Judgment to Continue

¹ Then the LORD said to me: “Even if Moses and Samuel should stand before Me, My heart would not go out to this people. Send them from My presence, and let them go! ² If they ask you, ‘Where shall we go?’ you are to tell them that this is what the LORD says:

‘Those destined for death, to death;

those destined for the sword, to the sword;

those destined for famine, to famine;

and those destined for captivity, to captivity.’

³ I will appoint over them four kinds of destroyers, declares the LORD: the sword to kill, the dogs to drag away, and the birds of the air and beasts of the earth to devour and destroy. ⁴ I will make them a horror to all the kingdoms of the earth because of what Manasseh son of Hezekiah king of Judah did in Jerusalem.

⁵ Who will have pity on you, O Jerusalem?

Who will mourn for you?

Who will turn aside

to ask about your welfare?

⁶ You have forsaken Me, declares the LORD.

You have turned your back.

So I will stretch out My hand against you

and I will destroy you;

I am weary of showing compassion.

⁷ I will scatter them^* with a winnowing fork

at the gates of the land.

I will bereave and destroy My people

who have not turned from their ways.

⁸ I will make their widows more numerous

than the sand of the sea.

I will bring a destroyer at noon

against the mothers of young men.

I will suddenly bring upon them

anguish^* and dismay.

⁹ The mother of seven will grow faint;

she will breathe^* her last breath.

Her sun will set^* while it is still day;

she will be disgraced and humiliated.

And the rest I will put to the sword

in the presence of their enemies,”

declares the LORD.

Jeremiah’s Woe

¹⁰ Woe to me, my mother,

that you have borne me,

a man of strife and conflict

in all the land.

I have neither lent nor borrowed,

yet everyone curses me.

¹¹ The LORD said:

“Surely I will deliver you for a good purpose;

surely I will intercede^* with your enemy

in your time of trouble,

in your time of distress.

¹² Can anyone smash iron —

iron from the north — or bronze?

¹³ Your wealth and your treasures

I will give up as plunder,

without charge for all your sins

within all your borders.

¹⁴ Then I will enslave you to your enemies

in a land you do not know,

for My anger will kindle a fire

that will burn against you.”

¹⁵ You understand, O LORD;

remember me and attend to me.

Avenge me against my persecutors.

In Your patience^*, do not take me away.

Know that I endure^* reproach for Your honor.

¹⁶ Your words were found, and I ate them.

Your words became my joy

and my heart’s delight.

For I bear Your name,

O LORD God of Hosts.

¹⁷ I never sat with the band of revelers,^*

nor did I celebrate with them.

Because Your hand was on me, I sat alone,

for You have filled me with indignation.^*

¹⁸ Why is my pain unending,

and my wound incurable,

refusing to be healed?

You have indeed become like a mirage to me—

water that is not there.

The LORD’s Promise

¹⁹ Therefore this is what the LORD says:

“If you return, I will restore you;

you will stand in My presence.

And if you speak words that are noble^* instead of worthless,

you will be My spokesman.

It is they who must turn to you,

but you must not turn to them.

²⁰ Then I will make you a wall to this people,

a fortified wall of bronze;

they will fight against you

but will not overcome you,

for I am with you to save and deliver you,

declares the LORD.

²¹ I will deliver you from the hand of the wicked

and redeem you from the grasp of the ruthless.”