<p class="poetry">So my heart moans for Moabp> <p class="poetry">like a flute playing a funeral song.p> <p class="poetry">Yes, like a flute playing a funeral song,p> <p class="poetry">my heart moans for the people of Kir Heres.p> <p class="poetry">For the wealth they have gained will perish.p>

<p class="poetry">The <sc>Lordsc> says,<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">&#8220;Attack<n id="2" /> the land of Merathaimp> <p class="poetry">and the people who live in Pekod!<n id="3" />p> <p class="poetry">Pursue, kill, and completely destroy them!<n id="4" />p> <p class="poetry">Do just as I have commanded you!<n id="5" />p>

<p class="poetry">When his voice thunders, the waters in the heavens roar.p> <p class="poetry">He makes the clouds rise from the far-off horizons.p> <p class="poetry">He makes the lightning flash out in the midst of the rain.p> <p class="poetry">He unleashes the wind from the places where he stores it.p>

<p class="poetry">&#8220;But I will repay Babylonp> <p class="poetry">and all who live in Babyloniap> <p class="poetry">for all the wicked things they did in Zionp> <p class="poetry">right before the eyes of you Judeans,&#8221;<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">says the <sc>Lordsc>.<n id="2" />p>

<p class="poetry">&#8220;Do so because my people have committed a double wrong:p> <p class="poetry">they have rejected me,p> <p class="poetry">the fountain of life-giving water,<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">and they have dug cisterns for themselves,p> <p class="poetry">cracked cisterns which cannot even hold water.&#8221;p>

<p class="bodytext">When Josiah was king of Judah, the <sc>Lordsc> said to me, &#8220;Jeremiah, you have no doubt seen what wayward Israel has done.<n id="1" /> You have seen how she went up to every high hill and under every green tree to give herself like a prostitute to other gods.<n id="2" />

In those days, your population will greatly increase<n id="1" /> in the land. At that time,&#8221; says the <sc>Lordsc>, &#8220;people will no longer talk about having the ark<n id="2" /> that contains the <sc>Lordsc>&#8217;s covenant with us.<n id="3" /> They will not call it to mind, remember it, or miss it. No, that will not be done any more!<n id="4" />

<p class="poetry">And you, Zion, city doomed to destruction,<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">you accomplish nothing<n id="2" /> by wearing a beautiful dress,<n id="3" />p> <p class="poetry">decking yourself out in jewels of gold,p> <p class="poetry">and putting on eye shadow!<n id="4" />p> <p class="poetry">You are making yourself beautiful for nothing.p> <p class="poetry">Your lovers spurn you.p> <p class="poetry">They want to kill you.<n id="5" />p>

<t /><p class="bodytext">The <sc>Lordsc> said,<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">&#8220;Go up and down<n id="2" /> through the streets of Jerusalem.<n id="3" />p> <p class="poetry">Look around and see for yourselves.p> <p class="poetry">Search through its public squares.p> <p class="poetry">See if any of you can find a single personp> <p class="poetry">who deals honestly and tries to be truthful.<n id="4" />p> <p class="poetry">If you can,<n id="5" /> then I will not punish this city.<n id="6" />p>

&#8220;So then, Jeremiah,<n id="1" /> when your people<n id="2" /> ask, &#8216;Why has the <sc>Lordsc> our God done all this to us?&#8217; tell them, &#8216;It is because you rejected me and served foreign gods in your own land. So<n id="3" /> you must serve foreigners<n id="4" /> in a land that does not belong to you.&#8217;p>

<p class="poetry">Are they ashamed because they have done such shameful things?p> <p class="poetry">No, they are not at all ashamed.p> <p class="poetry">They do not even know how to blush!p> <p class="poetry">So they will die, just like others have died.<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">They will be brought to ruin when I punish them,&#8221;p> <p class="bodytext">says the <sc>Lordsc>.p>

So, go to the place in Shiloh where I allowed myself to be worshiped<n id="1" /> in the early days. See what I did to it<n id="2" /> because of the wicked things my people Israel did.

You also have done all these things, says the <sc>Lordsc>, and I have spoken to you over and over again.<n id="1" /> But you have not listened! You have refused to respond when I called you to repent!<n id="2" />

Children are gathering firewood, fathers are building fires with it, and women are mixing dough to bake cakes to offer to the goddess they call the Queen of Heaven.<n id="1" /> They are also pouring out drink offerings to other gods. They seem to do all this just<n id="2" /> to trouble me.

<p class="poetry">I have listened to them very carefully,<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">but they do not speak honestly.p> <p class="poetry">None of them regrets the evil he has done.p> <p class="poetry">None of them says, &#8220;I have done wrong!&#8221;<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">All of them persist in their own wayward course<n id="3" />p> <p class="poetry">like a horse charging recklessly into battle.p>

<n id="1" /><p class="poetry">So I will give their wives to other menp> <p class="poetry">and their fields to new owners.p> <p class="poetry">For from the least important to the most important of them,p> <p class="poetry">all of them are greedy for dishonest gain.p> <p class="poetry">Prophets and priests alike,p> <p class="poetry">all practice deceit.p>

<p class="poetry">Are they ashamed because they have done such disgusting things?p> <p class="poetry">No, they are not at all ashamed!p> <p class="poetry">They do not even know how to blush!p> <p class="poetry">So they will die just like others have died.<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">They will be brought to ruin when I punish them,p> <p class="poetry">says the <sc>Lordsc>.p>

<p class="poetry">If people want to boast, they should boast about this:p> <p class="poetry">They should boast that they understand and know me.p> <p class="poetry">They should boast that they know and understandp> <p class="poetry">that I, the <sc>Lordsc>, act out of faithfulness, fairness, and justice in the earthp> <p class="poetry">and that I desire people to do these things,&#8221;<n id="1" />p> <p class="bodytext">says the <sc>Lordsc>.p>

Those are the terms that I charged your ancestors<n id="1" /> to keep<n id="2" /> when I brought them out of Egypt, that place which was like an iron-smelting furnace.<n id="3" /> I said at that time,<n id="4" /> &#8220;Obey me and carry out the terms of the agreement<n id="5" /> exactly as I commanded you. If you do,<n id="6" /> you will be my people and I will be your God.<n id="7" />

<p class="bodytext">The <sc>Lordsc> said to me, &#8220;Announce all the following words in the towns of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem: &#8216;Listen to the terms of my covenant with you<n id="1" /> and carry them out!