<p class="poetry">You people of this generation,p> <p class="poetry">listen to what the <sc>Lordsc> says.p> <p class="poetry">&#8220;Have I been like a wilderness to you, Israel?p> <p class="poetry">Have I been like a dark and dangerous land to you?<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">Why then do you<n id="2" /> say, &#8216;We are free to wander.<n id="3" />p> <p class="poetry">We will not come to you any more?&#8217;p>

<p class="bodytext">When Josiah was king of Judah, the <sc>Lordsc> said to me, &#8220;Jeremiah, you have no doubt seen what wayward Israel has done.<n id="1" /> You have seen how she went up to every high hill and under every green tree to give herself like a prostitute to other gods.<n id="2" />

She also saw<n id="1" /> that I gave wayward Israel her divorce papers and sent her away because of her adulterous worship of other gods.<n id="2" /> Even after her unfaithful sister Judah had seen this,<n id="3" /> she still was not afraid, and she too went and gave herself like a prostitute to other gods.<n id="4" />

<t /><p class="bodytext">The <sc>Lordsc> said,<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">&#8220;Go up and down<n id="2" /> through the streets of Jerusalem.<n id="3" />p> <p class="poetry">Look around and see for yourselves.p> <p class="poetry">Search through its public squares.p> <p class="poetry">See if any of you can find a single personp> <p class="poetry">who deals honestly and tries to be truthful.<n id="4" />p> <p class="poetry">If you can,<n id="5" /> then I will not punish this city.<n id="6" />p>

<p class="bodytext">The <sc>Lordsc> said to his people:<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">&#8220;You are standing at the crossroads. So consider your path.<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">Ask where the old, reliable paths<n id="3" /> are.p> <p class="poetry">Ask where the path is that leads to blessing<n id="4" /> and follow it.p> <p class="poetry">If you do, you will find rest for your souls.&#8221;p> <p class="poetry">But they said, &#8220;We will not follow it!&#8221;p>

So, go to the place in Shiloh where I allowed myself to be worshiped<n id="1" /> in the early days. See what I did to it<n id="2" /> because of the wicked things my people Israel did.

<p class="poetry">How long must the land be parched<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">and the grass in every field be withered?p> <p class="poetry">How long<n id="2" /> must the animals and the birds diep> <p class="poetry">because of the wickedness of the people who live in this land?<n id="3" />p> <p class="poetry">For these people boast,p> <p class="poetry">&#8220;God<n id="4" /> will not see what happens to us.&#8221;<n id="5" />p>

<p class="bodytext">Then I said, &#8220;Oh, Lord <sc>Godsc>,<n id="1" /> look!<n id="2" /> The prophets are telling them that you said,<n id="3" /> &#8216;You will not experience war or suffer famine.<n id="4" /> I will give you lasting peace and prosperity in this land.&#8217;&#8221;<n id="5" />p>

For the <sc>Lordsc> says, &#8216;I will make both you and your friends terrified of what will happen to you.<n id="1" /> You will see all of them die by the swords of their enemies.<n id="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.

<p class="poetry">But I see the prophets of Jerusalem<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">doing something just as shocking.p> <p class="poetry">They are unfaithful to mep> <p class="poetry">and continually prophesy lies.<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">So they give encouragement to people who are doing evil,p> <p class="poetry">with the result that they do not stop their evildoing.<n id="3" />p> <p class="poetry">I consider all of them as bad as the people of Sodom,p> <p class="poetry">and the citizens of Jerusalem as bad as the people of Gomorrah.<n id="4" />p>

The <sc>Lordsc> said to me, &#8220;What do you see, Jeremiah?&#8221; I answered, &#8220;I see figs. The good ones look very good. But the bad ones look very bad, so bad that they cannot be eaten.&#8221;p>

King Zedekiah of Judah will not escape from the Babylonians.<n id="1" /> He will certainly be handed over to the king of Babylon. He must answer personally to the king of Babylon and confront him face to face.<n id="2" />

Even now siege ramps have been built up around the city<n id="1" /> in order to capture it. War,<n id="2" /> starvation, and disease are sure to make the city fall into the hands of the Babylonians<n id="3" /> who are attacking it.<n id="4" /> <sc>Lordsc>,<n id="5" /> you threatened that this would happen. Now you can see that it is already taking place.<n id="6" />

&#8220;You have surely noticed what these people are saying, haven&#8217;t you? They are saying,<n id="1" /> &#8216;The <sc>Lordsc> has rejected the two families of Israel and Judah<n id="2" /> that he chose.&#8217; So they have little regard that my people will ever again be a nation.<n id="3" />

You yourself will not escape his clutches, but will certainly be captured and handed over to him. You must confront the king of Babylon face to face and answer to him personally.<n id="1" /> Then you must go to Babylon.

When King Zedekiah of Judah and all his soldiers saw them, they tried to escape. They departed from the city during the night. They took a path through the king&#8217;s garden and passed out through the gate between the two walls.<n id="1" /> Then they headed for the Jordan Valley.<n id="2" />

They said to him, &#8220;Please grant our request<n id="1" /> and pray to the <sc>Lordsc> your God for all those of us who are still left alive here.<n id="2" /> For, as you yourself can see, there are only a few of us left out of the many there were before.<n id="3" />

You must not say, &#8216;No, we will not stay. Instead we will go and live in the land of Egypt where we will not face war,<n id="1" /> or hear the enemy&#8217;s trumpet calls,<n id="2" /> or starve for lack of food.&#8217;<n id="3" />

&#8220;The <sc>Lordsc> God of Israel who rules over all<n id="1" /> says, &#8216;You have seen all the disaster I brought on Jerusalem<n id="2" /> and all the towns of Judah. Indeed, they now lie in ruins and are deserted.<n id="3" />

<t /><p class="bodytext">The <sc>Lordsc> showed me two baskets of figs sitting before his temple. This happened after King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon deported Jehoiakim&#8217;s son, King Jeconiah of Judah. He deported him and the leaders of Judah, along with the craftsmen and metal workers, and took them to Babylon.<n id="1" />