In this way<n id="1" /> I will pass sentence<n id="2" /> on the people of Jerusalem and Judah<n id="3" /> because of all their wickedness. For they rejected me and offered sacrifices to other gods, worshiping what they made with their own hands.&#8221;<n id="4" />p>

<p class="bodytext">&#8220;But you, Jeremiah,<n id="1" /> get yourself ready!<n id="2" /> Go and tell these people everything I instruct you to say. Do not be terrified of them, or I will give you good reason to be terrified of them.<n id="3" />

Israel was set apart to the <sc>Lordsc>; they were like the first fruits of a harvest to him.<n id="1" /> All who tried to devour them were punished; disaster came upon them,&#8221; says the <sc>Lordsc>.&#8217;&#8221;p>

<p class="poetry">You are like a wild female donkey brought up in the wilderness.p> <p class="poetry">In her lust she sniffs the wind to get the scent of a male.<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">No one can hold her back when she is in heat.p> <p class="poetry">None of the males need wear themselves out chasing after her.p> <p class="poetry">At mating time she is easy to find.<n id="2" />p>

<p class="poetry">Even your clothes are stained withp> <p class="poetry">the lifeblood of the poor who had not done anything wrong;p> <p class="poetry">you did not catch them breaking into your homes.<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">Yet, in spite of all these things you have done,<n id="2" />p>

Yet even after she had done all that, I thought that she might come back to me.<n id="1" /> But she did not. Her sister, unfaithful Judah, saw what she did.<n id="2" />

<p class="poetry">I see<n id="1" /> one destruction after another taking place,p> <p class="poetry">so that the whole land lies in ruins.p> <p class="poetry">I see our<n id="2" /> tents suddenly destroyed,p> <p class="poetry">their<n id="3" /> curtains torn down in a mere instant.<n id="4" />p>

Then you come and stand in my presence in this temple I have claimed as my own<n id="1" /> and say, &#8220;We are safe!&#8221; You think you are so safe that you go on doing all those hateful sins!<n id="2" />

<p class="bodytext">Then the <sc>Lordsc> said to me,<n id="1" /> &#8220;When you tell them all this, they will not listen to you. When you call out to them, they will not respond to you.

<p class="poetry">The snorting of the enemy&#8217;s horsesp> <p class="poetry">is already being heard in the city of Dan.p> <p class="poetry">The sound of the neighing of their stallions<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">causes the whole land to tremble with fear.p> <p class="poetry">They are coming to destroy the land and everything in it!p> <p class="poetry">They are coming to destroy<n id="2" /> the cities and everyone who lives in them!&#8221;p>

<p class="poetry"><sc>Lordsc>, you have always been fairp> <p class="poetry">whenever I have complained to you.<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">However, I would like to speak with you about the disposition of justice.<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">Why are wicked people successful?<n id="3" />p> <p class="poetry">Why do all dishonest people have such easy lives?p>

<p class="poetry">The people I call my own attack me like birds of prey or like hyenas.<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">But other birds of prey are all around them.<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">Let all the nations gather together like wild beasts.p> <p class="poetry">Let them come and destroy these people I call my own.<n id="3" />p>

<p class="poetry">They will lay it waste.p> <p class="poetry">It will lie parched<n id="1" /> and empty before me.p> <p class="poetry">The whole land will be laid waste.p> <p class="poetry">But no one living in it will pay any heed.<n id="2" />p>

For I see everything they do. Their wicked ways are not hidden from me. Their sin is not hidden away where I cannot see it.<n id="1" />

<p class="poetry">You are the one in whom Israel may find hope.<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">All who leave you will suffer shame.p> <p class="poetry">Those who turn away from you<n id="2" /> will be consigned to the nether world.<n id="3" />p> <p class="poetry">For they have rejected you, the <sc>Lordsc>, the fountain of life.<n id="4" />p>

<p class="bodytext">Then Jeremiah left Topheth where the <sc>Lordsc> had sent him to give that prophecy. He went to the <sc>Lordsc>&#8217;s temple and stood<n id="1" /> in its courtyard and called out to all the people.

<p class="poetry">For whenever I prophesy,<n id="1" /> I must cry out,<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">&#8220;Violence and destruction are coming!&#8221;<n id="3" />p> <p class="poetry">This message from the <sc>Lordsc><n id="4" /> has made mep> <p class="poetry">an object of continual insults and derision.p>

<p class="poetry">My judgment will carry off all your leaders like a storm wind!<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">Your allies will go into captivity.p> <p class="poetry">Then you will certainly<n id="2" /> be disgraced and put to shamep> <p class="poetry">because of all the wickedness you have done.p>

<t /><p class="poetry">Here is what the <sc>Lordsc> says concerning the false prophets:<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">My heart and my mind are deeply disturbed.p> <p class="poetry">I tremble all over.<n id="3" />p> <p class="poetry">I am like a drunk person,p> <p class="poetry">like a person who has had too much wine,<n id="4" />p> <p class="poetry">because of the way the <sc>Lordsc>p> <p class="poetry">and his holy word are being mistreated.<n id="5" />p>

Over and over again<n id="1" /> the <sc>Lordsc> has sent<n id="2" /> his servants the prophets to you. But you have not listened or paid attention.<n id="3" />