# verses

text:
Mother animals let their new babies lie in the fields and they will leave them <n>because the grass is dead. 


text:
Wild horses stand on the empty hills and they are <i>breathing</i> very fast. <n>They cannot see well because they do not have any food.’ 


text:
We know that we have done many bad things. <n>But please help us, <i>LORD</i>. <n>People will give <i>honour</i> to you if you will help us. <n>We have been <i>backsliding</i> people many times. <n>We have not obeyed your <i>laws</i>. 


text:
We <i>trust</i> you. Israel’s people <i>trust</i> you. <n>You saved us from our troubles. <n>But now you are like a <i>foreigner</i>. <n>You are like a visitor who stays for only one night. 


text:
You are like a man who is surprised. <n>He is surprised when enemies make him a <i>prisoner</i>. <n>Yes, you are like a soldier who cannot save anyone. <n>You are among us, <i>LORD</i>. <n>People call us by your name. <n>Do not leave us alone! 


text:
‘This people love to go away from me. <n>They let their feet go anywhere that they like. <n>So they cannot please the <i>LORD</i>. <n>Now he will remember the bad things that they have done. <n>And he will <i>punish</i> them for their <i>sins</i>.’ <n>That is what the <i>LORD</i> says. 


text:
Even if they stop eating food, I will not listen to them. If they burn meat and seeds to offer to me, I will not accept their gifts. Instead, I will kill them. They will not have any food. Or they will become ill and they will die. I will send men to kill some of them’, the <i>LORD</i> said to me. 


text:
‘<i>LORD</i>, ruler of all, the <i>prophets</i> say other things’, I said. ‘They say that soldiers will not kill the people. They do not believe that they will not have any food. The <i>prophets</i> say that they will not have any troubles. They say that their <i>peace</i> will continue.’ 


text:
‘The <i>prophets</i> are saying what is not true’, the <i>LORD</i> said to me. ‘And they said that I had said it. I did not send them. And I did not give my authority to them. I did not speak to them. Their words are <i>false</i>. They are telling to you <i>prophecies</i> and pictures that their own minds have made. They <i>worship false</i> gods. 


text:
So this is what the <i>LORD</i> says about these <i>prophets</i>. “I did not send them. But they are saying that I have spoken to them.” They say, “Enemies will not kill anyone in this country. Nobody will die because they do not have any food.” But I say, “Those same <i>prophets</i> will not have any food and they will die. Or soldiers will kill them. 


text:
And men will throw the people that listened to them into the streets of Jerusalem. They will die because they do not have any food. Or they may die because soldiers will kill them. Nobody will bury the dead people. They and their dead wives, sons and daughters will lie in the street. I will <i>punish</i> them because they did not obey me.” ’ 


text:
Say this to them. <n>‘Water runs from my eyes <n>all day and all night and it does not stop. <n>I am crying because a heavy <i>weapon</i> has broken my own people. <n>They have a very bad illness. 


text:
I see dead people <n>when I go into the country. <n>Soldiers have killed them. <n>In the city, I see dead people. <n>They died because they did not have any food. <n>Both <i>prophets</i> and <i>priests</i> <n>have gone to a place that they never knew.’ <n>Jeremiah asks the <i>LORD</i> to save his people.</n> 


text:
I cannot believe that you have completely turned away from Judah. <n>I cannot believe that you hate <i>Zion</i>. <n>You have hurt us so much <n>that nobody can make us well again. <n>We <i>trusted</i> you to save us from trouble. <n>But you have not done anything good for us. <n>We <i>trusted</i> you to make us well. <n>But we are only very afraid. 


text:
<i>LORD</i>, we agree that we have done many bad things. <n>We remember, too, the bad things that our <i>ancestors</i> did. <n>We have not obeyed you, and we have hurt you. 


text:
We are bad. So people may think that you are bad because of that. <n>We do not want that. <n>We want people to give <i>honour</i> to you. <n>Remember that you promised something to us. <n>Please do what you promised to do. 


text:
Gods that men made from wood and stone belong to other countries. <n>They cannot bring rain. <n>The sky itself does not make rain. <n>No, you our <i>LORD</i>, our God, <n>you bring rain. <n>Only you can do all these things. <n>So we hope that you will help us. 


text:
‘Even if Moses and Samuel asked me not to <i>punish</i> my people, I would not listen to them’, the <i>LORD</i> said to me. ‘Send my people away from me. Let them go! 


text:
They may ask you, “Where should we go?” Then tell them that the <i>LORD</i> says, <n>“Those who should die will die. <n>Other soldiers will kill those who are soldiers. <n>Those that should not have any food will not have any food. <n>Those who should be <i>prisoners</i> will become <i>prisoners</i>.” ’ 


text:
‘I will send 4 kinds of <i>punishments</i> to destroy them’, the <i>LORD</i> says. ‘I will send soldiers to kill them and dogs to carry them away. And I will send birds from the air and wild animals to eat and to destroy them. 


text:
I will cause all the <i>nations</i> on the earth to hate them. I will do that because of the <i>evil</i> things that Manasseh, Hezekiah’s son, did in Jerusalem.’ 


text:
‘Nobody will be sorry for you, people in Jerusalem. <n>Nobody will weep for you. <n>Nobody will stop to ask how you are. 


text:
You have turned away from me’, says the <i>LORD</i>. <n>‘You are often <i>backsliding</i> people. <n>So I will attack you and I will destroy you. <n>I am tired of being sorry for you. 


