<p class="poetry">Why do you constantly go aboutp> <p class="poetry">changing your political allegiances?<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">You will get no help from Egyptp> <p class="poetry">just as you got no help from Assyria.<n id="2" />p>

Because she took her prostitution so lightly, she defiled the land<n id="1" /> through her adulterous worship of gods made of wood and stone.<n id="2" />

<p class="poetry">They will surround Jerusalem<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">like men guarding a field<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">because they have rebelled against me,&#8221;p> <p class="poetry">says the <sc>Lordsc>.p>

<p class="poetry">&#8220;I looked at the land and saw<n id="1" /> that it was an empty wasteland.<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">I looked up at the sky, and its light had vanished.p>

<p class="poetry">Kings will come against it with their armies.<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">They will encamp in siege all around it.<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">Each of them will devastate the portion assigned to him.<n id="3" />p>

<p class="poetry">They offer only superficial helpp> <p class="poetry">for the harm my people have suffered.<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">They say, &#8216;Everything will be all right!&#8217;p> <p class="poetry">But everything is not all right!<n id="2" />p>

<p class="poetry">The people cry out,<n id="1" /> &#8220;We have heard reports about them!p> <p class="poetry">We have become helpless with fear!<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">Anguish grips us,p> <p class="poetry">agony like that of a woman giving birth to a baby!p>

If you stop doing these things,<n id="1" /> I will allow you to continue to live in this land<n id="2" /> which I gave to your ancestors as a lasting possession.<n id="3" />p>

<p class="poetry">They offer only superficial helpp> <p class="poetry">for the hurt my dear people<n id="1" /> have suffered.<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">They say, &#8220;Everything will be all right!&#8221;p> <p class="poetry">But everything is not all right!<n id="3" />p>

<p class="poetry">They do one act of violence after another,p> <p class="poetry">and one deceitful thing after another.<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">They refuse to pay attention to me,&#8221;<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">says the <sc>Lordsc>.p>

<t /><p class="bodytext">You people of Israel,<n id="1" /> listen to what the <sc>Lordsc> has to say to you.p>

<p class="poetry"><sc>Lordsc>, we know that people do not control their own destiny.<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">It is not in their power to determine what will happen to them.<n id="2" />p>

&#8220;Hear<n id="1" /> the terms of the covenant<n id="2" /> I made with Israel<n id="3" /> and pass them on<n id="4" /> to the people of Judah and the citizens of Jerusalem.<n id="5" />

But after I have uprooted the people of those nations, I will relent<n id="1" /> and have pity on them. I will restore the people of each of those nations to their own lands<n id="2" /> and to their own country.

But I will completely uproot and destroy any of those nations that will not pay heed,&#8217;&#8221;<n id="1" /> says the <sc>Lordsc>.p>

<p class="bodytext">The <sc>Lordsc> continued,<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">&#8220;In every town in the land I will purge themp> <p class="poetry">like straw blown away by the wind.<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">I will destroy my people.p> <p class="poetry">I will kill off their children.p> <p class="poetry">I will do so because they did not change their behavior.<n id="3" />p>

I, the <sc>Lordsc>, say:<n id="1" /> &#8216;That is how I will deal with this city and its citizens. I will make it like Topheth.

Then<n id="1" /> I, the <sc>Lordsc>, promise that<n id="2" /> I will hand over King Zedekiah of Judah, his officials, and any of the people who survive the war, starvation, and disease. I will hand them over to King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon and to their enemies who want to kill them. He will slaughter them with the sword. He will not show them any mercy, compassion, or pity.&#8217;p>

<p class="bodytext">The <sc>Lordsc> told me,<n id="1" /> &#8220;Go down<n id="2" /> to the palace of the king of Judah. Give him a message from me there.<n id="3" />

The answer will come back, &#8220;It is because they broke their covenant with the <sc>Lordsc> their God and worshiped and served other gods.&#8221;p>