So Johanan son of Kareah, all the army officers, and all the rest of the people did not obey the <sc>Lordsc>&#8217;s command to stay in the land.

<p class="bodytext">Then Jeremiah spoke to all the people, particularly to all the women.<n id="1" /> &#8220;Listen to what the <sc>Lordsc> has to say all you people of Judah who are in Egypt.

<p class="poetry">The nations will hear of your devastating defeat.<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">your cries of distress will echo throughout the earth.p> <p class="poetry">In the panic of their flight one soldier will trip over anotherp> <p class="poetry">and both of them will fall down defeated.&#8221;<n id="2" />p>

<p class="poetry">Indeed they will climb the slopes of Luhith,p> <p class="poetry">weeping continually as they go.<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">For on the road down to Horonaimp> <p class="poetry">they will hear the cries of distress over the destruction.<n id="2" />p>

<t /><p class="bodytext">The <sc>Lordsc> spoke<n id="1" /> about Damascus.<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">&#8220;The people of Hamath and Arpad<n id="3" /> will be dismayedp> <p class="poetry">because they have heard bad news.p> <p class="poetry">Their courage will melt away because of worry.p> <p class="poetry">Their hearts will not be able to rest.<n id="4" />p>

<p class="poetry">Do not lose your courage or become afraidp> <p class="poetry">because of the reports that are heard in the land.p> <p class="poetry">For a report will come in one year.p> <p class="poetry">Another report will follow it in the next.p> <p class="poetry">There will be violence in the landp> <p class="poetry">with ruler fighting against ruler.&#8221;p>

<p class="poetry">&#8216;We<n id="1" /> are ashamed because we have been insulted.<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">Our faces show our disgrace.<n id="3" />p> <p class="poetry">For foreigners have invadedp> <p class="poetry">the holy rooms<n id="4" /> in the <sc>Lordsc>&#8217;s temple.&#8217;p>

Jonadab son of Rechab ordered his descendants not to drink wine. His orders have been carried out.<n id="1" /> To this day his descendants have drunk no wine because they have obeyed what their ancestor commanded them. But I<n id="2" /> have spoken to you over and over again,<n id="3" /> but you have not obeyed me!

<p class="poetry">However, you must confess that you have done wrong,<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">and that you have rebelled against the <sc>Lordsc> your God.p> <p class="poetry">You must confess<n id="2" /> that you have given yourself to<n id="3" /> foreign gods under every green tree,p> <p class="poetry">and have not obeyed my commands,&#8217; says the <sc>Lordsc>.p>

<p class="poetry">Let us acknowledge<n id="1" /> our shame.p> <p class="poetry">Let us bear the disgrace that we deserve.<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">For we have sinned against the <sc>Lordsc> our God,p> <p class="poetry">both we and our ancestors.p> <p class="poetry">From earliest times to this very dayp> <p class="poetry">we have not obeyed the <sc>Lordsc> our God.&#8217;p>

<p class="poetry">In fact,<n id="1" /> I hear a cry like that of a woman in labor,p> <p class="poetry">a cry of anguish like that of a woman giving birth to her first baby.p> <p class="poetry">It is the cry of Daughter Zion<n id="2" /> gasping for breath,p> <p class="poetry">reaching out for help,<n id="3" /> saying, &#8220;I am done in!<n id="4" />p> <p class="poetry">My life is ebbing away before these murderers!&#8221;p>

<p class="poetry">The <sc>Lordsc> says,<n id="1" /> &#8220;Listen,<n id="2" /> nation of Israel!<n id="3" />p> <p class="poetry">I am about to bring a nation from far away to attack you.p> <p class="poetry">It will be a nation that was founded long agop> <p class="poetry">and has lasted for a long time.p> <p class="poetry">It will be a nation whose language you will not know.p> <p class="poetry">Its people will speak words that you will not be able to understand.p>

<p class="bodytext">I answered,<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">&#8220;Who would listenp> <p class="poetry">if I spoke to them and warned them?<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">Their ears are so closed<n id="3" />p> <p class="poetry">that they cannot hear!p> <p class="poetry">Indeed,<n id="4" /> what the <sc>Lordsc> says is offensive to them.p> <p class="poetry">They do not like it at all.<n id="5" />p>

<p class="poetry">Hear this, you peoples of the earth:<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">&#8216;Take note!<n id="2" /> I am about to bring disaster on these people.p> <p class="poetry">It will come as punishment for their scheming.<n id="3" />p> <p class="poetry">For they have paid no attention to what I have said,<n id="4" />p> <p class="poetry">and they have rejected my law.p>

&#8220;Stand in the gate of the <sc>Lordsc>&#8217;s temple and proclaim<n id="1" /> this message: &#8216;Listen, all you people of Judah who have passed through these gates to worship the <sc>Lordsc>.<n id="2" /> Hear what the <sc>Lordsc> has to say.

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" />

I also explicitly commanded them:<n id="1" /> &#8220;Obey me. If you do, I<n id="2" /> will be your God and you will be my people. Live exactly the way I tell you<n id="3" /> and things will go well with you.&#8221;

<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>

<t /><p class="bodytext">I said,<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">&#8220;I will weep and mourn<n id="2" /> for the grasslands on the mountains,<n id="3" />p> <p class="poetry">I will sing a mournful song for the pastures in the wildernessp> <p class="poetry">because they are so scorched no one travels through them.p> <p class="poetry">The sound of livestock is no longer heard there.p> <p class="poetry">Even the birds in the sky and the wild animals in the fieldsp> <p class="poetry">have fled and are gone.&#8221;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" />