text:
I will <i>judge</i> you at the gates of the country. <n>Many of you will see your sons die. <n>And I will kill many people <n>because they have not returned to me. 


text:
I will kill many husbands. <n>More men will die than you can count. <n>I will send an enemy at midday <n>against mothers and young children. <n>They will become afraid quickly. 


text:
A mother who has 7 children will fall. <n>And she will die. <n>Her life will finish before she is old. <n>She will be ashamed and without <i>honour</i>. <n>I will send soldiers to kill <n>those people who are not already dead’, <n>says the <i>LORD</i>. <n>Jeremiah is angry with the <i>LORD</i>.</n> 


text:
I am sorry, mother, that I was ever born. <n>Everyone in the country is against me. <n>I have not lent money and I have not taken it. <n>Jeremiah is saying that he has not done anything wrong. <n>But everyone says bad things about me. 


text:
‘I will save you so that I can do good things. <n>I will cause your enemies to ask you for help. <n>They will come to you when they have great trouble’, the <i>LORD</i> said to me. 


text:
‘A man cannot break iron or other metals. <n>He cannot break the iron from the north.’ <n>This iron belongs to the armies of Babylon. 


text:
‘I will give all your valuable things and all your money <n>to enemies who will attack you. <n>They will not pay for them <n>because you have done so many wrong things. <n>You have done bad things all over the country. 


text:
Your enemies will make you slaves. <n>They will take you to a country that you do not know. <n>I am very angry. And so I am like a fire that will burn you.’ 


text:
You understand my problems, <i>LORD</i>. <n>Remember me and <i>care</i> for me. <n>Please <i>punish</i> those who cause so much trouble to me. <n>You are patient but do not let them kill me. Remember me. <n>They have made my life difficult because I work for you. 


text:
Your words were like sweet food to me. <n>They made me very happy. <n>I belong to you, <i>LORD</i>, powerful God. 


text:
I never sat with happy people at a party. <n>I sat alone, because you had touched me. <n>You had made me very angry. 


text:
My pain has no end. <n>And there is nothing that can help me to feel better. <n>It seems to me that you are not always there. <n>You are not always there when I need your help. 


text:
So the <i>LORD</i> spoke to me. <n>‘If you will turn to me, I will take you back. <n>Then you can be my servant. <n>If you will speak good words and not bad words, <n>you can speak for me. <n>These people will return to you, <n>but you must not become like them. 


text:
I will make you like a wall to this people. <n>You will be like a wall of strong metal. <n>They will fight against you, <n>but they will not win the fight. <n>They will not win because I am with you. <n>I will save you’, says the <i>LORD</i>. 


text:
‘I will save you from bad men who attack you. <n>I will save you from people who want to hurt you.’ 


text:
Sons and daughters who are born in this country will die from bad illnesses. Their mothers and fathers will die, too. 


text:
Their bodies will lie on the ground. And nobody will be sad and nobody will bury them. Nobody will give any <i>honour</i> to them. Soldiers will kill them. Or they will die because they do not have any food. Birds and wild animals will eat the dead bodies.’ 


text:
‘Do not go into a house where they are eating a meal to remember a dead person. You may be sorry that the person is dead. But do not show them that you are sorry. Do that because I have taken my love and my <i>blessings</i> away from them’, says the <i>LORD</i>. 


text:
‘Nobody will bury dead persons. Nobody will bury them, whether they are rich or poor. Nobody will be sad. Nobody will show other people how sad they are. They will not cut themselves, or remove the hair from their heads. 


text:
Nobody will give food to families when someone has died. They will not even give food to them if their mother or father has died. And nobody will give a drink to them to try to make them happy. 


text:
And do not go into a house where they are having a party. Do not sit down with them to eat and to drink.’ 


text:
And the <i>LORD</i> of power, the God of Israel, said to me, ‘That is because I will stop their happy songs and marriage parties in this place. I will do that while you are still alive. And you will see it. 


text:
You must tell to the people everything that I have said. Then they will ask questions. “Why has the <i>LORD</i> said all these bad things about us? What wrong things have we done? What <i>sin</i> have we done against the <i>LORD</i>, our God?” 


text:
Then you must speak to them. “It is because your <i>ancestors</i> went away from me”, says the <i>LORD</i>. “They <i>worshipped</i> other gods and they became their servants. They turned away from me and they did not obey my <i>law</i>. 


text:
But you have done worse things than your <i>ancestors</i>. Each of you does what he wants. You know that. You do it even when it is wrong. You do not obey me. 


text:
So I will throw you out of this country into a country that you and your <i>ancestors</i> have not known. There you will be servants to other gods, day and night, because I will not help you.” ’ 


text:
‘But a better time will come’, says the <i>LORD</i>. ‘Men will not talk about the time when I, the living God, took them out of Egypt. 


text:
I will bring them back to the country that I gave to their <i>ancestors</i>. So, instead they will say, “The <i>LORD</i> brought the people out from the country in the north. He brought them out from all the countries that he had sent them to. Certainly the <i>LORD</i> lives.” ’ 


text:
‘But now I will make them like fish. I will send for many men to fish for them’, says the <i>LORD</i>. ‘And these men will catch them. Then I will send hunters to run after them like wild animals. The hunters will find them in the mountains and hills and in holes in the rocks. 


