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Judgment Must Come

¹ Then the LORD said to me, "Even ^(C1)though ^(C2)Moses and ^(C3)Samuel were to ^(C4)stand before Me, My ^(F1)heart would not be ^(F2)with this people; ^(C5)send them away from My presence and let them go!² "And it shall be that when they say to you, 'Where should we go?' then you are to tell them, 'Thus says the LORD:

"Those destined ^(C1)for death, to death;
And those destined for the sword, to the sword;
And those destined for famine, to famine;
And those destined for captivity, to captivity."'

⁵ "Indeed, who will have ^(C1)pity on you, O Jerusalem,
Or who will ^(C2)mourn for you,
Or who will turn aside to ask about your welfare?

⁶ "You who have ^(C1)forsaken Me," declares the LORD,
"You keep ^(C2)going backward.
So I will ^(C3)stretch out My hand against you and destroy you;
I am ^(C4)tired of relenting!

⁷ "I will ^(C1)winnow them with a winnowing fork
At the gates of the land;
I will ^(C2)bereave them of children, I will destroy My people;
^(C3)They did not ^(F1)repent of their ways.

⁸ "Their ^(C1)widows will be more numerous before Me
Than the sand of the seas;
I will bring against them, against the mother of a young man,
A ^(C2)destroyer at noonday;
I will suddenly bring down on her
Anguish and dismay.

⁹ "She who ^(C1)bore seven sons pines away;
^(F1)Her breathing is labored.
Her ^(C2)sun has set while it was yet day;
She has been ^(C3)shamed and humiliated.
So I will ^(C4)give over their survivors to the sword
Before their enemies," declares the LORD.

^10 (C1)Woe to me, my mother, that you have borne me
As a ^(C2)man of strife and a man of contention to all the land!
I have not ^(C3)lent, nor have men lent money to me,
Yet everyone curses me.

¹¹ The LORD said, "Surely I will ^(C1)set you free for purposes of good;
Surely I will cause the ^(C2)enemy to make supplication to you
In a time of disaster and a time of distress.

¹² "Can anyone smash iron,
^(C1)Iron from the north, or bronze?

¹³ "Your ^(C1)wealth and your treasures
I will give for booty ^(C2)without cost,
Even for all your sins
And within all your borders.

¹⁴ "Then I will cause your enemies to bring ^(F1)it
Into a ^(C1)land you do not know;
For a ^(C2)fire has been kindled in My anger,
It will burn upon you."

Jeremiah's Prayer and God's Answer

^15 (C1)You who know, O LORD,
Remember me, take notice of me,
And ^(C2)take vengeance for me on my persecutors.
Do not, in view of Your patience, take me away;
Know that ^(C3)for Your sake I endure reproach.

¹⁶ Your words were found and I ^(C1)ate them,
And Your ^(C2)words became for me a joy and the delight of my heart;
For I have been ^(C3)called by Your name,
O LORD God of hosts.

¹⁷ I ^(C1)did not sit in the circle of merrymakers,
Nor did I exult.
Because of Your hand upon me I sat ^(C2)alone,
For You ^(C3)filled me with indignation.

¹⁸ Why has my pain been perpetual
And my ^(C1)wound incurable, refusing to be healed?
Will You indeed be to me ^(C2)like a deceptive stream
With water that is unreliable?

¹⁹ Therefore, thus says the LORD,
"^(C1)If you return, then I will restore you--
^(C2)Before Me you will stand;
And ^(C3)if you extract the precious from the worthless,
You will become ^(F1)My spokesman.
They for their part may turn to you,
But as for you, you must not turn to them.

²⁰ "Then I will ^(C1)make you to this people
A fortified wall of bronze;
And though they fight against you,
They will not prevail over you;
For ^(C2)I am with you to save you
And deliver you," declares the LORD.

²¹ "So I will ^(C1)deliver you from the hand of the wicked,
And I will ^(C2)redeem you from the ^(F1)grasp of the violent."