I will hand them over to Nebuchadnezzar and his troops, who want to kill them. But later on, people will live in Egypt again as they did in former times. I, the <sc>Lordsc>, affirm it!&#8221;<n id="1" />p>

<p class="poetry">But the time is coming when I will sendp> <p class="poetry">men against Moab who will empty it out.p> <p class="poetry">They will empty the towns of their people,p> <p class="poetry">then will lay those towns in ruins.<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">I, the <sc>Lordsc>, affirm it!<n id="2" />p>

<p class="poetry">So I will weep with sorrow for Moab.p> <p class="poetry">I will cry out in sadness for all of Moab.p> <p class="poetry">I will moan<n id="1" /> for the people of Kir Heres.p>

<p class="poetry">For her young men will fall in her city squares.p> <p class="poetry">All her soldiers will be destroyed at that time,&#8221;p> <p class="poetry">says the <sc>Lordsc> who rules over all.<n id="1" />p>

<p class="poetry">Therefore desert creatures and jackals will live there.p> <p class="poetry">Ostriches<n id="1" /> will dwell in it too.<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">But no people will ever live there again.p> <p class="poetry">No one will dwell there for all time to come.<n id="3" />p>

<p class="poetry">Babylonia had been a gold cup in the <sc>Lordsc>&#8217;s hand.p> <p class="poetry">She had made the whole world drunk.p> <p class="poetry">The nations had drunk from the wine of her wrath.<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">So they have all gone mad.<n id="2" />p>

<p class="poetry">Therefore the <sc>Lordsc> says,p> <p class="poetry">&#8220;I will stand up for your cause.p> <p class="poetry">I will pay the Babylonians back for what they have done to you.<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">I will dry up their sea.p> <p class="poetry">I will make their springs run dry.<n id="2" />p>

<p class="poetry">&#8220;So the time will certainly come<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">when I will punish the idols of Babylon.p> <p class="poetry">Her whole land will be put to shame.p> <p class="poetry">All her mortally wounded will collapse in her midst.<n id="2" />p>

<p class="poetry">Yes, but the time will certainly come,&#8221;<n id="1" /> says the <sc>Lordsc>,<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">&#8220;when I will punish her idols.p> <p class="poetry">Throughout her land the mortally wounded will groan.p>

<p class="poetry">So like a lion from the thicket their enemies will kill them.p> <p class="poetry">Like a wolf from the desert they will destroy them.p> <p class="poetry">Like a leopard they will lie in wait outside their citiesp> <p class="poetry">and totally destroy anyone who ventures out.<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">For they have rebelled so muchp> <p class="poetry">and done so many unfaithful things.<n id="2" />p>

<p class="bodytext">Because of that,<n id="1" /> the <sc>Lordsc>, the God who rules over all,<n id="2" /> said to me,<n id="3" />p> <p class="poetry">&#8220;Because these people have spoken<n id="4" /> like this,<n id="5" />p> <p class="poetry">I will make the words that I put in your mouth like fire.p> <p class="poetry">And I will make this people like woodp> <p class="poetry">which the fiery judgments you speak will burn up.&#8221;<n id="6" />p>

&#8220;So then, Jeremiah,<n id="1" /> when your people<n id="2" /> ask, &#8216;Why has the <sc>Lordsc> our God done all this to us?&#8217; tell them, &#8216;It is because you rejected me and served foreign gods in your own land. So<n id="3" /> you must serve foreigners<n id="4" /> in a land that does not belong to you.&#8217;p>

<p class="poetry">Are they ashamed because they have done such shameful things?p> <p class="poetry">No, they are not at all ashamed.p> <p class="poetry">They do not even know how to blush!p> <p class="poetry">So they will die, just like others have died.<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">They will be brought to ruin when I punish them,&#8221;p> <p class="bodytext">says the <sc>Lordsc>.p>

<p class="poetry">So, this is what the <sc>Lordsc> says:p> <p class="poetry">&#8216;I will assuredly<n id="1" /> make these people stumble to their doom.<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">Parents and children will stumble and fall to their destruction.<n id="3" />p> <p class="poetry">Friends and neighbors will die.&#8217;p>

So,&#8221; the Lord <sc>Godsc><n id="1" /> says, &#8220;my raging fury will be poured out on this land.<n id="2" /> It will be poured out on human beings and animals, on trees and crops.<n id="3" /> And it will burn like a fire which cannot be extinguished.&#8221;p>

So, watch out!&#8221;<n id="1" /> says the <sc>Lordsc>. &#8220;The time will soon come when people will no longer call those places Topheth or the Valley of Ben Hinnom. But they will call that valley<n id="2" /> the Valley of Slaughter and they will bury so many people in Topheth they will run out of room.<n id="3" />

<p class="poetry">I have listened to them very carefully,<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">but they do not speak honestly.p> <p class="poetry">None of them regrets the evil he has done.p> <p class="poetry">None of them says, &#8220;I have done wrong!&#8221;<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">All of them persist in their own wayward course<n id="3" />p> <p class="poetry">like a horse charging recklessly into battle.p>

<n id="1" /><p class="poetry">So I will give their wives to other menp> <p class="poetry">and their fields to new owners.p> <p class="poetry">For from the least important to the most important of them,p> <p class="poetry">all of them are greedy for dishonest gain.p> <p class="poetry">Prophets and priests alike,p> <p class="poetry">all practice deceit.p>

<p class="poetry">Are they ashamed because they have done such disgusting things?p> <p class="poetry">No, they are not at all ashamed!p> <p class="poetry">They do not even know how to blush!p> <p class="poetry">So they will die just like others have died.<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">They will be brought to ruin when I punish them,p> <p class="poetry">says the <sc>Lordsc>.p>

For,&#8217; I say,<n id="1" /> &#8216;just as shorts cling tightly to a person&#8217;s body, so I bound the whole nation of Israel and the whole nation of Judah<n id="2" /> tightly<n id="3" /> to me.&#8217; I intended for them to be my special people and to bring me fame, honor, and praise.<n id="4" /> But they would not obey me.p>