text:
I am watching them all the time. They cannot hide from me. And they cannot hide the wrong things that they do. 


text:
I will <i>punish</i> them twice as much for their <i>sin</i> and for the bad things that they have done. That is because they have made my country like a place full of dirt. They have filled it with their <i>idols</i> that do not have any life. They have made the country that I gave to you full of their <i>disgusting idols</i>.’ 


text:
<i>LORD</i>, you are the person who makes me strong. <n>You are like a city with strong walls – a city that I can hide in. <n>I can hide in you when troubles happen to me. <n>People will come to you from countries all over the earth. <n>They will say, ‘Our <i>ancestors</i> had only <i>false</i> gods. <n>They did not have any power and they did not help us. 


text:
‘So I will teach them. <n>This time I will teach them <n>how strong and powerful I am. <n>Then they will know that the <i>LORD</i> is my name.’ 


text:
‘All the people in Judah are full of <i>sin</i>. <n>It is deep in every part of their bodies. <n>It is like something that someone has written with a pen of iron. <n>And they use their <i>altars</i> to <i>sin</i> against me. <n>It is like something that someone has written on those <i>altars</i> too. 


text:
Even their children <n>use their <i>altars</i> and sticks that they call gods. <n>They put those tall sticks on high hills <n>and under big trees. 


text:
Enemies will come to my mountain that is in your country. <n>They will take away all the valuable things from there. <n>They will take away all the things that make you rich. <n>I will do that because of the <i>sin</i> of the people in all my country. 


text:
You will lose the country that I gave to your <i>ancestors</i>. <n>You will lose it because of your own <i>sin</i>. <n>Your enemies will make you their slaves. <n>You will live in a country that you do not know. <n>You have made me very angry, <n>and you cannot stop me being angry.’ 


text:
The <i>LORD</i> spoke again. <n>‘Some people <i>trust</i> human people. <n>I will <i>punish</i> everyone who thinks like that. <n>They think that human people can make them strong. <n>They do not ask the <i>LORD</i> for help. 


text:
Those people will be like a bush in a wild place. <n>They will not become rich when other people become rich. <n>They will stay in dry salty places where nobody lives. 


text:
The person who lets the <i>LORD</i> lead him is not like that. <n>The <i>LORD</i> will <i>bless</i> the man who follows him. 


text:
He will be like a tree near water <n>that drinks from the river. <n>He will not be afraid of the sun’s heat. <n>He will be like a tree that is always green. <n>The tree gives much fruit and it always has enough water. 


text:
A man’s mind can decide what he will do. <n>But that can cause trouble for him. <n>I do not know anybody except me who can understand the things in a man’s mind. <n>It is bad and sick and nobody can make it better. 


text:
But I, the <i>LORD</i>, can look inside a man. <n>I can see what he feels. And I can see what he thinks. <n>I will give good gifts to him if he does good things. <n>And I will <i>punish</i> him if he does bad things. 


text:
A man may get rich because he is not fair to other people. <n>He is like a bird that sits on eggs. But the eggs are not its own. <n>He will lose his riches before he is old. <n>At the end of his life, people will see that he is a fool.’ 


text:
Our God’s <i>throne</i> was from the beginning. <n>It is high up in the <i>holy</i> place. <n>The <i>holy</i> place is the <i>temple</i> on <i>Mount Zion</i>. 


text:
<i>LORD</i>, Israel’s people are your people. And they <i>trust</i> you. <n>All who go away from you will be ashamed. <n>Those who turn away from you will die. <n>They will die because they have gone away from the <i>LORD</i>. <n>He is the living water that gives life to them. <n>Jeremiah tells the <i>LORD</i> about his troubles.</n> 


text:
<i>LORD</i>, make me well, and I will be well. <n>Save me and I will be safe. <n>Save me because I <i>praise</i> you. 


text:
People keep asking me questions. <n>‘Where are the words of the <i>LORD</i>? <n>When will they come true?’ 


text:
<i>LORD</i>, I have not stopped giving help to your people who are like your sheep. <n>You know that I did not want bad things to happen to them. <n>You know that I have spoken your words. 


text:
I want you to make the people ashamed who hurt me. <n>Please make them very afraid. <n>But help me not to be afraid. <n>Cause them to have a lot of trouble. <n>Destroy them again and again. <n>The <i>LORD</i> tells Jeremiah about his rules for the <i>Sabbath</i>.</n> 


text:
‘Go and stand in the gate of the city’, the <i>LORD</i> said to me. ‘Stand in the gate that the kings of Judah use to go in and out of the city. And stand at the other city gates, too. 


text:
Speak to the people. Say, “Listen, you kings of Judah, people of Judah, and everyone who lives in Jerusalem. Hear the message from the <i>LORD</i>. 


text:
This is what the <i>LORD</i> says. ‘Do not carry anything on the <i>Sabbath</i> day. Do not carry anything through the gates of Jerusalem. 


text:
Do not carry anything out of your houses and do not do any work on the <i>Sabbath</i> day. You must keep the <i>Sabbath</i> day <i>holy</i> as I told your <i>ancestors</i>. 


text:
But they did not listen to me and they did not obey me. They thought that my words did not have any value. They would not listen when I corrected them. 


text:
But you must be careful to listen to me and to obey me. Then you will neither carry things through these gates nor work on the <i>Sabbath</i>. You will keep the <i>Sabbath</i> day <i>holy</i>’, says the <i>LORD</i>. 


