Your ancestors, ¹  however, did not listen to me or pay any attention to me. They stubbornly refused ²  to pay attention or to respond to any discipline.’

So I, Jeremiah, tell you, ¹  “Each of you people should say to his friend or his relative, ‘How did the Lord answer? Or what did the Lord say?’ ² 

And there are times when I promise to build up and establish ¹  a nation or kingdom.

We have not built any houses to live in. We do not own any vineyards, fields, or crops.

Then Jeremiah asked King Zedekiah, “What crime have I committed against you, or the officials who serve you, or the people of Judah? What have I done to make you people throw me into prison? ¹ 

Rich and poor alike will die in this land. They will not be buried or mourned. People will not cut their bodies or shave off their hair to show their grief for them. ¹ 

There are times, Jeremiah, ¹  when I threaten to uproot, tear down, and destroy a nation or kingdom. ² 

You must not say, ‘No, we will not stay. Instead we will go and live in the land of Egypt where we will not face war, ¹  or hear the enemy’s trumpet calls, ²  or starve for lack of food.’ ³ 

All the people who are determined to go and settle in Egypt will die from war, starvation, or disease. No one will survive or escape the disaster I will bring on them.’

“The Lord says, ‘Those who stay in this city will die in battle or of starvation or disease. ¹  Those who leave the city and surrender to the Babylonians ²  will live. They will escape with their lives.’” ³ 

Those who stay in this city will die in battle or of starvation or disease. Those who leave the city and surrender to the Babylonians who are besieging it will live. They will escape with their lives. ¹ 

The Lord said to me, “Jeremiah, ¹  when one of these people, or a prophet, or a priest asks you, ‘What burdensome message ²  do you have from the Lord?’ Tell them, ‘You are the burden, ³  and I will cast you away. ⁴  I, the Lord, affirm it! ⁵ 

I will punish any prophet, priest, or other person who says “The Lord’s message is burdensome.” ¹  I will punish both that person and his whole family.’” ² 

There is no reason why you and your people should die in war ¹  or from starvation or disease! ²  That’s what the Lord says will happen to any nation ³  that will not be subject to the king of Babylon.

So ¹  take warning, Jerusalem, or I will abandon you in disgust ²  and make you desolate, a place where no one can live.”

Each of you should merely ask the prophet, ‘What answer did the Lord give you? Or what did the Lord say?’ ¹ 

Where now are the prophets who prophesied to you that ¹  the king of Babylon would not attack you or this land?

So do not listen to your prophets or to those who claim to predict the future by divination, ¹  by dreams, by consulting the dead, ²  or by practicing magic. They keep telling you, ‘You do not need to be ³  subject to the king of Babylon.’

Correct us, Lord, but only in due measure. ¹  Do not punish us in anger or you will reduce us to nothing. ² 

The Lord answered, “This has happened because these people have rejected my laws which I gave them. They have not obeyed me or followed those laws. ¹