<p class="bodytext">&#8220;Come back to me, my wayward sons,&#8221; says the <sc>Lordsc>, &#8220;for I am your true master.<n id="1" /> If you do,<n id="2" /> I will take one of you from each town and two of you from each family group, and I will bring you back to Zion.

<p class="poetry">&#8220;If you, Israel, want to come back,&#8221; says the <sc>Lord,sc>p> <p class="poetry">&#8220;if you want to come back to me<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">you must get those disgusting idols<n id="2" /> out of my sightp> <p class="poetry">and must no longer go astray.<n id="3" />p>

<p class="poetry">&#8220;When this happens,&#8221;<n id="1" /> says the <sc>Lordsc>,p> <p class="poetry">&#8220;the king and his officials will lose their courage.p> <p class="poetry">The priests will be struck with horror,p> <p class="poetry">and the prophets will be speechless in astonishment.&#8221;p>

<p class="poetry">I will surely punish them for doing such things!&#8221; says the <sc>Lordsc>.p> <p class="poetry">&#8220;I will surely bring retribution on such a nation as this!&#8221;<n id="1" />p>

<p class="poetry">I will certainly punish them for doing such things!&#8221; says the <sc>Lordsc>.p> <p class="poetry">&#8220;I will certainly bring retribution on such a nation as this!<n id="1" />p>

<p class="poetry">Their houses will be turned over to othersp> <p class="poetry">as will their fields and their wives.p> <p class="poetry">For I will unleash my power<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">against those who live in this land,&#8221;p> <p class="bodytext">says the <sc>Lordsc>.p>

Do you think this temple I have claimed as my own<n id="1" /> is to be a hideout for robbers?<n id="2" /> You had better take note!<n id="3" /> I have seen for myself what you have done! says the <sc>Lordsc>.

<p class="bodytext">The <sc>Lordsc> says, &#8220;I have rejected them because<n id="1" /> the people of Judah have done what I consider evil.<n id="2" /> They have set up their disgusting idols in the temple<n id="3" /> which I have claimed for my own<n id="4" /> and have defiled it.

<p class="poetry">I will take away their harvests,<n id="1" /> says the <sc>Lord.sc>p> <p class="poetry">There will be no grapes on their vines.p> <p class="poetry">There will be no figs on their fig trees.p> <p class="poetry">Even the leaves on their trees will wither.p> <p class="poetry">The crops that I gave them will be taken away.&#8217;&#8221;<n id="2" />p>

<p class="bodytext">The <sc>Lordsc> says,<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">&#8220;Yes indeed,<n id="2" /> I am sending an enemy against youp> <p class="poetry">that will be like poisonous snakes which cannot be charmed away.<n id="3" />p> <p class="poetry">And they will inflict fatal wounds on you.&#8221;<n id="4" />p>

<p class="poetry">I will certainly punish them for doing such things!&#8221; says the <sc>Lordsc>.p> <p class="poetry">&#8220;I will certainly bring retribution on such a nation as this!&#8221;<n id="1" />p>

<p class="poetry">Tell your daughters and neighbors, &#8216;The <sc>Lordsc> says,p> <p class="poetry">&#8220;The dead bodies of people will lie scattered everywherep> <p class="poetry">like manure scattered on a field.p> <p class="poetry">They will lie scattered on the groundp> <p class="poetry">like grain that has been cut down but has not been gathered.&#8221;&#8217;&#8221;<n id="1" />p>

And I will smash them like wine bottles against one another, children and parents alike.<n id="1" /> I will not show any pity, mercy, or compassion. Nothing will keep me from destroying them,&#8217;<n id="2" /> says the <sc>Lordsc>.&#8221;p>

<p class="poetry">I, the <sc>Lordsc>, say:<n id="1" /> &#8216;You people have deserted me!p> <p class="poetry">You keep turning your back on me.&#8217;<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">So I have unleashed my power against you<n id="3" /> and have begun to destroy you.<n id="4" />p> <p class="poetry">I have grown tired of feeling sorry for you!&#8221;<n id="5" />p>

<p class="poetry">I will make you as strong as a wall to these people,p> <p class="poetry">a fortified wall of bronze.p> <p class="poetry">They will attack you,p> <p class="poetry">but they will not be able to overcome you.p> <p class="poetry">For I will be with you to rescue you and deliver you,&#8221;<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">says the <sc>Lordsc>.p>

<p class="bodytext">Yet<n id="1" /> I, the <sc>Lordsc>, say:<n id="2" /> &#8220;A new time will certainly come.<n id="3" /> People now affirm their oaths with &#8216;I swear as surely as the <sc>Lordsc> lives who delivered the people of Israel out of Egypt.&#8217;

For I, the <sc>Lordsc>, say that<n id="1" /> I am determined not to deliver this city but to bring disaster on it.<n id="2" /> It will be handed over to the king of Babylon and he will destroy it with fire.&#8217;&#8221;<n id="3" />p>

<p class="poetry">Listen, you<n id="1" /> who sit enthroned above the valley on a rocky plateau.p> <p class="poetry">I am opposed to you,&#8217;<n id="2" /> says the <sc>Lordsc>.<n id="3" />p> <p class="poetry">&#8216;You boast, &#8220;No one can swoop down on us.p> <p class="poetry">No one can penetrate into our places of refuge.&#8221;<n id="4" />p>

But, if you do not obey these commands, I solemnly swear<n id="1" /> that this palace will become a pile of rubble. I, the <sc>Lordsc>, affirm it!&#8221;<n id="2" />p>

I will install rulers<n id="1" /> over them who will care for them. Then they will no longer need to fear or be terrified. None of them will turn up missing.<n id="2" /> I, the <sc>Lordsc>, promise it!<n id="3" />p>