<p class="bodytext">In response to all this<n id="1" /> I said, &#8220;Ah, Lord <sc>Godsc>,<n id="2" /> you have surely allowed<n id="3" /> the people of Judah and Jerusalem<n id="4" /> to be deceived by those who say, &#8216;You will be safe!&#8217;<n id="5" /> But in fact a sword is already at our throats.&#8221;<n id="6" />p>

<p class="bodytext">The <sc>Lordsc> answered,<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">&#8220;This will happen<n id="2" /> because my people are foolish.p> <p class="poetry">They do not know me.p> <p class="poetry">They are like children who have no sense.<n id="3" />p> <p class="poetry">They have no understanding.p> <p class="poetry">They are skilled at doing evil.p> <p class="poetry">They do not know how to do good.&#8221;p>

<p class="poetry">Tell them: &#8216;Hear this,p> <p class="poetry">you foolish people who have no understanding,p> <p class="poetry">who have eyes but do not discern,p> <p class="poetry">who have ears but do not perceive:<n id="1" />p>

<p class="poetry">The prophets prophesy lies.p> <p class="poetry">The priests exercise power by their own authority.<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">And my people love to have it this way.p> <p class="poetry">But they will not be able to help you when the time of judgment comes!<n id="2" />p>

<p class="poetry">&#8220;This is what the <sc>Lordsc> says:p> <p class="poetry">&#8216;Beware! An army<n id="1" /> is coming from a land in the north.p> <p class="poetry">A mighty nation is stirring into action in faraway parts of the earth.p>

<p class="poetry">So I said,<n id="1" /> &#8220;Oh, my dear people,<n id="2" /> put on sackclothp> <p class="poetry">and roll in ashes.p> <p class="poetry">Mourn with painful sobsp> <p class="poetry">as though you had lost your only child.p> <p class="poetry">For any moment now<n id="3" /> that destructive army<n id="4" />p> <p class="poetry">will come against us.&#8221;p>

<p class="bodytext">Then the <sc>Lordsc> said,<n id="1" /> &#8220;As for you, Jeremiah,<n id="2" /> do not pray for these people! Do not cry out to me or petition me on their behalf! Do not plead with me to save them,<n id="3" /> because I will not listen to you.

<p class="poetry">Even the stork knowsp> <p class="poetry">when it is time to move on.<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">The turtledove, swallow, and crane<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">recognize<n id="3" /> the normal times for their migration.p> <p class="poetry">But my people pay no attentionp> <p class="poetry">to<n id="4" /> what I, the <sc>Lordsc>, require of them.<n id="5" />p>

<p class="poetry">There is still medicinal ointment<n id="1" /> available in Gilead!p> <p class="poetry">There is still a physician there!<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">Why then have my dear people<n id="3" />p> <p class="poetry">not been restored to health?<n id="4" />p>

<p class="poetry"><v id="(8:23)" /><n id="1" /> I wish that my head were a well full of water<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">and my eyes were a fountain full of tears!p> <p class="poetry">If they were, I could cry day and nightp> <p class="poetry">for those of my dear people<n id="3" /> who have been killed.p>

<p class="poetry"><v id="(9:1)" /> I wish I had a lodging place in the desertp> <p class="poetry">where I could spend some time like a weary traveler.<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">Then I would desert my peoplep> <p class="poetry">and walk away from themp> <p class="poetry">because they are all unfaithful to God,p> <p class="poetry">a congregation<n id="2" /> of people that has been disloyal to him.<n id="3" />p>

<p class="bodytext">Therefore the <sc>Lordsc> who rules over all says,<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">&#8220;I will now purify them in the fires of affliction<n id="2" /> and test them.p> <p class="poetry">The wickedness of my dear people<n id="3" /> has left me no choice.p> <p class="poetry">What else can I do?<n id="4" />p>

So then, listen to what I, the <sc>Lordsc> God of Israel who rules over all,<n id="1" /> say.<n id="2" /> &#8216;I will make these people eat the bitter food of suffering and drink the poison water of judgment.<n id="3" />

<p class="poetry">For the religion<n id="1" /> of these people is worthless.p> <p class="poetry">They cut down a tree in the forest,p> <p class="poetry">and a craftsman makes it into an idol with his tools.<n id="2" />p>

<p class="bodytext">Then the <sc>Lordsc> said to me, &#8220;Even if Moses and Samuel stood before me pleading for<n id="1" /> these people, I would not feel pity for them!<n id="2" /> Get them away from me! Tell them to go away!<n id="3" />

<p class="poetry">I will make you as strong as a wall to these people,p> <p class="poetry">a fortified wall of bronze.p> <p class="poetry">They will attack you,p> <p class="poetry">but they will not be able to overcome you.p> <p class="poetry">For I will be with you to rescue you and deliver you,&#8221;<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">says the <sc>Lordsc>.p>

<p class="poetry">Yet my people have forgotten mep> <p class="poetry">and offered sacrifices to worthless idols!p> <p class="poetry">This makes them stumble along in the way they livep> <p class="poetry">and leave the old reliable path of their fathers.<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">They have left them to walk in bypaths,p> <p class="poetry">in roads that are not smooth and level.<n id="2" />p>

<p class="bodytext">Then Jeremiah left Topheth where the <sc>Lordsc> had sent him to give that prophecy. He went to the <sc>Lordsc>&#8217;s temple and stood<n id="1" /> in its courtyard and called out to all the people.

<p class="bodytext">&#8220;But<n id="1" /> tell the people of Jerusalem<n id="2" /> that the <sc>Lordsc> says, &#8216;I will give you a choice between two courses of action. One will result in life; the other will result in death.<n id="3" />

Say: &#8216;Listen, O king of Judah who follows in David&#8217;s succession.<n id="1" /> You, your officials, and your subjects who pass through the gates of this palace must listen to what the <sc>Lordsc> says.<n id="2" />