But when King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon invaded the land we said, ‘Let’s get up and go to Jerusalem ¹  to get away from the Babylonian ²  and Aramean armies.’ That is why we are staying here in Jerusalem.”

The Lord God of Israel who rules over all ¹  told him, “Go and speak to the people of Judah and the citizens of Jerusalem. Tell them, ²  ‘I, the Lord, say: ³  “You must learn a lesson from this ⁴  about obeying what I say! ⁵ 

I will punish him and his descendants and the officials who serve him for the wicked things they have done. ¹  I will bring on them, the citizens of Jerusalem, ²  and the people of Judah all the disaster that I threatened to do to them. I will punish them because I threatened them but they still paid no heed.”’” ³ 

The Lord spoke to Jeremiah ¹  after Nebuzaradan the captain of the royal guard had set him free at Ramah. ²  He had taken him there in chains ³  along with all the people from Jerusalem ⁴  and Judah who were being carried off to exile to Babylon.

“The Lord God of Israel who rules over all ¹  says, ‘You have seen all the disaster I brought on Jerusalem ²  and all the towns of Judah. Indeed, they now lie in ruins and are deserted. ³ 

Have you forgotten all the wicked things that have been done in the towns of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem by your ancestors, by the kings of Judah and their ¹  wives, by you and your wives?

“The Lord did indeed remember and call to mind what you did! He remembered the sacrifices you and your ancestors, your kings, your leaders, and all the rest of the people of the land offered to other gods ¹  in the towns of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem. ² 

King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon came against Jerusalem with his whole army and set up camp outside it. ¹  They built siege ramps all around it. He arrived on the tenth day of the tenth month in the ninth year that Zedekiah ruled over Judah. ² 

So I, the Lord, the God who rules over all, the God of Israel, say: ¹  “I will soon bring on Judah and all the citizens of Jerusalem all the disaster that I threatened to bring on them. I will do this because I spoke to them but they did not listen. I called out to them but they did not answer.”’”

For ¹  the Lord God of Israel who rules over all ²  says, ‘If you go to Egypt, I will pour out my wrath on you just as I poured out my anger and wrath on the citizens of Jerusalem. ³  You will become an object of horror and ridicule, an example of those who have been cursed and that people use in pronouncing a curse. ⁴  You will never see this place again.’ ⁵ 

Instead we will do everything we vowed we would do. ¹  We will sacrifice and pour out drink offerings to the goddess called the Queen of Heaven ²  just as we and our ancestors, our kings, and our leaders previously did in the towns of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem. For then we had plenty of food, were well-off, and had no troubles. ³