<p class="poetry">&#8220;&#8216;For the <sc>Lordsc> says concerning the palace of the king of Judah,p> <p class="poetry">&#8220;This place looks like a veritable forest of Gilead to me.p> <p class="poetry">It is like the wooded heights of Lebanon in my eyes.p> <p class="poetry">But I swear that I will make it like a wildernessp> <p class="poetry">whose towns have all been deserted.<n id="1" />p>

<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>

I will give them the desire to acknowledge that I<n id="1" /> am the <sc>Lordsc>. I will be their God and they will be my people. For they will wholeheartedly<n id="2" /> return to me.&#8217;p>

<p class="poetry">Indeed, the people of Israel are my dear children.p> <p class="poetry">They are the children I take delight in.<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">For even though I must often rebuke them,p> <p class="poetry">I still remember them with fondness.p> <p class="poetry">So I am deeply moved with pity for them<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">and will surely have compassion on them.p> <p class="poetry">I, the <sc>Lordsc>, affirm it!<n id="3" />p>

&#8220;But I will make a new covenant with the whole nation of Israel<n id="1" /> after I plant them back in the land,&#8221;<n id="2" /> says the <sc>Lordsc>.<n id="3" /> &#8220;I will<n id="4" /> put my law within them<n id="5" /> and write it on their hearts and minds.<n id="6" /> I will be their God and they will be my people.<n id="7" />p>

This will happen because<n id="1" /> the people of this city have aroused my anger and my wrath since the time they built it until now.<n id="2" /> They have made me so angry that I am determined to remove<n id="3" /> it from my sight.

All the nations will hear about all the good things which I will do to them. This city will bring me fame, honor, and praise before them for the joy that I bring it. The nations will tremble in awe at all the peace and prosperity that I will provide for it.&#8217;<n id="1" />p>

<p class="lamhebrew">&#1500; (<i>Lamedi>)p> <p class="poetry">Is it nothing to you,<n id="1" /> all you who pass by on the road?<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">Look and see!p> <p class="poetry">Is there any pain like mine?p> <p class="poetry">The Lord<n id="3" /> has afflicted me,<n id="4" />p> <p class="poetry">he<n id="5" /> has inflicted it on mep> <p class="poetry">when<n id="6" /> he burned with anger.<n id="7" />p>

<p class="lamhebrew">&#1513; (<i>Sin/Shini>)p> <p class="poetry">They have heard<n id="1" /> that I groan,p> <p class="poetry">yet there is no one to comfort me.p> <p class="poetry">All my enemies have heard of my trouble;p> <p class="poetry">they are glad that you<n id="2" /> have brought it about.<n id="3" />p> <p class="poetry">Bring about<n id="4" /> the day of judgment<n id="5" /> that you promised<n id="6" />p> <p class="poetry">so that<n id="7" /> they may end up<n id="8" /> like me!p>

<p class="bodytext">So I did just as I was commanded. I carried out my belongings packed for exile during the day, and at evening I dug myself a hole through the wall with my hands. I went out in the darkness, carrying my baggage<n id="1" /> on my shoulder while they watched.p>

so that the house of Israel will no longer go astray from me, nor continue to defile themselves by all their sins. They will be my people and I will be their God,<n id="1" /> declares the sovereign <sc>Lordsc>.&#8217;&#8221;p>

&#8220;Son of man, suppose a country sins against me by being unfaithful, and I stretch out my hand against it, cut off its bread supply,<n id="1" /> cause famine to come on it, and kill both people and animals.

<p class="bodytext">&#8220;&#8216;Then I passed by you and watched you, noticing<n id="1" /> that you had reached the age for love.<n id="2" /> I spread my cloak<n id="3" /> over you and covered your nakedness. I swore a solemn oath to you and entered into a marriage covenant with you, declares the sovereign <sc>Lordsc>, and you became mine.p>

<p class="bodytext">&#8220;&#8216;Because you did not remember the days of your youth and have enraged me with all these deeds, I hereby repay you for what you have done,<n id="1" /> declares the sovereign <sc>Lordsc>. Have you not engaged in prostitution on top of all your other abominable practices?p>

Tell them, &#8216;This is what the sovereign <sc>Lordsc> says:p> <p class="poetry">&#8220;&#8216;Look, I am against<n id="1" /> you, Pharaoh king of Egypt,p> <p class="poetry">the great monster<n id="2" /> lying in the midst of its waterways,p> <p class="poetry">who has said, &#8220;My Nile is my own, I made it for myself.&#8221;<n id="3" />p>

They will not defile themselves with their idols, their detestable things, and all their rebellious deeds. I will save them from all their unfaithfulness<n id="1" /> by which they sinned. I will purify them; they will become my people and I will become their God.p>

<t /><p class="bodytext">&#8220;&#8216;But the Levitical priests, the descendants of Zadok<n id="1" /> who kept the charge of my sanctuary when the people of Israel went astray from me, will approach me to minister to me; they will stand before me to offer me the fat and the blood, declares the sovereign <sc>Lordsc>.

If you don&#8217;t inform me of the dream, there is only one thing that is going to happen to you.<n id="1" /> For you have agreed among yourselves to report to me something false and deceitful<n id="2" /> until such time as things might change. So tell me the dream, and I will have confidence<n id="3" /> that you can disclose its interpretation.&#8221;p>

<p class="poetry">O God of my fathers, I acknowledge and glorify you,p> <p class="poetry">for you have bestowed wisdom and power on me.p> <p class="poetry">Now you have enabled me to understand what I<n id="1" /> requested from you.p> <p class="poetry">For you have enabled me to understand the king&#8217;s dilemma.&#8221;<n id="2" />p>

As for me, this mystery was revealed to me not because I possess more wisdom<n id="1" /> than any other living person, but so that the king may understand<n id="2" /> the interpretation and comprehend the thoughts of your mind.<n id="3" />p>