&#8220;We will not listen to what you claim the <sc>Lordsc> has spoken to us!<n id="1" />

<p class="poetry">I have heard how proud the people of Moab are,p> <p class="poetry">I know how haughty they are.p> <p class="poetry">I have heard how arrogant, proud, and haughty they are,p> <p class="poetry">what a high opinion they have of themselves.<n id="1" />p>

<p class="poetry">I said,<n id="1" /> &#8220;I have heard a message from the <sc>Lordsc>.p> <p class="poetry">A messenger has been sent among the nations to say,p> <p class="poetry">&#8216;Gather your armies and march out against her!p> <p class="poetry">Prepare to do battle with her!&#8217;&#8221;<n id="2" />p>

<p class="poetry">The people of the earth will quake when they hear of their downfall.<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">Their cries of anguish will be heard all the way to the Gulf of Aqaba.<n id="2" />p>

<p class="poetry">The king of Babylon will become paralyzed with fear<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">when he hears news of their coming.<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">Anguish will grip him,p> <p class="poetry">agony like that of a woman giving birth to a baby.<n id="3" />p>

The <sc>Lordsc> says,<n id="1" /> &#8216;You must make sure to obey me. You must not bring any loads through the gates of this city on the Sabbath day. You must set the Sabbath day apart to me. You must not do any work on that day.

Say, &#8216;Listen to what the <sc>Lordsc> says, you kings of Judah and citizens of Jerusalem!<n id="1" /> The <sc>Lordsc> God of Israel who rules over all<n id="2" /> says, &#8220;I will bring a disaster on this place<n id="3" /> that will make the ears of everyone who hears about it ring!<n id="4" />

For they have not paid attention to what I said to them through my servants the prophets whom I sent to them over and over again,&#8217;<n id="1" /> says the <sc>Lordsc>.<n id="2" /> &#8216;And you exiles<n id="3" /> have not paid any attention to them either,&#8217; says the <sc>Lordsc>.<n id="4" />

All the people and their leaders had agreed to this. They had agreed to free their male and female slaves and not keep them enslaved any longer. They originally complied with the covenant and freed them.<n id="1" />

We will obey what the <sc>Lordsc> our God to whom we are sending you tells us to do. It does not matter whether we like what he tells us or not. We will obey what he tells us to do so that things will go well for us.&#8221;<n id="1" />p>

<p class="poetry">&#8220;Announce<n id="1" /> the news among the nations! Proclaim it!p> <p class="poetry">Signal for people to pay attention!<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">Declare the news! Do not hide it! Say:p> <p class="poetry">&#8216;Babylon will be captured.p> <p class="poetry">Bel<n id="3" /> will be put to shame.p> <p class="poetry">Marduk will be dismayed.p> <p class="poetry">Babylon&#8217;s idols will be put to shame.p> <p class="poetry">Her disgusting images<n id="4" /> will be dismayed.<n id="5" />p>

<p class="poetry">&#8220;A noise is heard on the hilltops.p> <p class="poetry">It is the sound of the people of Israel crying and pleading to their gods.p> <p class="poetry">Indeed they have followed sinful ways;<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">they have forgotten to be true to the <sc>Lordsc> their God.<n id="2" />p>

<t /><p class="bodytext">The <sc>Lordsc> said,<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">&#8220;Announce<n id="2" /> this in Judah and proclaim it in Jerusalem:<n id="3" />p> <p class="poetry">&#8216;Sound the trumpet<n id="4" /> throughout the land!&#8217;p> <p class="poetry">Shout out loudly,p> <p class="poetry">&#8216;Gather together! Let us flee into the fortified cities!&#8217;p>

<p class="poetry">They are saying,<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">&#8216;Announce to the surrounding nations,<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">&#8220;The enemy is coming!&#8221;<n id="3" />p> <p class="poetry">Proclaim this message<n id="4" /> to Jerusalem:p> <p class="poetry">&#8220;Those who besiege cities<n id="5" /> are coming from a distant land.p> <p class="poetry">They are ready to raise the battle cry against<n id="6" /> the towns in Judah.&#8221;&#8217;p>

<p class="bodytext">I said,<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">&#8220;Oh, the feeling in the pit of my stomach!<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">I writhe in anguish.p> <p class="poetry">Oh, the pain in my heart!<n id="3" />p> <p class="poetry">My heart pounds within me.p> <p class="poetry">I cannot keep silent.p> <p class="poetry">For I hear the sound of the trumpet;<n id="4" />p> <p class="poetry">the sound of the battle cry pierces my soul!<n id="5" />p>

<p class="poetry">As a well continually pours out fresh waterp> <p class="poetry">so it continually pours out wicked deeds.<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">Sounds of violence and destruction echo throughout it.<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">All I see are sick and wounded people.&#8217;<n id="3" />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.

But they did not listen to me or pay any attention to me. They followed the stubborn inclinations of their own wicked hearts. They acted worse and worse instead of better.<n id="1" />

<p class="bodytext">Then the <sc>Lordsc> said to me,<n id="1" /> &#8220;When you tell them all this, they will not listen to you. When you call out to them, they will not respond to you.

So tell them: &#8216;This is a nation that has not obeyed the <sc>Lordsc> their God and has not accepted correction. Faithfulness is nowhere to be found in it. These people do not even profess it anymore.<n id="1" />