text:
‘Then kings who sit on David’s <i>throne</i> will come to the city. They will come through the gates with their officers. Some kings will ride on horses. Some kings will ride in beautiful <i>chariots</i> that horses are pulling. The men of Judah and those who live in Jerusalem will come with them. Then people will always live in this city. 


text:
People will come from the towns and villages in Judah. They will come from the land that belongs to Benjamin. They will come from the hills and the little hills in the west. They will come from the south. They will bring animals, <i>grain</i> and oils with nice smells. They will offer those things to the <i>LORD</i> in his <i>temple</i>. They will offer them to the <i>LORD</i> to thank him. They will thank him for all the good things that he has done. 


text:
If you do not obey me, I will <i>punish</i> you. You must not carry things on the <i>Sabbath</i> day. You must not even take them through the gates. If you do not obey me, I will send fire to the gates of Jerusalem. You will not be able to put it out. Your strong city will burn down.’ ” ’ 


text:
So I went down to the <i>potter</i>’s house. There I saw him when he was working at his <i>wheel</i>. 


text:
He was working with <i>clay</i> to make a pot with his hands. But, as he worked, it became the wrong shape. So he made it into a pot of another shape, as he chose. 


text:
Then the <i>LORD</i> spoke to me. ‘You know that I can change the <i>Jewish</i> people. I can change them as the <i>potter</i> changes the shape of the <i>clay</i>’, he said. 


text:
‘You <i>Jewish</i> people are in my hands. I hold you as the <i>potter</i> holds the <i>clay</i> in his hands. 


text:
But the people in that country might hear my words. And they might stop doing the things that made me angry. Then I would change my mind. I would not cause the trouble that I had promised. 


text:
But the people in that country might do wrong things, and they might not obey my rules. Then I would think again about the good things that I had said. I might not do them.’ 


text:
‘So now you must speak to the people who live in Judah and in Jerusalem. Tell them that the <i>LORD</i> says, “Look! I will cause great trouble for you. I have decided to come against you. So each person must stop doing bad things and he must start to do good things. You must live in the way that gives pleasure to me.” 


text:
But they will say to you, “We do not want to do that. We will continue to do what we want to do. We will do every bad thing that we choose to do.” ’ 


text:
So the <i>LORD</i> said to Jeremiah, <n>‘The people in other countries have never heard about anything like this. <n>My people, Israel, have done a very wrong thing. 


text:
The snow stays on the rocky sides of <i>Mount</i> Lebanon. <n>Cold water never stops falling from its high rocks. 


text:
But my people have forgotten me. <n>They burn oils with a nice smell <n>to give pleasure to gods that do not have any value. <n>Those gods cause them to become lost. <n>They go away from the right paths. <n>They walk along side paths and poor roads. 


text:
I will send their enemies to get power over their country. <n>They will destroy everything in it. <n>My people will be ashamed. <n>Men who pass the country will be very surprised. <n>They will show how sad they are. 


text:
I will come to my people like the east wind. <n>I will blow them like sand in front of their enemies. <n>I will not show my face to them. <n>I will turn my back to them when that day comes.’ 


text:
The people said, ‘Let us attack Jeremiah. We do not need him. The <i>priests</i> will still teach the <i>law</i>, and <i>wise</i> men will still lead us. We will still have the words of the <i>prophets</i>. So we will speak against Jeremiah with our <i>tongues</i>. We will not listen to anything that he says.’ 


text:
I have tried to teach them well, <n>but they will do bad things to me. <n>Remember that I stood in front of you. And I spoke to you. <n>I asked you not to be angry with them. 


text:
So now cause them not to have any food. <n>Let their enemies kill them with sharp knives. <n>I want their wives to lose their husbands and their children. <n>Let their enemies kill the men. <n>And let the young men die while they are fighting. 


text:
They will shout from their houses <n>when you bring enemies to surprise them. <n>They are trying to catch me in a hole <n>or to tie me like an animal. 


text:
But you, <i>LORD</i>, know <n>the bad things that they want to do to me. <n>Please do not <i>forgive</i> them. <n>And do not forget the bad things that they have done. <n>Watch as their enemies win the fight against them. <n><i>Punish</i> them while you are angry. 


text:
The <i>LORD</i> said to me, ‘Go. And buy a pot from a <i>potter</i> that he has made out of <i>clay</i>. Take some of the leaders of the people and some <i>priests</i> with you. 


text:
Go out into Ben-Hinnom Valley, near to the Piece of Pot gate. There you must speak the words that I will give to you. 


text:
Say, “Hear the <i>LORD</i>’s message, you kings of Judah and people in Jerusalem. The great and powerful <i>LORD</i> says, ‘Listen! I will bring very great trouble to this place. It will be very bad. It will hurt the ears of everyone who hears about it. 


text:
I will do that because you have brought foreign gods to this place. People have burnt animals here to offer to these gods. Neither their <i>ancestors</i> nor the kings of Judah knew those gods. People have killed those who had not done any wrong thing. 


text:
People burned their own sons in fires on the high hills. They offered them to the <i>false</i> god, <i>Baal</i>. That is something that I never asked you to do. I would never have thought to ask it. 


text:
That is why this valley will have a new name’, says the <i>LORD</i>. ‘At a future time, it will not be called Topheth or Ben-Hinnom Valley. No, it will be called “Death Valley”. 


