The word of the Lord came to him in the thirteenth year of the reign of Josiah son of Amon, king of Judah.

This is why the showers haven’t come—
why there has been no spring rain.
You have the brazen look of a prostitute
and refuse to be ashamed.

Lift up a signal flag toward Zion.
Run for cover! Don’t stand still!
For I am bringing disaster from the north—
a great destruction.

They have not said to themselves,
‘Let’s fear the Lord our God,
who gives the rain, both early and late, in its season,
who guarantees to us the fixed weeks of the harvest.’

“Run for cover, Benjaminites,
out of Jerusalem!
Sound the ram’s horn in Tekoa;
raise a smoke signal over Beth-haccherem,
for disaster threatens from the north,
even great destruction.

When He thunders,
the waters in the heavens are in turmoil,
and He causes the clouds to rise
from the ends of the earth.
He makes lightning for the rain
and brings the wind from His storehouses.

“This is what the Lord says: Just like this I will ruin the great pride of both Judah and Jerusalem.

And you will say to them: This is what the Lord says: I am about to fill all who live in this land—the kings who reign for David on his throne, the priests, the prophets and all the residents of Jerusalem—with drunkenness.

The ground is cracked
since no rain has fallen on the land.
The farmers are ashamed;
they cover their heads.

Can any of the worthless idols of the nations bring rain?
Or can the skies alone give showers?
Are You not the Lord our God?
We therefore put our hope in You,
for You have done all these things.

But I have not run away from being Your shepherd,
and I have not longed for the fatal day.
You know my words were spoken in Your presence.

But if you do not obey these words, then I swear by Myself”—this is the Lord’s declaration—“that this house will become a ruin.”

“The days are coming”—this is the Lord’s declaration—
“when I will raise up a Righteous Branch of David.
He will reign wisely as king
and administer justice and righteousness in the land.

I did not send these prophets,
yet they ran with a message.
I did not speak to them,
yet they prophesied.

This whole land will become a desolate ruin, and these nations will serve the king of Babylon for 70 years.

When the 70 years are completed, I will punish the king of Babylon and that nation’—this is the Lord’s declaration—‘the land of the Chaldeans, for their guilt, and I will make it a ruin forever.

These included:

Jerusalem and the other cities of Judah, its kings and its officials, to make them a desolate ruin, an object of scorn and cursing—as it is today;

At the beginning of the reign of Jehoiakim son of Josiah, king of Judah, this word came from the Lord:

How dare you prophesy in the name of Yahweh, ‘This temple will become like Shiloh and this city will become an uninhabited ruin’!” Then all the people assembled against Jeremiah at the Lord’s temple.

At the beginning of the reign of Zedekiah son of Josiah, king of Judah, this word came to Jeremiah from the Lord:

Do not listen to them. Serve the king of Babylon and live! Why should this city become a ruin?

In that same year, at the beginning of the reign of King Zedekiah of Judah, in the fifth month of the fourth year, the prophet Hananiah son of Azzur from Gibeon said to me in the temple of the Lord in the presence of the priests and all the people,

“This is what the Lord says: In this place, which you say is a ruin, without man or beast—that is, in Judah’s cities and Jerusalem’s streets that are a desolation without man, without inhabitant, and without beast—there will be heard again

“Take a scroll, and write on it all the words I have spoken to you concerning Israel, Judah, and all the nations from the time I first spoke to you during Josiah’s reign until today.

“This is what the Lord of Hosts, the God of Israel, says: You have seen all the disaster I brought against Jerusalem and all Judah’s cities; look, they are a ruin today without an inhabitant in them

So My fierce wrath poured out and burned in Judah’s cities and Jerusalem’s streets so that they became the desolate ruin they are today.

Make Moab a salt marsh,
for she will run away;
her towns will become a desolation,
without inhabitant.

Wail, Heshbon, for Ai is devastated;
cry out, daughters of Rabbah!
Clothe yourselves with sackcloth, and lament;
run back and forth within your walls,
because Milcom will go into exile
together with his priests and officials.

Run! Turn back! Lie low,
residents of Dedan,
for I will bring Esau’s calamity on him
at the time I punish him.

For by Myself I have sworn”—this is the Lord’s declaration—“Bozrah will become a desolation, a disgrace, a ruin, and a curse, and all her cities will become ruins forever.”

Damascus has become weak;
she has turned to run;
panic has gripped her.
Distress and labor pains have seized her
like a woman in labor.

Run! Escape quickly! Lie low,
residents of Hazor—
this is the Lord’s declaration—
for Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon
has drawn up a plan against you;
he has devised a strategy against you.

This is the word of the Lord that came to Jeremiah the prophet about Elam at the beginning of the reign of Zedekiah king of Judah.

When He thunders,
the waters in the heavens are in turmoil,
and He causes the clouds
to rise from the ends of the earth.
He makes lightning for the rain
and brings the wind from His storehouses.

You are My battle club,
My weapons of war.
With you I will smash nations;
with you I will bring kingdoms to ruin.

Therefore, this is what the Lord says:

I am about to plead your case
and take vengeance on your behalf;
I will dry up her sea
and make her fountain run dry.

This is what Jeremiah the prophet commanded Seraiah son of Neriah son of Mahseiah, the quartermaster, when he went to Babylon with King Zedekiah of Judah in the fourth year of Zedekiah’s reign.

In the ninth year of Zedekiah’s reign, on the tenth day of the tenth month, King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon advanced against Jerusalem with his entire army. They laid siege to the city and built a siege wall all around it.

On the twenty-fifth day of the twelfth month of the thirty-seventh year of the exile of Judah’s King Jehoiachin, Evil-merodach king of Babylon, in the first year of his reign, pardoned King Jehoiachin of Judah and released him from prison.