The Lord said to me, ¹  “Tell them, ‘The Lord says, Do people not get back up when they fall down? Do they not turn around when they go the wrong way? ² 

And I cried out, ¹  “We are doomed! ²  Our wound is severe! We once thought, ‘This is only an illness. And we will be able to bear it!’ ³ 

For the honor of your name, ¹  do not treat Jerusalem ²  with contempt. Do not treat with disdain the place where your glorious throne sits. ³  Be mindful of your covenant with us. Do not break it! ⁴ 

As you stand in those places ¹  announce, ‘Listen, all you people who pass through these gates. Listen, all you kings of Judah, all you people of Judah and all you citizens of Jerusalem. Listen to what the Lord says. ² 

I will make this city an object of horror, a thing to be hissed at. All who pass by it will be filled with horror and will hiss out their scorn ¹  because of all the disasters that have happened to it. ² 

Say: ‘Listen, O king of Judah who follows in David’s succession. ¹  You, your officials, and your subjects who pass through the gates of this palace must listen to what the Lord says. ² 

You may feel as secure as a bird nesting in the cedars of Lebanon. But oh how you ¹  will groan ²  when the pains of judgment come on you. They will be like those of a woman giving birth to a baby. ³ 

I will force you and your mother who gave you birth into exile. You will be exiled to ¹  a country where neither of you were born, and you will both die there.

“Do you really think anyone can hide himself where I cannot see him?” the Lord asks. ¹  “Do you not know that I am everywhere?” ²  the Lord asks. ³ 

The Lord says, ¹  “I have heard what those prophets who are prophesying lies in my name are saying. They are saying, ‘I have had a dream! I have had a dream!’ ² 

How long will they go on plotting ¹  to make my people forget who I am ²  through the dreams they tell one another? That is just as bad as what their ancestors ³  did when they forgot who I am by worshiping the god Baal. ⁴ 

So if a prophet prophesied ¹  peace and prosperity, it was only known that the Lord truly sent him when what he prophesied came true.”

The Lord says, “The people of Israel who survived death at the hands of the enemy ¹  will find favor in the wilderness as they journey to find rest for themselves.

Yes, a time is coming when watchmen ¹  will call out on the mountains of Ephraim, “Come! Let us go to Zion to worship the Lord our God!”’” ² 

‘Oh, Lord God, ¹  you did indeed ²  make heaven and earth by your mighty power and great strength. ³  Nothing is too hard for you!

In those days and at that time I will raise up for them a righteous descendant ¹  of David. “‘He will do what is just and right in the land.

However, listen to what I, the Lord, promise you, King Zedekiah of Judah. I, the Lord, promise that ¹  you will not die in battle or be executed. ² 

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 

When they had heard it all, ¹  they expressed their alarm to one another. ²  Then they said to Baruch, “We must certainly give the king a report about everything you have read!” ³ 

Ebed Melech ¹  called down to Jeremiah, “Put these rags and worn-out clothes under your armpits to pad the ropes. ²  Jeremiah did as Ebed Melech instructed. ³