <sc>Lordsc>&#8217;s temple. The king said to Jeremiah, &#8220;I would like to ask you a question. Do not hide anything from me when you answer.&#8221;<n id="3" />

Then King Zedekiah said to Jeremiah, &#8220;I am afraid of the Judeans who have deserted to the Babylonians.<n id="1" /> The Babylonians might hand me over to them and they will torture me.&#8221;<n id="2" />

Do not be afraid of the king of Babylon whom you now fear.<n id="1" /> Do not be afraid of him because I will be with you to save you and to rescue you from his power. I, the <sc>Lordsc>, affirm it!<n id="2" />

All the people who are determined to go and settle in Egypt will die from war, starvation, or disease. No one will survive or escape the disaster I will bring on them.&#8217;

Moreover the <sc>Lordsc> says,<n id="1" /> &#8216;I will make something happen to prove that I will punish you in this place. I will do it so that you will know that my threats to bring disaster on you will prove true.<n id="2" />

<p class="poetry">I, the <sc>Lordsc>, tell<n id="1" /> you not to be afraid,p> <p class="poetry">you descendants of Jacob, my servant,p> <p class="poetry">for I am with you.p> <p class="poetry">Though I completely destroy all the nations where I scatter you,p> <p class="poetry">I will not completely destroy you.p> <p class="poetry">I will indeed discipline you but only in due measure.p> <p class="poetry">I will not allow you to go entirely unpunished.&#8221;<n id="2" />p>

Because he has done this,&#8221;<n id="1" /> the <sc>Lordsc> says, &#8220;I will punish Shemaiah the Nehelamite and his whole family. There will not be any of them left to experience the good things that I will do for my people. I, the <sc>Lordsc>, affirm it! For he counseled rebellion against the <sc>Lordsc>.&#8221;&#8217;&#8221;<n id="2" />p>