<p class="bodytext">Then the <sc>Lordsc> spoke about these people.<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">&#8220;They truly<n id="2" /> love to go astray.p> <p class="poetry">They cannot keep from running away from me.<n id="3" />p> <p class="poetry">So I am not pleased with them.p> <p class="poetry">I will now call to mind<n id="4" /> the wrongs they have done<n id="5" />p> <p class="poetry">and punish them for their sins.&#8221;p>

I did not send those prophets, though they claim to be prophesying in my name. They may be saying, &#8216;No war or famine will happen in this land.&#8217; But I, the <sc>Lordsc>, say this about<n id="1" /> them: &#8216;War and starvation will kill those prophets.&#8217;<n id="2" />

<p class="bodytext">Because of this, the <sc>Lordsc> said,<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">&#8220;You must repent of such words and thoughts!p> <p class="poetry">If you do, I will restore you to the privilege of serving me.<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">If you say what is worthwhile instead of what is worthless,p> <p class="poetry">I will again allow you to be my spokesman.<n id="3" />p> <p class="poetry">They must become as you have been.p> <p class="poetry">You must not become like them.<n id="4" />p>

<p class="bodytext">But for now I, the <sc>Lordsc>, say:<n id="1" /> &#8220;I will send many enemies who will catch these people like fishermen. After that I will send others who will hunt them out like hunters from all the mountains, all the hills, and the crevices in the rocks.<n id="2" />

&#8220;I, the <sc>Lordsc>, say:<n id="1" /> &#8216;O nation of Israel, can I not deal with you as this potter deals with the clay?<n id="2" /> In my hands, you, O nation of Israel, are just like the clay in this potter&#8217;s hand.&#8217;

<p class="poetry">So let their children die of starvation.p> <p class="poetry">Let them be cut down by the sword.<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">Let their wives lose their husbands and children.p> <p class="poetry">Let the older men die of disease<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">and the younger men die by the sword in battle.p>

So I, the <sc>Lordsc>, say:<n id="1" /> &#8220;The time will soon come that people will no longer call this place Topheth or the Hinnom Valley. But they will call this valley<n id="2" /> the Valley of Slaughter!

<p class="poetry">But the <sc>Lordsc> is with me to help me like an awe-inspiring warrior.<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">Therefore those who persecute me will fail and will not prevail over me.p> <p class="poetry">They will be thoroughly disgraced because they did not succeed.p> <p class="poetry">Their disgrace will never be forgotten.p>

<p class="poetry">So<n id="1" /> the <sc>Lordsc> has this to say about Josiah&#8217;s son, King Jehoiakim of Judah:p> <p class="poetry">People will not mourn for him, saying,p> <p class="poetry">&#8220;This makes me sad, my brother!p> <p class="poetry">This makes me sad, my sister!&#8221;p> <p class="poetry">They will not mourn for him, saying,p> <p class="poetry">&#8220;Poor, poor lord! Poor, poor majesty!&#8221;<n id="2" />p>

So the <sc>Lordsc> God of Israel has this to say about the leaders who are ruling over his people: &#8220;You have caused my people<n id="1" /> to be dispersed and driven into exile. You have not taken care of them. So I will punish you for the evil that you have done.<n id="2" /> I, the <sc>Lordsc>, affirm it!<n id="3" />

<p class="poetry">So then I, the <sc>Lordsc> who rules over all,<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">have something to say concerning the prophets of Jerusalem:<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">&#8216;I will make these prophets eat the bitter food of sufferingp> <p class="poetry">and drink the poison water of judgment.<n id="3" />p> <p class="poetry">For the prophets of Jerusalem are the reason<n id="4" />p> <p class="poetry">that ungodliness<n id="5" /> has spread throughout the land.&#8217;&#8221;p>

But just suppose you continue to say, &#8216;The message of the <sc>Lordsc> is burdensome.&#8217; Here is what the <sc>Lordsc> says will happen: &#8216;I sent word to you that you must not say, &#8220;The <sc>Lordsc>&#8217;s message is burdensome.&#8221; But you used the words &#8220;The <sc>Lordsc>&#8217;s message is burdensome&#8221; anyway.

&#8220;I, the <sc>Lord,sc> the God of Israel, say: &#8216;The exiles whom I sent away from here to the land of Babylon<n id="1" /> are like those good figs. I consider them to be good.

<p class="bodytext">&#8220;I, the <sc>Lordsc>, also solemnly assert: &#8216;King Zedekiah of Judah, his officials, and the people who remain in Jerusalem<n id="1" /> or who have gone to live in Egypt are like those bad figs. I consider them to be just like those bad figs that are so bad they cannot be eaten.<n id="2" />

The prophet Jeremiah said, &#8220;Amen! May the <sc>Lordsc> do all this! May the <sc>Lordsc> make your prophecy come true! May he bring back to this place from Babylon all the valuable articles taken from the <sc>Lordsc>&#8217;s temple and the people who were carried into exile.

<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>

<p class="bodytext">&#8220;You and your people<n id="1" /> are right in saying, &#8216;War,<n id="2" /> starvation, and disease are sure to make this city fall into the hands of the king of Babylon.&#8217;<n id="3" /> But now I, the <sc>Lordsc> God of Israel, have something further to say about this city:<n id="4" />

<p class="bodytext">&#8220;For I, the <sc>Lordsc>, say:<n id="1" /> &#8216;I will surely bring on these people all the good fortune that I am hereby promising them. I will be just as sure to do that as I have been in bringing all this great disaster on them.<n id="2" />

I will make the children who follow one another in the line of my servant David very numerous. I will also make the Levites who minister before me very numerous. I will make them all as numerous as the stars in the sky and as the sands which are on the seashore.&#8217;&#8221;<n id="1" />p>

You will die a peaceful death. They will burn incense at your burial just as they did at the burial of your ancestors, the former kings who preceded you.<n id="1" /> They will mourn for you, saying, &#8220;Poor, poor master!&#8221;<n id="2" /> Indeed, you have my own word on this.<n id="3" /> I, the <sc>Lordsc>, affirm it!&#8217;&#8221;<n id="4" />p>