<p class="poetry">The <sc>Lordsc> commanded the enemy,<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">&#8220;March through the vineyards of Israel and Judah and ruin them.<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">But do not destroy them completely.p> <p class="poetry">Strip off their branchesp> <p class="poetry">for these people do not belong to the <sc>Lordsc>.<n id="3" />p>

<p class="poetry">Sing to the <sc>Lordsc>! Praise the <sc>Lordsc>!p> <p class="poetry">For he rescues the oppressed from the clutches of evildoers.<n id="1" />p>

<t /><p class="bodytext">&#8220;Indeed a time is coming,&#8221;<n id="1" /> says the <sc>Lordsc>,<n id="2" /> &#8220;when the city of Jerusalem<n id="3" /> will be rebuilt as my special city.<n id="4" /> It will be built from the Tower of Hananel westward to the Corner Gate.<n id="5" />

<p class="poetry">How long will you cry out,<n id="1" /> &#8216;Oh, sword of the <sc>Lordsc>,p> <p class="poetry">how long will it be before you stop killing?<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">Go back into your sheath!p> <p class="poetry">Stay there and rest!&#8217;<n id="3" />p>

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">Show the <sc>Lordsc> your God the respect that is due him.<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">Do it before he brings the darkness of disaster.<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">Do it before you stumble<n id="3" /> into distressp> <p class="poetry">like a traveler on the mountains at twilight.<n id="4" />p> <p class="poetry">Do it before he turns the light of deliverance you hope forp> <p class="poetry">into the darkness and gloom of exile.<n id="5" />p>

<p class="poetry">The sounds of battle<n id="1" /> will resound to the ends of the earth.p> <p class="poetry">For the <sc>Lordsc> will bring charges against the nations.<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">He will pass judgment on all humankindp> <p class="poetry">and will hand the wicked over to be killed in war.&#8217;<n id="3" />p> <p class="poetry">The <sc>Lordsc> so affirms it!<n id="4" />p>

Now he has brought it about. The <sc>Lordsc> has done just as he threatened to do. This disaster has happened because you people sinned against the <sc>Lordsc> and did not obey him.<n id="1" />

<p class="poetry">All who encountered them devoured them.p> <p class="poetry">Their enemies who did this said, &#8216;We are not liable for punishment!p> <p class="poetry">For those people have sinned against the <sc>Lordsc>, their true pasture.<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">They have sinned against the <sc>Lordsc> in whom their ancestors<n id="2" /> trusted.&#8217;<n id="3" />p>

<p class="poetry">&#8220;Take up your battle positions all around Babylon,p> <p class="poetry">all you soldiers who are armed with bows.<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">Shoot<n id="2" /> all your arrows at her! Do not hold any back!<n id="3" />p> <p class="poetry">For she has sinned against the <sc>Lordsc>.p>

<p class="poetry">Get out of Babylonia quickly, you foreign people.<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">Flee to save your lives.p> <p class="poetry">Do not let yourselves be killed because of her sins.p> <p class="poetry">For it is time for the <sc>Lordsc> to wreak his revenge.p> <p class="poetry">He will pay Babylonia<n id="2" /> back for what she has done.<n id="3" />p>

<p class="poetry">Let us acknowledge<n id="1" /> our shame.p> <p class="poetry">Let us bear the disgrace that we deserve.<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">For we have sinned against the <sc>Lordsc> our God,p> <p class="poetry">both we and our ancestors.p> <p class="poetry">From earliest times to this very dayp> <p class="poetry">we have not obeyed the <sc>Lordsc> our God.&#8217;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>

&#8220;Stand in the gate of the <sc>Lordsc>&#8217;s temple and proclaim<n id="1" /> this message: &#8216;Listen, all you people of Judah who have passed through these gates to worship the <sc>Lordsc>.<n id="2" /> Hear what the <sc>Lordsc> has to say.

<t /><p class="bodytext">The people say,<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">&#8220;Why are we just sitting here?p> <p class="poetry">Let us gather together inside the fortified cities.<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">Let us at least die there fighting,<n id="3" />p> <p class="poetry">since the <sc>Lordsc> our God has condemned us to die.p> <p class="poetry">He has condemned us to drink the poison waters of judgment<n id="4" />p> <p class="poetry">because we have sinned against him.<n id="5" />p>

<p class="poetry">A destructive army<n id="1" /> will come marchingp> <p class="poetry">over the hilltops in the desert.p> <p class="poetry">For the <sc>Lordsc> will use them as his destructive weapon<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">against<n id="3" /> everyone from one end of the land to the other.p> <p class="poetry">No one will be safe.<n id="4" />p>

<t /><p class="bodytext">&#8220;When you tell these people about all this,<n id="1" /> they will undoubtedly ask you, &#8216;Why has the <sc>Lordsc> threatened us with such great disaster? What wrong have we done? What sin have we done to offend the <sc>Lordsc> our God?&#8217;

The whole valley where dead bodies and sacrificial ashes are thrown<n id="1" /> and all the terraced fields<n id="2" /> out to the Kidron Valley<n id="3" /> on the east as far north<n id="4" /> as the Horse Gate<n id="5" /> will be included within this city that is sacred to the <sc>Lordsc>.<n id="6" /> The city will never again be torn down or destroyed.&#8221;p>

You have sacrificed to other gods! You have sinned against the <sc>Lordsc>! You have not obeyed the <sc>Lordsc>! You have not followed his laws, his statutes, and his decrees! That is why this disaster that is evident to this day has happened to you.&#8221;<n id="1" />p>