The Lord says, “I will put a curse on people who trust in mere human beings, who depend on mere flesh and blood for their strength, ²  and whose hearts ³  have turned away from the Lord.

I will destroy Babylonia just like I did Sodom and Gomorrah and the neighboring towns. No one will live there. ¹  No human being will settle in it,” says the Lord. ² 

Edom will be destroyed like Sodom and Gomorrah and the towns that were around them. No one will live there. No human being will settle in it,” says the Lord.

For I, the Lord, promise: “David will never lack a successor to occupy ¹  the throne over the nation of Israel. ² 

Here is what the Lord says concerning the false prophets: ²  My heart and my mind are deeply disturbed. I tremble all over. ³  I am like a drunk person, like a person who has had too much wine, ⁴  because of the way the Lord and his holy word are being mistreated. ⁵ 

Everyone was supposed to free their male and female Hebrew slaves. No one was supposed to keep a fellow Judean enslaved. ¹ 

The towns of Babylonia have become heaps of ruins. She has become a dry and barren desert. No one lives in those towns any more. No one even passes through them. ¹ 

My blessing is on those people who trust in me, who put their confidence in me. ¹ 

Why should you be like someone who is helpless, ¹  like a champion ²  who cannot save anyone? You are indeed with us, ³  and we belong to you. ⁴  Do not abandon us!”

I said, ¹  “Oh, mother, how I regret ²  that you ever gave birth to me! I am always starting arguments and quarrels with the people of this land. ³  I have not lent money to anyone and I have not borrowed from anyone. Yet all of these people are treating me with contempt.” ⁴ 

Nor will the Levitical priests ever lack someone to stand before me and continually offer up burnt offerings, sacrifice cereal offerings, and offer the other sacrifices.”’” ¹ 

So the Lord God of Israel who rules over all says, ‘Jonadab son of Rechab will never lack a male descendant to serve me.’” ¹ 

I looked and saw that there were no more people, ¹  and that all the birds in the sky had flown away.

I will kill everything living in Jerusalem, ¹  people and animals alike! They will die from terrible diseases.

But even the swiftest cannot get away. Even the strongest cannot escape. ¹  There in the north by the Euphrates River they stumble and fall in defeat. ² 

Tell them that the Lord, the God of Israel, says, ‘Anyone who does not keep the terms of the covenant will be under a curse. ¹ 

I, the Lord, probe into people’s minds. I examine people’s hearts. ¹  I deal with each person according to how he has behaved. I give them what they deserve based on what they have done.

I will punish any prophet, priest, or other person who says “The Lord’s message is burdensome.” ¹  I will punish both that person and his whole family.’” ² 

You must change ¹  the way you have been living and do what is right. You must treat one another fairly. ² 

Rather, each person will die for his own sins. The teeth of the person who eats the sour grapes will themselves grow numb. ¹