You can try to wash away your guilt with a strong detergent. You can use as much soap as you want. But the stain of your guilt is still there for me to see," says the Lord God.

Do not chase after other gods until your shoes wear out and your throats become dry. But you say, 'It is useless for you to try and stop me because I love those foreign gods and want to pursue them!'

Evil generation,
pay attention to the word of the Lord!
Have I been a wilderness to Israel
or a land of dense darkness?
Why do My people claim,
“We will go where we want;
we will no longer come to You”?

Come back to me, you wayward people. I want to cure your waywardness. Say, 'Here we are. We come to you because you are the Lord our God.

"If you, Israel, want to come back," says the Lord, "if you want to come back to me you must get those disgusting idols out of my sight and must no longer go astray.

And you, devastated one, what are you doing
that you dress yourself in scarlet,
that you adorn yourself with gold jewelry,
that you enlarge your eyes with paint?
You beautify yourself for nothing.
Your lovers reject you;
they want to take your life.

Therefore, lo! days are coming, Declareth Yahweh, When it shall not be called any more - The Topheth, nor The valley of Ben-hinnom, but The valley of Slaughter, - And they shall bury in Topheth, for want of place;

If people want to boast, they should boast about this: They should boast that they understand and know me. They should boast that they know and understand that I, the Lord, act out of faithfulness, fairness, and justice in the earth and that I desire people to do these things," says the Lord.

So I said to the Lord, "O Lord who rules over all, you are a just judge! You examine people's hearts and minds. I want to see you pay them back for what they have done because I trust you to vindicate my cause."

Therefore, here is what the Lord says concerning the people of Anathoth who want to take your life. They warn, “You must not prophesy in the name of Yahweh, or you will certainly die at our hand.”

You are righteous, LORD, even when I bring a complaint to you. But I want to discuss justice with you. Why does the way of the wicked prosper, while all who are treacherous are at ease?

The wild Asses shall stand in the Moss, and draw in their wind like the Dragons, their eyes shall fail for want of grass."

But they just keep saying, 'We do not care what you say! We will do whatever we want to do! We will continue to behave wickedly and stubbornly!'"

I will spoil the plans of Judah and Jerusalem in this place. I will make them fall by the sword before their enemies, by the hand of those who want to take their life. I will provide their corpses as food for the birds of the sky and for the wild animals of the land.

I will make them eat the flesh of their sons and their daughters, and they will eat each other’s flesh in the siege and distress that their enemies, those who want to take their life, inflict on them.

and shalt say unto them - Thus, saith Yahweh of hosts - Thus and thus, will I break this people, and this city, As one breaketh the vessel of a potter, which cannot be made whole any more, - And in Topheth, shall they bury, for want of place to bury.

Afterward’”—this is the Lord’s declaration—“‘King Zedekiah of Judah, his officers, and the people—those in this city who survive the plague, the sword, and the famine—I will hand over to King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon, to their enemies, yes, to those who want to take their lives. He will put them to the sword; he won’t spare them or show pity or compassion.’

In fact, I will hand you over to those you dread, who want to take your life, to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and the Chaldeans.

As for the land to which you want to return, you won't return there!

Is this man Coniah a despised, shattered pot,
a jar no one wants?
Why are he and his descendants hurled out
and cast into a land they have not known?

I will give them a single-minded purpose to live in a way that always shows respect for me. They will want to do that for their own good and the good of the children who descend from them.

For thus saith the LORD; David shall never want a man to sit upon the throne of the house of Israel;

Neither shall the priests the Levites want a man before me to offer burnt offerings, and to kindle meat offerings, and to do sacrifice continually.

will be handed over to their enemies, to those who want to take their life. Their corpses will become food for the birds of the sky and for the wild animals of the land.

I will hand Zedekiah king of Judah and his officials over to their enemies, to those who want to take their lives, to the king of Babylon’s army that is withdrawing.

Therefore thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; Jonadab the son of Rechab shall not want a man to stand before me for ever.

King Zedekiah said to them, "Very well, you can do what you want with him. For I cannot do anything to stop you."

King Zedekiah swore to Jeremiah in private, “As the Lord lives, who has given us this life, I will not kill you or hand you over to these men who want to take your life.”

Now, look, I've freed you today from the chains that were on your hands. If you want to come with me to Babylon, come, and I'll look after you. But if you don't want to come with me to Babylon, don't. Look, the whole land lies before you, so go wherever it seems good and right for you to go."

When Jeremiah had not yet turned to go, Nebuzaradan said to him: “Return to Gedaliah son of Ahikam, son of Shaphan, whom the king of Babylon has appointed over the cities of Judah, and stay with him among the people or go wherever you want to go.” So the captain of the guard gave him a ration and a gift and released him.

This day I have told you what he said. But you do not want to obey the Lord by doing what he sent me to tell you.

Now, be fully aware that you will die by the sword, by famine, and by plague in the place where you want to settle."

But Baruch son of Neriah is stirring you up against us. He wants to hand us over to the Babylonians so that they will kill us or carry us off into exile in Babylon."

This is what the Lord says: I am about to hand over Pharaoh Hophra, Egypt’s king, to his enemies, to those who want to take his life, just as I handed over Judah’s King Zedekiah to Babylon’s King Nebuchadnezzar, who was his enemy, the one who wanted to take his life.’”

I will hand them over to those who want to take their lives—to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and his officers. But after this, it will be inhabited again as in ancient times.”

This is the Lord’s declaration.

On all the rooftops of Moab and in her public squares, everyone is mourning because I have shattered Moab like a jar no one wants.” This is the Lord’s declaration.

I will devastate Elam before their enemies,
before those who want to take their lives.
I will bring disaster on them,
My burning anger.
This is the Lord’s declaration.
I will send the sword after them
until I finish them off.

Babylonia will be plundered. Those who plunder it will take all they want," says the Lord.