text:
Judah and Jerusalem will not grow in the way that they want. In this place, I will cause their enemies to destroy them. They will kill those who live here. I will give their dead bodies to the birds and to the wild animals for food. 


text:
I will completely destroy this city so that people will be ashamed. Anyone who walks past it will see it. They will see that I have destroyed it. They will think that it did not have any value. That will be because of all its troubles. 


text:
Enemies who want to kill its people will be all round the city. And its people will not have any food. They will be so hungry that they will eat the dead bodies of their children and of each other.’ ” 


text:
Say to them, “The great and powerful <i>LORD</i> says, ‘I will break this country. I will break this city as someone breaks a pot. Nobody will be able to mend it. Topheth will not be able to hold all the dead bodies. 


text:
I will make this city like Topheth. That is what I will do to this city. And I will do it to those who live here. 


text:
I will make the houses in Jerusalem and those of the kings of Judah full of dead bones like Topheth. I will do that to all the places where they burned nice oils. And I will do that to all the places where they poured drinks. That is because they offered them to the stars in the sky and to other gods.’ ” ’ 


text:
Jeremiah returned from Topheth where he had given the <i>LORD</i>’s message to the rulers. Then he went and he stood in the outside part of the <i>LORD</i>’s <i>temple</i>. He spoke to the people. He said, 


text:
‘The great and powerful <i>LORD</i> is saying to you, “Listen! I will do all the really bad things that I promised to do. I will destroy this city and the villages near to it. I will do it because the people in them did not listen to me. I will do it because they would not obey my words.” ’ <n>Topheth was a high place on a hill. There people burnt animals or children to offer them to <i>false</i> gods. The <i>LORD</i> had said that the <i>Jews</i> must not burn their children as gifts to the gods. (See Leviticus 18:21.) Ben-Hinnom Valley was a place outside the city. People put things there that they did not want. People put food that was bad there too. The <i>LORD</i> is telling the rulers of Judah that their dead bodies would join these bad things in that place. 


text:
Pashhur, son of Immer, was the leader of the <i>priests</i> in the <i>LORD</i>’s <i>temple</i>. He heard the things that Jeremiah was <i>prophesying</i>. 


text:
So he caused his men to hit Jeremiah, and to tie him up. They tied him on a seat by the highest gate. That is the gate of Benjamin at the <i>LORD</i>’s <i>temple</i>. 


text:
The next day, Pashhur let Jeremiah go. ‘The <i>LORD</i>’s name for you is not Pashhur, but Magor-Missabib’, Jeremiah said. <n>The name Magor-Missabib means ‘things everywhere round you will make you afraid’. 


text:
‘The <i>LORD</i> says, “I will make you afraid of yourself and your friends will be afraid of you too. With your own eyes, you will see their enemies kill all your friends. I will give all the people in Judah to the king of Babylon and he will take them away. He will take them to Babylon or he will cause his soldiers to kill them. 


text:
I will give all the valuable things in the city to the people’s enemies. I will give all your valuable things, the things that you have made, to them. They will take all the valuable things of the kings of Judah. They will take them away to Babylon because they have won their fight against you. 


text:
And they will take you, Pashhur, and everybody who lives in your house, to Babylon. You will die there and all your friends will die there too. You spoke <i>false prophecies</i> to them. They will bury you there.” ’ <n>Jeremiah cries out to the <i>LORD</i>.</n> 


text:
<i>LORD</i>, you did not tell me how bad they would be to your <i>prophet</i>. <n>You caused me to believe something that was not true. <n>You fought against me. <n>You are stronger than I am. And you won. <n>Nobody believes the words that I speak. They think all the time that I am a fool. 


text:
Every time that I speak, I have to tell them bad things. <n>I shout out that their enemies are all round them. <n>And I shout that their enemies will fight. I shout that they will kill them. <n>These words of yours make them angry with me. <n>So they say bad things about me all the time. 


text:
I want to keep quiet. I do not want to talk about you. <n>I tried to do that. I said that I would not speak on your behalf. <n>But then your words burned like a fire inside me. They did not give me any rest. <n>I am too tired to hold them in. I cannot do it. 


text:
I hear voices that say, ‘Everything round you should make you afraid! <n>Let us tell the officers what he is saying.’ <n>All my friends are waiting for me to make a mistake. They say, <n>‘Perhaps we can cause him to believe something that is not true. <n>Then we can <i>punish</i> him for the bad things that he has said.’ 


text:
But the <i>LORD</i> is with me like a strong soldier. <n>So those who are against me will fail. They will not win. <n>They will fail completely. They will be very ashamed for all time. <n>People will never forget that nobody should <i>honour</i> them. 


text:
Great and powerful <i>LORD</i>, you look at all the people. <n>You know what they think. They think that they are right. <n>Let me see you <i>punish</i> them. Do that because I am <i>trusting</i> you to help me. 


text:
Sing to the <i>LORD</i>! <n>Give <i>praise</i> to the <i>LORD</i>! <n>He saves the lives of poor people from the things that bad men do. 


text:
I will put a <i>curse</i> on the day that I was born. <n>I do not want the day that I was born ever to be happy. 


text:
I will put a <i>curse</i> on the man who told the news to my father. <n>He made my father very happy. He said, <n>‘You have a son!’ 


text:
I want the <i>LORD</i> to kill the man who said that. <n>The <i>LORD</i> was not sorry to destroy our towns. <n>Destroy that man like that. <n>I want him to hear people who are crying in the morning. <n>I want him to hear the shouts of men who fight at noon. 


