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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; 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 have stretched out My hand against you to 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 breath her last breath. Her sun will set while it was 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^(a) 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 a delight to me and my heart’s delight, for I bear Your name, O LORD God of Hosts.¹⁷ I never sat with the band of revelers, and I did not 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