He followed in the footsteps of the kings of Israel, just as Ahab&#8217;s dynasty had done, for he married Ahab&#8217;s daughter.<n id="1" /> He did evil in the sight of<n id="2" /> the <sc>Lordsc>.

In Judah God moved the people to unite and carry out the edict the king and the officers had issued at the <sc>Lordsc>&#8217;s command.<n id="1" />

Indeed, they have taken some of their daughters as wives for themselves and for their sons, so that the holy race<n id="1" /> has become intermingled with the local residents. Worse still, the leaders and the officials have been at the forefront of all of this!&#8221;p>

<p class="poetry">I cannot eat, I weep day and night;<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">all day long they say to me,<n id="2" /> &#8220;Where is your God?&#8221;p>

<p class="poetry">There will be a highway leading out of Assyriap> <p class="poetry">for the remnant of his people,<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">just as there was for Israel,p> <p class="poetry">when<n id="2" /> they went up from the land of Egypt.p>

<n id="1" /><p class="poetry">The <sc>Lordsc> who commands armies makes this solemn vow:p> <p class="poetry">&#8220;Be sure of this:p> <p class="poetry">Just as I have intended, so it will be;p> <p class="poetry">just as I have planned, it will happen.p>

<p class="poetry">Look, all of you who start a firep> <p class="poetry">and who equip yourselves with<n id="1" /> flaming arrows,<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">walk<n id="3" /> in the light<n id="4" /> of the fire you startedp> <p class="poetry">and among the flaming arrows you ignited!<n id="5" />p> <p class="poetry">This is what you will receive from me:<n id="6" />p> <p class="poetry">you will lie down in a place of pain.<n id="7" />p>

<p class="poetry">Go west<n id="1" /> across the sea to the coasts of Cyprus<n id="2" /> and see.p> <p class="poetry">Send someone east to Kedar<n id="3" /> and have them look carefully.p> <p class="poetry">See if such a thing as this has ever happened:p>

<p class="poetry">The <sc>Lordsc> is like a lion who has left his lair.<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">So their lands will certainly<n id="2" /> be laid wastep> <p class="poetry">by the warfare of the oppressive nation<n id="3" />p> <p class="poetry">and by the fierce anger of the <sc>Lordsc>.&#8221;p>

<p class="bodytext">However, Ahikam son of Shaphan<n id="1" /> used his influence to keep Jeremiah from being handed over and executed by the people.<n id="2" />p>

<p class="bodytext">What follows is a record of what happened to Jerusalem and Judah because of the <sc>Lordsc>&#8217;s anger when he drove them out of his sight.<n id="1" /> Zedekiah rebelled against the king of Babylon.

<p class="lamhebrew">&#1495; (<i>Kheti>)p> <p class="poetry">Jerusalem committed terrible sin;<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">therefore she became an object of scorn.<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">All who admired<n id="3" /> her have despised her<n id="4" />p> <p class="poetry">because they have seen her nakedness.<n id="5" />p> <p class="poetry">She groans aloud<n id="6" />p> <p class="poetry">and turns away in shame.<n id="7" />p>

<t /><p class="lamhebrew">&#1508; (<i>Pei>)p> <p class="poetry">Zion spread out her hands,p> <p class="poetry">but there is no one to comfort her.p> <p class="poetry">The <sc>Lordsc> has issued a decree against Jacob;p> <p class="poetry">his neighbors<n id="1" /> have become his enemies.p> <p class="poetry">Jerusalem has becomep> <p class="poetry">like filthy garbage<n id="2" /> in their midst.<n id="3" />p>

<p class="poetry">Consider Assyria,<n id="1" /> a cedar in Lebanon,<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">with beautiful branches, like a forest giving shade,p> <p class="poetry">and extremely tall;p> <p class="poetry">its top reached into the clouds.p>

This is what the sovereign <sc>Lordsc> says: The enemy has spoken against you, saying &#8220;Aha!&#8221; and, &#8220;The ancient heights<n id="1" /> have become our property!&#8221;&#8217;

&#8220;Son of man, when the house of Israel was living on their own land, they defiled it by their behavior<n id="1" /> and their deeds. In my sight their behavior was like the uncleanness of a woman having her monthly period.

They will say, &#8220;This desolate land has become like the garden of Eden; the ruined, desolate, and destroyed cities are now fortified and inhabited.&#8221;

<t /><p class="bodytext">The hand<n id="1" /> of the <sc>Lordsc> was on me, and he brought me out by the Spirit of the <sc>Lordsc> and placed<n id="2" /> me in the midst of the valley, and it was full of bones.

<p class="poetry">Like fire they devour everything in their path;<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">a flame blazes behind them.p> <p class="poetry">The land looks like the Garden of Eden<n id="2" /> before them,p> <p class="poetry">but behind them there is only a desolate wilderness &#8211;p> <p class="poetry">for nothing escapes them!<n id="3" />p>

So Jonah went immediately to Nineveh, as the <sc>Lordsc> had said. (Now Nineveh was an enormous city<n id="1" /> &#8211; it required three days to walk through it!)<n id="2" />