&#8220;The <sc>Lordsc> God of Israel who rules over all<n id="1" /> says, &#8216;You have seen all the disaster I brought on Jerusalem<n id="2" /> and all the towns of Judah. Indeed, they now lie in ruins and are deserted.<n id="3" />

Are you looking for great things for yourself? Do not look for such things. For I, the <sc>Lordsc>, affirm<n id="1" /> that I am about to bring disaster on all humanity.<n id="2" /> But I will allow you to escape with your life<n id="3" /> wherever you go.&#8221;&#8217;&#8221;p>

<p class="poetry">For the time has comep> <p class="poetry">to destroy all the Philistines.p> <p class="poetry">The time has come to destroy all the helpp> <p class="poetry">that remains for Tyre<n id="1" /> and Sidon.<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">For I, the <sc>Lordsc>, will<n id="3" /> destroy the Philistines,p> <p class="poetry">that remnant that came from the island of Crete.<n id="4" />p>

<p class="poetry">&#8220;Call for archers<n id="1" /> to come against Babylon!p> <p class="poetry">Summon against her all who draw the bow!p> <p class="poetry">Set up camp all around the city!p> <p class="poetry">Do not allow anyone to escape!p> <p class="poetry">Pay her back for what she has done.p> <p class="poetry">Do to her what she has done to others.p> <p class="poetry">For she has proudly defied me,<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">the Holy One of Israel.<n id="3" />p>

Jeremiah recorded<n id="1" /> on one scroll all the judgments<n id="2" /> that would come upon Babylon &#8211; all these prophecies<n id="3" /> written about Babylon.

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>

<p class="poetry">All of this is because<n id="1" /> the <sc>Lordsc> who rules over all<n id="2" /> has said:p> <p class="poetry">&#8216;Cut down the trees around Jerusalemp> <p class="poetry">and build up a siege ramp against its walls.<n id="3" />p> <p class="poetry">This is the city which is to be punished.<n id="4" />p> <p class="poetry">Nothing but oppression happens in it.<n id="5" />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"><v id="(9:1)" /> I wish I had a lodging place in the desertp> <p class="poetry">where I could spend some time like a weary traveler.<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">Then I would desert my peoplep> <p class="poetry">and walk away from themp> <p class="poetry">because they are all unfaithful to God,p> <p class="poetry">a congregation<n id="2" /> of people that has been disloyal to him.<n id="3" />p>

<p class="poetry">Hammered-out silver is brought from Tarshish<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">and gold is brought from Uphaz<n id="2" /> to cover those idols.<n id="3" />p> <p class="poetry">They are the handiwork of carpenters and goldsmiths.<n id="4" />p> <p class="poetry">They are clothed in blue and purple clothes.<n id="5" />p> <p class="poetry">They are all made by skillful workers.<n id="6" />p>

<p class="poetry">The <sc>Lordsc>, who is the inheritance<n id="1" /> of Jacob&#8217;s descendants,<n id="2" /> is not like them.p> <p class="poetry">He is the one who created everything.p> <p class="poetry">And the people of Israel are those he claims as his own.<n id="3" />p> <p class="poetry">He is known as the <sc>Lordsc> who rules over all.&#8221;<n id="4" />p>

<p class="poetry">But our tents have been destroyed.p> <p class="poetry">The ropes that held them in place have been ripped apart.<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">Our children are gone and are not coming back.<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">There is no survivor to put our tents back up,p> <p class="poetry">no one left to hang their tent curtains in place.p>