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¹ THEN the LORD said to me, Though Moses and Samuel stood before me pleading, yet my soul would not be pleased with this people; but I will cast them out of my sight and let them go.² And it shall come to pass, if they say to you, Where shall we go? Then you shall tell them, Thus says the LORD: Those numbered for death, to death; and those numbered for the sword, to the sword; and those numbered for famine, to famine; and those numbered for captivity, to captivity.³ And I will decree against them four kinds of afflictions, says the LORD: The sword to slay, the dogs to tear, and the fowls of the air and the wild beasts of the earth to devour and destroy.⁴ And I will cause them to be a horror in all the kingdoms of the earth, because of the transgressions of Manasseh the son of Hezekiah king of Judah, for that which he did in Jerusalem.⁵ For who shall have pity upon you, O Jerusalem? or who shall bemoan you? or who shall go aside to inquire about your peace?⁶ You have forsaken me, says the LORD, you are gone backward; therefore I will stretch out my hand against you and destroy you; and I shall not spare you again.⁷ And I will fan them with a fan in the cities of the earth; I have bereaved them of their children. I have destroyed my people, and yet they did not return from their ways.⁸ Their widows are increased in number more than the sand of the sea; I have brought against them, both against the mother and against the young men, robbers at noonday; I have caused terror and trembling to fall upon them suddenly.⁹ She who has borne seven children languishes; her pride is gone; her sun has gone down while it was yet day; she has been ashamed and confounded; and the rest of them I will deliver to the sword before their enemies, says the LORD.

¹⁰ Woe is me, my mother, that you have borne me a judge, a rebuker to the whole earth. I am neither a debtor, nor a creditor; yet all of them curse me.¹¹ The LORD said, Verily I shall not leave you at ease, but I will cause an enemy from the north to encounter you in the time of tribulation and in the time of evil;¹² For he is hard as iron and as brass.¹³ Your riches, your treasures, and all your borders, I will give to the spoil, because of your sins.¹⁴ And I shall cause you to be enslaved to your enemies in a land which you do not know; for a fire is kindled in my anger, which shall burn upon you.

¹⁵ O LORD, thou knowest; remember me and save me and avenge me of my persecutors; take me not away in thy longsuffering; know that for thy sake I have suffered reproach.¹⁶ Thy commandments have I kept and carried out, thy word was to me a delight and the joy of my heart; for I am called by thy name.¹⁷ O LORD God of hosts, I did not sit in the assembly of the mockers, but I was afraid because of thy hand, and I sat alone; for thou hast filled me with indignation.¹⁸ Why is my pain so grievous and my wound so severe that it refuses to be healed? Wilt thou be to me as a mirage that cannot be believed?¹⁹ Therefore thus says the LORD, If you repent, then I will bring you back again, and you shall stand before me; and if you bring forth the precious words and not the vile, you shall be as my mouth, says the LORD; the people shall turn to you; but you shall not turn to them.²⁰ I have made you to this people as a fortified wall of brass; and they shall fight against you. but they shall not prevail; for I am with you to save you and to deliver you, says the LORD.²¹ And I will deliver you out of the hand of the wicked, and I will save you from the hand of the mighty.