"When a man divorces his wife, she leaves him and becomes another man's wife, will the first husband return to her again? The land would be deeply polluted, would it not? Since you have committed fornication with many lovers, would you now return to me?" declares the LORD.

"They have lied about the LORD by saying, "He wouldn't do that! Disaster won't come on us. We won't see sword and famine.

This is what the LORD of the Heavenly Armies says: "Let them glean the remnant of Israel as thoroughly as they would the vine. Pass your hand over them like grape gatherers over the branches.

You will say to them, "This is the nation that wouldn't listen to the voice of the LORD its God and wouldn't accept correction. Truth has perished; it has been eliminated from their discussions.'

"I would have gathered them," declares the LORD, "but there were no grapes on the vine, and no figs on the fig tree, and their leaves were withered. What I've given them has been taken away."'"

"Oh, that my head were a spring of water, and my eyes a fountain of tears, for then I would cry day and night for those of my people who have been killed.

Who wouldn't fear you, king of the nations? This is what you deserve! Indeed, among all the wise men of the nations, and throughout all their kingdoms, there is no one like you!

But they would not listen or turn their ear, and each of them stubbornly followed his own evil desires. So I brought on them all the consequences of this covenant that I commanded them to fulfill, but they did not.'"

For just as the belt clings tightly to a person's waist, so I've made all the people of Israel and all the people of Judah cling tightly to me,' declares the LORD. "I did this so that they would be my people, name, praise, and glory. But they wouldn't listen.'

Then the LORD told me, "Even if Moses and Samuel were standing before me, I wouldn't be favorably disposed toward this people. Send them out of my presence! Let them go!

But if that nation does evil in my eyes by not obeying me, I'll change my mind about the good that I said I would bring on it.

because he didn't kill me in the womb, so that my mother would have been my grave and her womb forever pregnant.

"As certainly as I'm alive and living," declares the LORD, "even if Jehoiakim's son King Jehoiachin of Judah were a signet ring on my right hand, I would pull you off

If they had stood in my council and had delivered my words to my people, then they would have turned them back from their evil way, from their evil deeds."

Again and again, the LORD sent all his servants, the prophets, to you, but you wouldn't listen or even turn your ears in my direction to hear.

and listen to the words of my servants, the prophets, whom I've sent to you over and over but you wouldn't listen

Their leader will be one of their own, and their ruler will come from among them. I'll bring him near, and he will approach me, for who would otherwise dare to approach me?' declares the LORD.

This is what the LORD says: "If the heavens could be measured above, or the foundations of the earth be searched out below, then I also would reject all the descendants of Israel because of everything they have done," declares the LORD.

And you gave them this land which you had promised their ancestors that you would give them a land flowing with milk and honey.

"This is what the LORD says: "If you could break my covenant with the day and night so that day and night wouldn't occur at the proper time,

then my covenant with my servant David might also be broken so that he wouldn't have a son sitting on his throne, and so also with my servants the Levitical priests.

Each person was to set free his male and female slaves who were Hebrews, so that no Jewish person would enslave his brother.

All the officials and all the people who had entered into the covenant agreed that each would set his male and female slaves free so that they would not enslave them any longer. They obeyed and they released them.

As Jehudi would read three or four columns, the king would cut it with a scribe's knife and throw it into the fire which was in the stove, until all the scroll was burned in the fire in the stove.

Even though Elnathan, Delaiah, and Gemariah urged the king not to burn the scroll, he would not listen to them.

I'll punish him, his descendants, and his officials for their iniquity. I'll bring on them, on the residents of Jerusalem, and on the men of Judah all the calamity about which I've warned them, but they would not listen."'"

Indeed, even if you defeated the entire Chaldean army that is fighting against you, and they had only wounded men left in their tents, they would get up and burn this city with fire.'"'"

Jeremiah said, "It's a lie! I'm not going over to the Chaldeans." But Irijah would not listen to him, and he arrested Jeremiah and brought him to the officials.

Rather, we will keep doing everything that we said we would by offering sacrifices to the Queen of Heaven and by pouring out liquid offerings to her just as we, our ancestors, our kings, and our leaders did in the cities of Judah and the streets of Jerusalem. Then we had plenty of bread, things went well for us, and we didn't experience disaster.

If the grape harvesters came to you, would they not leave gleanings? If thieves came at night, they would destroy only until they had enough.

We tried to heal Babylon, but she wouldn't be healed. Leave her, and let each of us go to his own country. For her judgment has reached to the heavens, and is lifted up to the sky.

Jeremiah wrote on a single scroll all the disasters that would come on Babylon, all these things that were written about Babylon.

and say, "LORD, you have declared about this place that you would destroy it so that there wouldn't be an inhabitant in it, neither human nor animal, because it will be a wasteland forever.'