So, Jeremiah,<n id="1" /> do not pray for these people. Do not cry out to me or petition me on their behalf. Do not plead with me to save them.<n id="2" /> For I will not listen to them when they call out to me for help when disaster strikes them.&#8221;<n id="3" />p>

<p class="bodytext">&#8220;I, the <sc>Lordsc>, also have something to say concerning<n id="1" /> the wicked nations who surround my land<n id="2" /> and have attacked and plundered<n id="3" /> the land that I gave to my people as a permanent possession.<n id="4" /> I say: &#8216;I will uproot the people of those nations from their lands and I will free the people of Judah who have been taken there.<n id="5" />

These wicked people refuse to obey what I have said.<n id="1" /> They follow the stubborn inclinations of their own hearts and pay allegiance<n id="2" /> to other gods by worshiping and serving them. So<n id="3" /> they will become just like these linen shorts which are good for nothing.

For,&#8217; I say,<n id="1" /> &#8216;just as shorts cling tightly to a person&#8217;s body, so I bound the whole nation of Israel and the whole nation of Judah<n id="2" /> tightly<n id="3" /> to me.&#8217; I intended for them to be my special people and to bring me fame, honor, and praise.<n id="4" /> But they would not obey me.p>

<p class="bodytext">Then the <sc>Lordsc> spoke about these people.<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">&#8220;They truly<n id="2" /> love to go astray.p> <p class="poetry">They cannot keep from running away from me.<n id="3" />p> <p class="poetry">So I am not pleased with them.p> <p class="poetry">I will now call to mind<n id="4" /> the wrongs they have done<n id="5" />p> <p class="poetry">and punish them for their sins.&#8221;p>

The people to whom they are prophesying will die through war and famine. Their bodies will be thrown out into the streets of Jerusalem<n id="1" /> and there will be no one to bury them. This will happen to the men and their wives, their sons, and their daughters.<n id="2" /> For I will pour out on them the destruction they deserve.&#8221;<n id="3" />p>

<t /><p class="poetry">&#8220;Tell these people this, Jeremiah:<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">&#8216;My eyes overflow with tearsp> <p class="poetry">day and night without ceasing.<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">For my people, my dear children,<n id="3" /> have suffered a crushing blow.p> <p class="poetry">They have suffered a serious wound.<n id="4" />p>

<p class="bodytext">&#8220;Moreover I, the <sc>Lordsc>, tell you:<n id="1" /> &#8216;Do not go into a house where they are having a funeral meal. Do not go there to mourn and express your sorrow for them. For I have stopped showing them my good favor,<n id="2" /> my love, and my compassion. I, the <sc>Lordsc>, so affirm it!<n id="3" />

<t /><p class="bodytext">&#8220;When you tell these people about all this,<n id="1" /> they will undoubtedly ask you, &#8216;Why has the <sc>Lordsc> threatened us with such great disaster? What wrong have we done? What sin have we done to offend the <sc>Lordsc> our God?&#8217;

<t /><p class="bodytext">The <sc>Lordsc> told me, &#8220;Go and stand in the People&#8217;s Gate<n id="2" /> through which the kings of Judah enter and leave the city. Then go and stand in all the other gates of the city of Jerusalem.<n id="3" />

Tell them the <sc>Lordsc> who rules over all says,<n id="1" /> &#8216;I will do just as Jeremiah has done.<n id="2" /> I will smash this nation and this city as though it were a potter&#8217;s vessel which is broken beyond repair.<n id="3" /> The dead will be buried here in Topheth until there is no more room to bury them.&#8217;<n id="4" />

If you are careful to<n id="1" /> obey these commands, then the kings who follow in David&#8217;s succession and ride in chariots or on horses will continue to come through the gates of this palace, as will their officials and their subjects.<n id="2" />

So the <sc>Lordsc> God of Israel has this to say about the leaders who are ruling over his people: &#8220;You have caused my people<n id="1" /> to be dispersed and driven into exile. You have not taken care of them. So I will punish you for the evil that you have done.<n id="2" /> I, the <sc>Lordsc>, affirm it!<n id="3" />

<p class="bodytext">The <sc>Lordsc> said to me, &#8220;Jeremiah,<n id="1" /> when one of these people, or a prophet, or a priest asks you, &#8216;What burdensome message<n id="2" /> do you have from the <sc>Lordsc>?&#8217; Tell them, &#8216;You are the burden,<n id="3" /> and I will cast you away.<n id="4" /> I, the <sc>Lordsc>, affirm it!<n id="5" />

I will give them the desire to acknowledge that I<n id="1" /> am the <sc>Lordsc>. I will be their God and they will be my people. For they will wholeheartedly<n id="2" /> return to me.&#8217;p>

<t /><p class="bodytext">In the fourth year that Jehoiakim son of Josiah was king of Judah, the <sc>Lordsc> spoke to Jeremiah<n id="1" /> concerning all the people of Judah. (That was the same as the first year that Nebuchadnezzar was king of Babylon.)<n id="2" />

How dare you claim the <sc>Lordsc>&#8217;s authority to prophesy such things! How dare you claim his authority to prophesy that this temple will become like Shiloh and that this city will become an uninhabited ruin!&#8221;<n id="1" /> Then all the people crowded around Jeremiah.p>

Then the priests and the prophets made their charges before the officials and all the people. They said,<n id="1" /> &#8220;This man should be condemned to die<n id="2" /> because he prophesied against this city. You have heard him do so<n id="3" /> with your own ears.&#8221;p>

<p class="bodytext">Then Jeremiah made his defense before all the officials and all the people.<n id="1" /> &#8220;The <sc>Lordsc> sent me to prophesy everything you have heard me say against this temple and against this city.

<p class="bodytext">Then the officials and all the people rendered their verdict to the priests and the prophets. They said,<n id="1" /> &#8220;This man should not be condemned to die.<n id="2" /> For he has spoken to us under the authority of the <sc>Lordsc> our God.&#8221;<n id="3" />