Judgement Will Continue
1 Then the Lord said to me, “Though Moses and Samuel stood before me, yet my mind would not turn toward this people. Cast them out of my sight and let them go out! 2 It will happen, when they ask you, ‘Where shall we go out?’ then you shall tell them that this is what the Lord says:
‘Those who are destined for death, to death;
those who are destined for the sword, to the sword;
those who are destined for famine, to famine;
those who are destined for the captivity, to captivity.’
3 “I will appoint over them four kinds,” says the Lord: “The sword to kill, the dogs to tear, the birds of the sky, and the animals of the earth, to devour and to destroy. 4 I will cause them to be tossed back and forth among all the kingdoms of the earth, because of Manasseh, the son of Hezekiah, king of Judah, for that which he did in Jerusalem.
5 For who will have pity on you, Jerusalem?
Who will mourn you?
Who will come to ask of your welfare?
6 You have rejected me,” says the Lord.
“You have gone backward.
Therefore I have stretched out my hand against you
and destroyed you.
I am weary of showing compassion.
7 I will winnow them with a fan in the gates of the land.
I will bereave them of children.
I will destroy my people.
They did not return from their ways.
8 Their widows will increase more than the sand of the seas.
I will bring a destroyer on them at noonday,
against the mother of the young men.
I will cause anguish and terrors to fall on her suddenly.
9 She who has borne seven languishes.
She will give up her spirit.
Her sun will go down while it is yet day.
She will be disappointed and confounded.
I will deliver their remnant to the sword
before their enemies.”
The Woes of Jeremiah
10 Woe is me, my mother,
that you have borne me,
a man of strife and a man of contention
to the whole earth!
I have not lent,
nor have men lent to me,
yet every one of them curses me.
11 The Lord said,
“Most certainly I will strengthen you for good.
Most certainly I will cause the enemy
to make supplication to you
in the time of disaster and in the time of affliction.
12 Can one break iron,
iron from the north and bronze?
13 I will give your substance and your treasures
as plunder without price,
and that for all your sins,
in all your borders.
14 I will make them pass, with your enemies
into a land which you do not know,
for a fire is kindled in my anger,
which will burn on you.”
15 Lord, you know.
Remember me and visit me
and avenge me of my persecutors.
You are patient, so do not take me away.
Know that for your sake I have suffered reproach.
16 Your words were found,
and I ate them.
Your words were to me a joy
and the rejoicing of my heart,
for I am called by your name, Lord, God of Hosts.
17 I did not sit in the assembly
of those who celebrate and rejoice.
I sat alone because of your hand,
for you have filled me with indignation.
18 Why is my pain perpetual,
and my wound incurable,
which refuses to be healed?
Will you indeed be to me
like a deceitful brook,
like waters that fail?
The Lord’s Promise
19 Therefore the Lord says,
“If you repent, then I will restore you,,
that you may stand before me,
and if you will speak words that are noble, instead of vile,
you will be my spokesman.
It is they who must return to you,
not you who must return to them.
20 I will make you to this people a fortified bronze wall.
They will fight against you,
but they will not prevail against you,
for I am with you to save you
and to deliver you,”
says the Lord.
21 “I will deliver you from the hand of the wicked,
and I will redeem you from the hand of the terrible.”