<p class="poetry">The <sc>Lordsc>, who is the portion of the descendants of Jacob, is not like them.p> <p class="poetry">For he is the one who created everything,p> <p class="poetry">including the people of Israel whom he claims as his own.<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">He is known as the <sc>Lordsc> who rules over all.<n id="2" />p>

<p class="poetry">The towns of Babylonia have become heaps of ruins.p> <p class="poetry">She has become a dry and barren desert.p> <p class="poetry">No one lives in those towns any more.p> <p class="poetry">No one even passes through them.<n id="1" />p>

But suppose a nation or a kingdom will not be subject to King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon. Suppose it will not submit to the yoke of servitude to<n id="1" /> him. I, the <sc>Lordsc>, affirm that<n id="2" /> I will punish that nation. I will use the king of Babylon to punish it<n id="3" /> with war,<n id="4" /> starvation, and disease until I have destroyed it.<n id="5" />

&#8220;Go and declare in the hearing of the people of Jerusalem:<n id="1" /> &#8216;This is what the <sc>Lordsc> says: &#8220;I have fond memories of you,<n id="2" /> how devoted you were to me in your early years.<n id="3" /> I remember how you loved me like a new bride; you followed me through the wilderness, through a land that had never been planted.

<p class="poetry">They did not ask:p> <p class="poetry">&#8216;Where is the <sc>Lordsc> who delivered us out of Egypt,p> <p class="poetry">who brought us through the wilderness,p> <p class="poetry">through a land of desert sands and rift valleys,p> <p class="poetry">through a land of drought and deep darkness,<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">through a land in which no one travels,p> <p class="poetry">and where no one lives?&#8217;<n id="2" />p>

<p class="poetry">&#8220;Do so because my people have committed a double wrong:p> <p class="poetry">they have rejected me,p> <p class="poetry">the fountain of life-giving water,<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">and they have dug cisterns for themselves,p> <p class="poetry">cracked cisterns which cannot even hold water.&#8221;p>

<t /><p class="poetry">&#8220;Indeed,<n id="1" /> long ago you threw off my authorityp> <p class="poetry">and refused to be subject to me.<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">You said, &#8216;I will not serve you.&#8217;<n id="3" />p> <p class="poetry">Instead, you gave yourself to other gods on every high hillp> <p class="poetry">and under every green tree,p> <p class="poetry">like a prostitute sprawls out before her lovers.<n id="4" />p>

<t /><p class="bodytext">&#8220;Go and shout this message to my people in the countries in the north.<n id="1" /> Tell them,p> <p class="poetry">&#8216;Come back to me, wayward Israel,&#8217; says the <sc>Lordsc>.p> <p class="poetry">&#8216;I will not continue to look on you with displeasure.<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">For I am merciful,&#8217; says the <sc>Lordsc>.p> <p class="poetry">&#8216;I will not be angry with you forever.p>

<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>

In those days, your population will greatly increase<n id="1" /> in the land. At that time,&#8221; says the <sc>Lordsc>, &#8220;people will no longer talk about having the ark<n id="2" /> that contains the <sc>Lordsc>&#8217;s covenant with us.<n id="3" /> They will not call it to mind, remember it, or miss it. No, that will not be done any more!<n id="4" />

<p class="poetry">&#8220;I thought to myself,<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">&#8216;Oh what a joy it would be for me to treat you like a son!<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">What a joy it would be for me to give<n id="3" /> you a pleasant land,p> <p class="poetry">the most beautiful piece of property there is in all the world!&#8217;<n id="4" />p> <p class="poetry">I thought you would call me, &#8216;Father&#8217;<n id="5" />p> <p class="poetry">and would never cease being loyal to me.<n id="6" />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>

&#8220;So then, Jeremiah,<n id="1" /> when your people<n id="2" /> ask, &#8216;Why has the <sc>Lordsc> our God done all this to us?&#8217; tell them, &#8216;It is because you rejected me and served foreign gods in your own land. So<n id="3" /> you must serve foreigners<n id="4" /> in a land that does not belong to you.&#8217;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="bodytext">The <sc>Lordsc> said to his people:<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">&#8220;You are standing at the crossroads. So consider your path.<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">Ask where the old, reliable paths<n id="3" /> are.p> <p class="poetry">Ask where the path is that leads to blessing<n id="4" /> and follow it.p> <p class="poetry">If you do, you will find rest for your souls.&#8221;p> <p class="poetry">But they said, &#8220;We will not follow it!&#8221;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>

They have also built places of worship<n id="1" /> in a place called Topheth<n id="2" /> in the Valley of Ben Hinnom so that they can sacrifice their sons and daughters by fire. That is something I never commanded them to do! Indeed, it never even entered my mind to command such a thing!<n id="3" />

They will be spread out and exposed to the sun, the moon and the stars.<n id="1" /> These are things they<n id="2" /> adored and served, things to which they paid allegiance,<n id="3" /> from which they sought guidance, and worshiped. The bones of these people<n id="4" /> will never be regathered and reburied. They will be like manure used to fertilize the ground.<n id="5" />

<t /><p class="bodytext">The <sc>Lordsc> says,<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">&#8220;These people are like soldiers who have readied their bows.p> <p class="poetry">Their tongues are always ready to shoot out lies.<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">They have become powerful in the land,p> <p class="poetry">but they have not done so by honest means.<n id="3" />p> <p class="poetry">Indeed, they do one evil thing after another<n id="4" />p> <p class="poetry">and do not pay attention to me.<n id="5" />p>

<p class="poetry">Before this I had been like a docile lamb ready to be led to the slaughter.p> <p class="poetry">I did not know they were making plans to kill me.<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">I did not know they were saying,<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">&#8220;Let&#8217;s destroy the tree along with its fruit!<n id="3" />p> <p class="poetry">Let&#8217;s remove Jeremiah<n id="4" /> from the world of the livingp> <p class="poetry">so people will not even be reminded of him any more.&#8221;<n id="5" />p>