text:
The <i>LORD</i> did not kill me before I was born. I am angry about that. <n>I was not a dead body buried inside my mother. <n>That body would have kept her big for her whole life. 


text:
I do not know why I came out from my mother. <n>I only get troubles and things that make me sad. <n>People will only say bad things about me when I die. 


text:
King Zedekiah sent Pashhur, son of Malchijah, and the <i>priest</i> Zephaniah, son of Maaseiah, to Jeremiah. 


text:
‘Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, is attacking us’, they said. ‘Ask the <i>LORD</i> for us if he will do something great for us. He did many good things for us before now. Perhaps he will cause Nebuchadnezzar to go away.’ <n>The <i>LORD</i> uses Jeremiah to speak to them.</n> 


text:
“You have <i>weapons</i> in your hands to fight the king of Babylon and his soldiers. But I will turn your <i>weapons</i> against you. The enemy are everywhere round your city’s walls. And I will bring them together inside this city. 


text:
I will attack all the people who live in this city. I will kill them with a very bad illness, both people and animals. 


text:
After that”, the <i>LORD</i> says, “I will take Zedekiah, king of Judah. With him, I will take any of his officers or people that are still alive. I will take anybody that the soldiers have not killed. And I will take everybody who has not died from illness. I will give them to Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon. I will give them to the enemies who want to kill them. He will kill them. He will not be sorry and he will not be kind to them.” 


text:
And tell the people more. Tell them that the <i>LORD</i> says, “I am showing two different paths to you. One path is the way to life and the other path is the way to death. 


text:
Anyone who stays in the city will die from <i>hunger</i> or illness. Or soldiers will kill them. But anyone can go out and he can give himself to the soldiers from Babylon. If he goes outside the city, he will save his life. 


text:
I have decided to hurt this city and not to help it”, says the <i>LORD</i>. “I will give it to the king of Babylon, and he will destroy it with fire.” 


text:
“<i>Descendants</i> of David, the <i>LORD</i> says this: <n>‘You must <i>judge</i> people fairly every day. <n>Perhaps men have taken things from another man. <n>Then save that man from those who have taken his things. <n>If you do not do that, I will be very, very angry. <n>I will be angry because of the bad thing that you have done. <n>I will be so angry that my <i>anger</i> will burn like a fire. <n>Nobody can put out that fire. 


text:
I am your enemy, people in Jerusalem. <n>You live over this valley on a rocky hill’, <n>the <i>LORD</i> says. <n>‘You say, “Nobody can attack us. <n>Nobody can get into our strong city.” 


text:
But I will <i>punish</i> you for all the bad things that you have done’, <n>says the <i>LORD</i>. <n>‘I will light a fire in your trees. <n>Then that fire will destroy everything that is round you.’ ” ’ 


text:
‘Go down to the house of the king of Judah’, the <i>LORD</i> said to me. ‘You must say this to them there. 


text:
“Hear the <i>LORD</i>’s message, king of Judah, who sits on the <i>throne</i> of David. These words are for you. And they are for your officers and for all the people who come here. 


text:
The <i>LORD</i> says, ‘You must do the things that are right and fair. If someone has taken away a person’s things, you should save that person. Save him from the man who took them. Do not hurt foreign people or children without living parents. Do not hurt <i>widows</i>. Do not kill anyone who has not done anything wrong. 


text:
If you are careful to obey all these rules, your kings will stay here. The <i>descendants</i> of David will ride in on horses, and on <i>chariots</i>. Their officers and people will come with them. 


text:
But you will have trouble if you do not obey my rules’, the <i>LORD</i> says. ‘I, myself, promise that your enemies will break down your house.’ ” ’ 


text:
The <i>LORD</i> says this: He is speaking about the <i>palace</i> of the king of Judah. <n>‘I will make you like a <i>desert</i>. <n>You may be like Gilead or like the mountains of Lebanon. <n>But I will make you like towns where nobody lives. 


text:
I will send enemies against you with their <i>weapons</i>. <n>They will cut down your strong walls of wood <n>and they will throw them into the fire. 


text:
People from many countries will pass by. They will ask, “Why has the <i>LORD</i> done this to such a great city?” 


text:
Other people will answer, “They have not done what they promised to the <i>LORD</i>, their God. They have <i>worshipped</i> other gods, and they have become their servants. That is why he has done this.” ’ 


text:
Do not cry because the king is dead. Do not be sad that he is gone. <n>But cry much for the people that enemies have taken to a foreign country. <n>Cry because they will never come back. <n>They will never see their own country again. 


text:
The <i>LORD</i> says this about Shallum, son of Josiah: ‘He became king after his father, but he has gone away. He will never return to this place. 


text:
He will die in the place that they have taken him to. They have put him in a prison there. He will not see this country again.’ <n>Many Bible students think that Shallum is another name for Jehoahaz. 


text:
‘A man might use the bad things that he does to build his <i>palace</i>. <n>But he will never be happy. <n>The person who is not fair to his workers will also never be happy. <n>He causes people in his own country to work for nothing. <n>He does not give to them the money for their work. 


text:
He says, “I will build myself a great <i>palace</i>. <n>I will build rooms on the ground and big rooms over them. <n>I will make big windows and I will cover the walls with nice smelling wood. <n>I will make it beautiful with red paint.” 


