For this is what the Lord says to the men of Judah and Jerusalem:

Break up the unplowed ground;
do not sow among the thorns.

Circumcise yourselves to the Lord;
remove the foreskin of your hearts,
men of Judah and residents of Jerusalem.
Otherwise, My wrath will break out like fire
and burn with no one to extinguish it
because of your evil deeds.

Because of Your name, don’t despise us.
Don’t disdain Your glorious throne.
Remember Your covenant with us;
do not break it.

And I will restore to this place Jeconiah son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, and all the exiles from Judah who went to Babylon’—this is the Lord’s declaration—‘for I will break the yoke of the king of Babylon.’”

In the presence of all the people Hananiah proclaimed, “This is what the Lord says: ‘In this way, within two years I will break the yoke of King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon from the neck of all the nations.’” Jeremiah the prophet then went on his way.

“On that day”—this is the declaration of the Lord of Hosts—“I will break his yoke from your neck and tear off your chains so strangers will never again enslave him.

“This is what the Lord says: If you can break My covenant with the day and My covenant with the night so that day and night cease to come at their regular time,

So King Zedekiah gave orders, and Jeremiah was placed in the guard’s courtyard. He was given a loaf of bread each day from the baker’s street until all the bread was gone from the city. So Jeremiah remained in the guard’s courtyard.

“My lord the king, these men have been evil in all they have done to Jeremiah the prophet. They have dropped him into the cistern where he will die from hunger, because there is no more bread in the city.”