<t /><p class="bodytext">So<n id="1" /> the <sc>Lord,sc> the God of Israel, spoke to me in a vision.<n id="2" /> &#8220;Take this cup from my hand. It is filled with the wine of my wrath.<n id="3" /> Take it and make the nations to whom I send you drink it.

<p class="bodytext">Then the <sc>Lordsc> said to me,<n id="1" /> &#8220;Tell them that the <sc>Lordsc> God of Israel who rules over all<n id="2" /> says,<n id="3" /> &#8216;Drink this cup<n id="4" /> until you get drunk and vomit. Drink until you fall down and can&#8217;t get up.<n id="5" /> For I will send wars sweeping through you.&#8217;<n id="6" />

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>

<p class="bodytext">&#8220;Then, Jeremiah,<n id="1" /> make the following prophecy<n id="2" /> against them:p> <p class="poetry">&#8216;Like a lion about to attack,<n id="3" /> the <sc>Lordsc> will roar from the heights of heaven;p> <p class="poetry">from his holy dwelling on high he will roar loudly.p> <p class="poetry">He will roar mightily against his land.<n id="4" />p> <p class="poetry">He will shout in triumph like those stomping juice from the grapes<n id="5" />p> <p class="poetry">against all those who live on the earth.p>

<p class="poetry">Those who have been killed by the <sc>Lordsc> at that timep> <p class="poetry">will be scattered from one end of the earth to the other.p> <p class="poetry">They will not be mourned over, gathered up, or buried.<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">Their dead bodies will lie scattered over the ground like manure.p>

Jeremiah had just barely finished saying all the <sc>Lordsc> had commanded him to say to all the people. All at once some<n id="1" /> of the priests, the prophets, and the people grabbed him and shouted, &#8220;You deserve to die!<n id="2" />

<p class="bodytext">Then Jeremiah made his defense before all the officials and all the people.<n id="1" /> &#8220;The <sc>Lordsc> sent me to prophesy everything you have heard me say against this temple and against this city.

But you should take careful note of this: If you put me to death, you will bring on yourselves and this city and those who live in it the guilt of murdering an innocent man. For the <sc>Lordsc> has sent me to speak all this where you can hear it. That is the truth!&#8221;<n id="1" />p>

&#8220;Micah from Moresheth<n id="1" /> prophesied during the time Hezekiah was king of Judah.<n id="2" /> He told all the people of Judah,p> <p class="poetry">&#8216;The <sc>Lordsc> who rules over all<n id="3" /> says,p> <p class="poetry">&#8220;Zion<n id="4" /> will become a plowed field.p> <p class="poetry">Jerusalem<n id="5" /> will become a pile of rubble.p> <p class="poetry">The temple mount will become a mere wooded ridge.&#8221;&#8217;<n id="6" />p>

<p class="bodytext">Now there was another man<n id="1" /> who prophesied as the <sc>Lordsc>&#8217;s representative<n id="2" /> against this city and this land just as Jeremiah did. His name was Uriah son of Shemaiah from Kiriath Jearim.<n id="3" />

<t /><p class="bodytext">The following events occurred in that same year, early in the reign of King Zedekiah of Judah. To be more precise, it was the fifth month of the fourth year of his reign.<n id="1" /> The prophet Hananiah son of Azzur, who was from Gibeon, spoke to Jeremiah<n id="2" /> in the <sc>Lordsc>&#8217;s temple in the presence of the priests and all the people.<n id="3" />

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>

Then he spoke up in the presence of all the people. &#8220;The <sc>Lordsc> says, &#8216;In the same way I will break the yoke of servitude of all the nations to King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon<n id="1" /> before two years are over.&#8217;&#8221; After he heard this, the prophet Jeremiah departed and went on his way.<n id="2" />p>

For the <sc>Lordsc> God of Israel who rules over all<n id="1" /> says, &#8220;I have put an irresistible yoke of servitude on all these nations<n id="2" /> so they will serve King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon. And they will indeed serve him. I have even given him control over the wild animals.&#8221;&#8217;&#8221;<n id="3" />

Then the prophet Jeremiah told the prophet Hananiah, &#8220;Listen, Hananiah! The <sc>Lordsc> did not send you! You are making these people trust in a lie!<n id="1" />

<p class="bodytext">&#8220;For the <sc>Lordsc> God of Israel who rules over all<n id="1" /> says, &#8216;Do not let the prophets or those among you who claim to be able to predict the future by divination<n id="2" /> deceive you. And do not pay any attention to the dreams that you are encouraging them to dream.

<p class="bodytext">&#8220;For the <sc>Lordsc> says, &#8216;Only when the seventy years of Babylonian rule<n id="1" /> are over will I again take up consideration for you.<n id="2" /> Then I will fulfill my gracious promise to you and restore<n id="3" /> you to your homeland.<n id="4" />

For I know what I have planned for you,&#8217; says the <sc>Lordsc>.<n id="1" /> &#8216;I have plans to prosper you, not to harm you. I have plans to give you<n id="2" /> a future filled with hope.<n id="3" />

But just listen to what the <sc>Lordsc> has to say about<n id="1" /> the king who occupies David&#8217;s throne and all your fellow countrymen who are still living in this city of Jerusalem<n id="2" /> and were not carried off into exile with you.