text:
But red wood does not make you a greater king. <n>Your father had enough food and drink. <n>And he did what was right and fair. So his life was good. 


text:
He helped people who were poor. And he helped those who needed his help. <n>So everything was good for you. <n>That happens when people know me’, <n>the <i>LORD</i> says. 


text:
‘But you only want to get rich in ways that are not fair. <n>People do not do anything wrong, but you kill them. <n>And you cause people to give money to you that is not yours.’ 


text:
So the <i>LORD</i> says this about Jehoiakim, son of Josiah, king of Judah. <n>‘They will not be sad when he dies. <n>They will not say, “My brother, how sad, my sister.” <n>They will not say, “My poor master, how great he was.” 


text:
They will bury him like a dead animal. <n>They will pull his dead body to the gate and they will throw it outside Jerusalem. 


text:
Go up to Lebanon and shout. <n>Shout loudly in Bashan. <n>Shout out from Abarim. <n>Shout because all your friends are gone. 


text:
I did tell you that it would happen. <n>But you thought that you were safe. <n>And you said, “I will not listen!” <n>You have been like that since you were young. <n>You have not obeyed me. 


text:
Your rulers will leave you, as if the wind had blown them away. <n>Enemies will take your friends to a country far away. <n>Then you will be ashamed and you will feel sad. <n>You will be sorry for all the wrong things that you have done. 


text:
Some of you live in Lebanon in houses of wood that smells nice. <n>But you will shout with pain when you start to have troubles. <n>It will be like the pain of a woman who is having a baby.’ 


text:
‘This is as sure as the fact that I am alive’, says the <i>LORD</i>. ‘I will let this happen to you, Coniah, son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah. I will pull you off as I would pull a valuable ring from my right hand. 


text:
I will give you to those men that you are afraid of. I will give you to those people who want to kill you. I will give Nebuchadnezzar and the people from Babylon power over you. 


text:
I will throw you and your mother into another country. I will send you both to a country that you do not know. It is a country where neither of you was born. You will both die there. 


text:
This man Coniah must be like a pot that somebody has broken. Nobody seems to want him. <n>He and his children will go out into a country that they do not know. 


text:
‘Write this man’s name. Write it as the name of a man without any children.’ <n>The <i>LORD</i> says, <n>‘Nothing good will happen to this man while he lives. <n>And no good thing will happen to his <i>descendants</i>. <n>Not one <i>descendant</i> will sit on the <i>throne</i> of David. <n>None of them will rule in Judah.’ 


text:
‘I will cause trouble to the rulers who are destroying my people. They cause them to run away’, the <i>LORD</i> says. 


text:
So he says to them, ‘You rulers should <i>care</i> for my people as a <i>shepherd cares</i> for his sheep. I will <i>punish</i> you because you have done this <i>evil</i> thing. You have caused my people to run away to many different places. You have not <i>cared</i> for them’, says the <i>LORD</i>. 


text:
‘I myself will fetch all my people who are still alive. I will fetch them from the countries that they ran to. I will bring them back to their own country. There they will have children and they will grow in number. 


text:
I will give to them rulers who will <i>care</i> for them. My people will not be afraid. Not one person will be <i>missing</i>’, says the <i>LORD</i>. 


text:
‘The time is coming’, says the <i>LORD</i>, <n>‘when I will give a good son to David’s <i>descendants</i>. <n>He will rule in a right way and with understanding. <n>He will <i>judge</i> fairly in the country. 


text:
When he is ruling, Judah will be safe. <n>And Israel will not be afraid then. <n>People will give this name to him: <n>“The <i>LORD</i> makes us right and good”.’ 


text:
‘People will speak in a new way at a future time’, says the <i>LORD</i>. ‘They will not say again, “This is as sure as the fact that the <i>LORD</i> is alive. I am sure that he brought Israel’s people out of Egypt.” 


text:
But they will say, “This is as sure as the fact that the <i>LORD</i> is alive. I am sure that he brought Israel’s <i>descendants</i> out of the countries in the north. And he brought them out of all the countries that he had sent them to.” Then they will live in their own country.’ <n><i>Prophets</i> who say things that are not true</n> 


text:
I must speak about the <i>prophets</i>. <n>My mind is not happy. <n>My body feels weak and ill. <n>I am like a man who has drunk too much <i>wine</i>. <n>The <i>LORD</i> has spoken to me, and his words are <i>holy</i>. 


text:
The country is full of men who have sex with other men’s wives. <n>Because of that, the country is as dry as dead bones. <n>And all the plants in the fields are dead. <n>The <i>prophets</i> are doing things that are wrong. <n>And they do not use their power in the right way. 


text:
‘And the <i>prophets</i> and the <i>priests</i> do not give <i>honour</i> to me. <n>Even in my <i>temple</i> I see them. And they are doing things that are very wrong’, <n>says the <i>LORD</i>. 


text:
‘Because of that, I will make it difficult for them to do their work. <n>I will send them away to a dark place where they will fall. <n>Many bad things will happen to them when I start to <i>punish</i> them’, <n>says the <i>LORD</i>. 


text:
‘I saw a very bad thing that the <i>prophets</i> in Samaria did. <n>They were speaking the name of the <i>false</i> god, <i>Baal</i> when they were <i>prophesying</i>. <n>They did not tell my people things that were right. <n>So they caused them to do wrong things. 


