<p class="poetry">We hoped for good fortune, but nothing good has come of it.p> <p class="poetry">We hoped for a time of relief, but instead we experience terror.<n id="1" />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">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>

Then the dead bodies of these people will be left on the ground for the birds and wild animals to eat.<n id="1" /> There will not be any survivors to scare them away.

<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">The gates of the towns in southern Judah will be shut tight.<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">No one will be able to go in or out of them.<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">All Judah will be carried off into exile.p> <p class="poetry">They will be completely carried off into exile.&#8217;&#8221;<n id="3" />p>

<p class="bodytext">Yes,<n id="1" /> here is what he says:p> <p class="poetry">&#8220;You hear cries of panic and of terror;p> <p class="poetry">there is no peace in sight.<n id="2" />p>

<p class="poetry">You will stumble and fall, you proud city;p> <p class="poetry">no one will help you get up.p> <p class="poetry">I will set fire to your towns;p> <p class="poetry">it will burn up everything that surrounds you.&#8221;<n id="1" />p>

<p class="bodytext">Then I said,p> <p class="poetry">&#8220;<sc>Lordsc>,<n id="1" /> have you completely rejected the nation of Judah?p> <p class="poetry">Do you despise<n id="2" /> the city of Zion?p> <p class="poetry">Why have you struck us with such forcep> <p class="poetry">that we are beyond recovery?<n id="3" />p> <p class="poetry">We hope for peace, but nothing good has come of it.p> <p class="poetry">We hope for a time of relief from our troubles, but experience terror.<n id="4" />p>

<p class="poetry">At the sound of the approaching horsemen and archersp> <p class="poetry">the people of every town will flee.p> <p class="poetry">Some of them will hide in the thickets.p> <p class="poetry">Others will climb up among the rocks.p> <p class="poetry">All the cities will be deserted.p> <p class="poetry">No one will remain in them.p>

<p class="poetry">Tell them: &#8216;Hear this,p> <p class="poetry">you foolish people who have no understanding,p> <p class="poetry">who have eyes but do not discern,p> <p class="poetry">who have ears but do not perceive:<n id="1" />p>

<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="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>

<p class="poetry">The population of Egypt is like a vast, impenetrable forest.p> <p class="poetry">But I, the <sc>Lordsc>, affirm<n id="1" /> that the enemy will cut them down.p> <p class="poetry">For those who chop them down will be more numerous than locusts.p> <p class="poetry">They will be too numerous to count.<n id="2" />p>

<p class="poetry">I will bring terror on you from every side,&#8221;p> <p class="poetry">says the Lord <sc>Godsc> who rules over all.<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">&#8220;You will be scattered in every direction.<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">No one will gather the fugitives back together.p>

<p class="poetry">Just as ritual circumcision cuts away the foreskinp> <p class="poetry">as an external symbol of dedicated covenant commitment,p> <p class="poetry">you must genuinely dedicate yourselves to the <sc>Lordsc>p> <p class="poetry">and get rid of everything that hinders your commitment to me,<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">people of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem.p> <p class="poetry">If you do not,<n id="2" /> my anger will blaze up like a flaming fire against youp> <p class="poetry">that no one will be able to extinguish.p> <p class="poetry">That will happen because of the evil you have done.&#8221;p>

The people to whom they are prophesying will die through war and famine. Their bodies will be thrown out into the streets of Jerusalem<n id="1" /> and there will be no one to bury them. This will happen to the men and their wives, their sons, and their daughters.<n id="2" /> For I will pour out on them the destruction they deserve.&#8221;<n id="3" />p>

<p class="bodytext">Then I said,<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">&#8220;<sc>Lordsc>, you give me strength and protect me.p> <p class="poetry">You are the one I can run to for safety when I am in trouble.<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">Nations from all over the earthp> <p class="poetry">will come to you and say,p> <p class="poetry">&#8216;Our ancestors had nothing but false gods &#8211;p> <p class="poetry">worthless idols that could not help them at all.<n id="3" />p>

<p class="poetry">O royal family descended from David.<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">The <sc>Lordsc> says:p> <p class="poetry">&#8216;See to it that people each day<n id="2" /> are judged fairly.<n id="3" />p> <p class="poetry">Deliver those who have been robbed from those<n id="4" /> who oppress them.p> <p class="poetry">Otherwise, my wrath will blaze out against you.p> <p class="poetry">It will burn like a fire that cannot be put outp> <p class="poetry">because of the evil that you have done.<n id="5" />p>

<p class="poetry">So I, the <sc>Lordsc>, tell you not to be afraid,p> <p class="poetry">you descendants of Jacob, my servants.<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">Do not be terrified, people of Israel.p> <p class="poetry">For I will rescue you and your descendantsp> <p class="poetry">from a faraway land where you are captives.<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">The descendants of Jacob will return to their land and enjoy peace.p> <p class="poetry">They will be secure and no one will terrify them.<n id="3" />p>