<p class="poetry">The sounds of battle<n id="1" /> will resound to the ends of the earth.p> <p class="poetry">For the <sc>Lordsc> will bring charges against the nations.<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">He will pass judgment on all humankindp> <p class="poetry">and will hand the wicked over to be killed in war.&#8217;<n id="3" />p> <p class="poetry">The <sc>Lordsc> so affirms it!<n id="4" />p>

For he has even sent a message to us here in Babylon. He wrote and told us,<n id="1" /> &#8220;You will be there a long time. Build houses and settle down. Plant gardens and eat what they produce.&#8221;&#8217;&#8221;<n id="2" />p>

<p class="poetry">When the time for them to be rescued comes,&#8221;<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">says the <sc>Lordsc> who rules over all,<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">&#8220;I will rescue you from foreign subjugation.<n id="3" />p> <p class="poetry">I will deliver you from captivity.<n id="4" />p> <p class="poetry">Foreigners will then no longer subjugate them.p>

<p class="poetry">Yes,<n id="1" /> I will restore you to health.p> <p class="poetry">I will heal your wounds.p> <p class="poetry">I, the <sc>Lordsc>, affirm it!<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">For you have been called an outcast,p> <p class="poetry">Zion, whom no one cares for.&#8221;p>

<p class="poetry">At that time I will be the God of all the clans of Israel<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">and they will be my people.p> <p class="poetry">I, the <sc>Lordsc>, affirm it!&#8221;<n id="2" />p>

<t /><p class="bodytext">In the tenth year that Zedekiah was ruling over Judah the <sc>Lordsc> spoke to Jeremiah.<n id="1" /> That was the same as the eighteenth year of Nebuchadnezzar.p>

You and your people<n id="1" /> are saying that this land will become desolate, uninhabited by either people or animals. You are saying that it will be handed over to the Babylonians.<n id="2" /> But fields<n id="3" /> will again be bought in this land.<n id="4" />

Neither he nor the officials who served him nor the people of Judah paid any attention to what the <sc>Lordsc> said through the prophet Jeremiah.<n id="1" />p>

But I will rescue you when it happens.<n id="1" /> I, the <sc>Lordsc>, affirm it!<n id="2" /> You will not be handed over to those whom you fear.<n id="3" />

But as soon as they were inside the city, Ishmael son of Nethaniah and the men who were with him slaughtered them and threw their bodies<n id="1" /> in a cistern.

<p class="poetry">Her towns<n id="1" /> will be captured.p> <p class="poetry">Her fortresses will be taken.p> <p class="poetry">At that time the soldiers of Moab will be frightenedp> <p class="poetry">like a woman in labor.<n id="2" />p>

<p class="poetry">Look! Like an eagle with outspread wings,p> <p class="poetry">a nation will soar up and swoop down on Bozrah.p> <p class="poetry">At that time the soldiers of Edom will be as fearfulp> <p class="poetry">as a woman in labor.&#8221;<n id="1" />p>

<p class="poetry">For her young men will fall in her city squares.p> <p class="poetry">All her soldiers will be destroyed at that time,&#8221;p> <p class="poetry">says the <sc>Lordsc> who rules over all.<n id="1" />p>

<p class="poetry">I have opened up the place where my weapons are stored.<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">I have brought out the weapons for carrying out my wrath.<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">For I, the Lord <sc>Godsc> who rules over all,<n id="3" />p> <p class="poetry">have work to carry out in the land of Babylonia.<n id="4" />p>

<p class="poetry">The <sc>Lordsc>, who is the portion of the descendants of Jacob, is not like them.p> <p class="poetry">For he is the one who created everything,p> <p class="poetry">including the people of Israel whom he claims as his own.<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">He is known as the <sc>Lordsc> who rules over all.<n id="2" />p>

<p class="lamhebrew">&#1490; (<i>Gimeli>)p> <p class="poetry">Judah<n id="1" /> has departed into exilep> <p class="poetry">under<n id="2" /> affliction and harsh oppression.<n id="3" />p> <p class="poetry">She<n id="4" /> lives among the nations;p> <p class="poetry">she has found no resting place.p> <p class="poetry">All who pursued her overtook herp> <p class="poetry">in<n id="5" /> narrow straits.<n id="6" />p>

<p class="lamhebrew">&#1491; (<i>Daleti>)p> <p class="poetry">The roads to Zion<n id="1" /> mourn<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">because no one<n id="3" /> travels to the festivals.<n id="4" />p> <p class="poetry">All her city gates<n id="5" /> are deserted;<n id="6" />p> <p class="poetry">her priests groan.<n id="7" />p> <p class="poetry">Her virgins grieve;<n id="8" />p> <p class="poetry">she is in bitter anguish!<n id="9" />p>

<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">&#1510; (<i>Tsadei>)p> <p class="poetry">The <sc>Lordsc> is right to judge me!<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">Yes, I rebelled against his commands.<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">Please listen, all you nations,<n id="3" />p> <p class="poetry">and look at my suffering!p> <p class="poetry">My young women and menp> <p class="poetry">have gone into exile.p>

In the middle<n id="1" /> of the living beings was something like<n id="2" /> burning coals of fire<n id="3" /> or like torches. It moved back and forth among the living beings. It was bright, and lightning was flashing out of the fire.