I hear my dear people ¹  crying out ²  throughout the length and breadth of the land. ³  They are crying, ‘Is the Lord no longer in Zion? Is her divine King ⁴  no longer there?’” The Lord answers, ⁵  “Why then do they provoke me to anger with their images, with their worthless foreign idols?” ⁶ 

“I, the Lord, say: ¹  ‘You and your people are saying ²  about this place, “It lies in ruins. There are no people or animals in it.” That is true. The towns of Judah and the streets of Jerusalem ³  will soon be desolate, uninhabited either by people or by animals. But happy sounds will again be heard in these places.

For I, the Lord, affirm that ¹  I will soon give the order and bring them back to this city. They will fight against it and capture it and burn it down. I will also make the towns of Judah desolate so that there will be no one living in them.”’”

So you go there the next time all the people of Judah come in from their towns to fast ¹  in the Lord’s temple. Read out loud where all of them can hear you what I told you the Lord said, which you wrote in the scroll. ² 

The Lord says, ‘Be very careful if you value your lives! ¹  Do not carry any loads ²  in through ³  the gates of Jerusalem on the Sabbath day.

“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 

So now be very sure of this: You will die from war, starvation, or disease in the place where you want to go and live.”

But how can it rest ¹  when I, the Lord, have ²  given it orders? I have ordered it to attack the people of Ashkelon and the seacoast. ³ 

Each of the pillars was about 27 feet ¹  high, about 18 feet ²  in circumference, three inches ³  thick, and hollow.

The Lord said to me,

You must be truthful, honest and upright when you take an oath saying, ‘As surely as the Lord lives!’ ¹  If you do, ²  the nations will pray to be as blessed by him as you are and will make him the object of their boasting.” ³ 

Because of that, ¹  the Lord, the God who rules over all, ²  said to me, ³  “Because these people have spoken ⁴  like this, ⁵  I will make the words that I put in your mouth like fire. And I will make this people like wood which the fiery judgments you speak will burn up.” ⁶ 

The Lord who rules over all ¹  says to the people of Jerusalem: ²  “Do not listen to what those prophets are saying to you. They are filling you with false hopes. They are reporting visions of their own imaginations, not something the Lord has given them to say. ³ 

For I, the Lord, affirm ¹  that I did not send them. They are prophesying lies to you. If you ²  listen to them, I will drive you and the prophets who are prophesying lies out of the land and you will all die in exile.” ³ 

Indeed, the people of Israel are my dear children. They are the children I take delight in. ¹  For even though I must often rebuke them, I still remember them with fondness. So I am deeply moved with pity for them ²  and will surely have compassion on them. I, the Lord, affirm it! ³ 

For I, the Lord God of Israel, have something more to say about the houses in this city and the royal buildings which have been torn down for defenses against the siege ramps and military incursions of the Babylonians: ¹ 

“I, the Lord who rules over all, say: ¹  ‘This place will indeed lie in ruins. There will be no people or animals in it. But there will again be in it and in its towns sheepfolds where shepherds can rest their sheep.

When that time comes, no guilt will be found in Israel. No sin will be found in Judah. ¹  For I will forgive those of them I have allowed to survive. ²  I, the Lord, affirm it!’” ³ 

I have opened up the place where my weapons are stored. ¹  I have brought out the weapons for carrying out my wrath. ²  For I, the Lord God who rules over all, ³  have work to carry out in the land of Babylonia. ⁴ 

For the Lord says, ‘I will make both you and your friends terrified of what will happen to you. ¹  You will see all of them die by the swords of their enemies. ²  I will hand all the people of Judah over to the king of Babylon. He will carry some of them away into exile in Babylon and he will kill others of them with the sword.