text:
Some <i>prophets</i> in Jerusalem <n>were doing wrong things too. <n>I saw them having sex with other men’s wives. <n>But they let people think that they were good. <n>They say that it is good for men to do <i>evil</i> things. <n>So they let them continue to do things that are wrong. <n>They seem as bad to me as were the people in Sodom. <n>The people in Jerusalem are as bad as the people in Gomorrah.’ <n>There were not even 10 good men in the cities called Sodom and Gomorrah. So the <i>LORD</i> had destroyed those cities. (See Genesis 18:20-33.) The men there had sex with other men and they wanted to cause male visitors to have sex with them. (See Genesis 19:5-9.) 


text:
So the great and powerful <i>LORD</i> says this about the <i>prophets</i>: <n>‘I will cause them to eat food that tastes bad. <n>And I will cause them to drink water that will make them ill. <n>That is because of the things that the <i>prophets</i> in Jerusalem have done. <n>They have caused all the people in the country to turn away from God.’ 


text:
The great and powerful <i>LORD</i> says: <n>‘Do not listen to the words that the <i>prophets</i> are <i>prophesying</i> to you. <n>They cause you to believe things that are not true. <n>They tell you about pictures that they have made in their own minds. <n>They do not speak the words that come from the <i>LORD</i>’s mouth. 


text:
They continue to think that I am worth nothing. <n>And they cause other people to think as they think. <n>They say that the <i>LORD</i> has said to them, <n>“You will have <i>peace</i>. <n>Nothing bad will happen to you.” <n>Some people refuse to change the things that they are doing. <n>But the <i>prophets</i> say those good things to all those people. 


text:
But none of them has been with the <i>LORD</i>. <n>They have not seen him and they have not heard his word. <n>They have not listened to him. 


text:
But you will see that the <i>LORD</i> will be very angry. <n>He will be angry like a storm and a strong wind. <n>He will knock down people who do wrong things. 


text:
Nothing will cause the <i>LORD</i> to stop being angry. <n>He will finish completely everything that he wants to do. <n>At a future time, you will understand all of this. 


text:
I did not send these <i>prophets</i>. <n>But they have still run to tell their message to you. <n>I did not speak to them, <n>but they have <i>prophesied</i>. 


text:
If they had met with me, <n>they would have spoken my words to the people. <n>Then my people would have turned away from the things that are wrong. <n>They would have stopped doing bad things. 


text:
Nobody can hide in a secret place <n>so that I cannot see him’, says the <i>LORD</i>. <n>‘I am in all the earth and in all the sky’, says the <i>LORD</i>. 


text:
‘I have heard the things that these <i>prophets</i> say. They say things that are not true. They give <i>false</i> messages. They say that they are messages from me. They say, “I had a dream.” 


text:
They should stop speaking <i>false</i> words. They make pictures in their own minds. And they say that they are <i>prophecies</i>. 


text:
They tell their dreams to each other. They think that their dreams will cause my people to forget my name. Then they would be like their <i>ancestors</i> who forgot me. They forgot me when they <i>worshipped</i> the <i>false</i> god, <i>Baal</i>. 


text:
A <i>prophet</i> may have a dream. That <i>prophet</i> can tell people that it is only a dream. But anyone who has heard my words must be sure to give my message to people. The dream and my message are very different. Their dream is nothing but my message is everything good’, says the <i>LORD</i>. 


text:
‘My word is like a fire’, says the <i>LORD</i>. ‘It is like a hammer that breaks a rock in pieces.’ 


text:
‘The <i>prophets</i> take each other’s words. Then they say that they came from me. That is why I am against them’, says the <i>LORD</i>. 


text:
‘Yes’, says the <i>LORD</i>, ‘They tell people what they think. But they say, “The <i>LORD</i> says.” ’ 


text:
‘Yes, I am against those who <i>prophesy false</i> dreams’, says the <i>LORD</i>. ‘Those dreams that they tell to the people lead the people away from me. Their stories cause people to believe things that are not true. I did not send them and I did not give my authority to them. They do not help my people’, the <i>LORD</i> says. <n><i>False prophets</i> and their <i>false prophecies</i></n> 


text:
‘These people or a <i>prophet</i> or a <i>priest</i> may ask you, “What is the <i>LORD</i> saying?” Then you must say to them, “ ‘I will leave you’, he says”. 


text:
If a <i>prophet</i> or a <i>priest</i> says, “This is a message from the <i>LORD</i>”, I will <i>punish</i> him. I will <i>punish</i> that man and all the people who are in his house. 


text:
You can ask your friends and families questions. “What is the <i>LORD</i>’s answer?” or “What has the <i>LORD</i> said?” you can say. 


text:
But you must not speak again about the <i>LORD</i>’s message. You say that it is a message from the <i>LORD</i>. But you are really speaking your own words. In that way, you change the words of the living God. You change the words of the great powerful <i>LORD</i>, our God. 


text:
You can ask a <i>prophet</i>, “What is the <i>LORD</i>’s answer to you?” or “What did the <i>LORD</i> say?” 


text:
You might say, “This is the <i>LORD</i>’s message.” But the <i>LORD</i> says to you, “You said that your words were my message. You did that. But I had told you not to use the words, ‘This is the <i>LORD</i>’s message.’ ” 


text:
Because of that, I will certainly forget you. I will push you away from me and from this city. You will leave the city that I gave to you and to your <i>ancestors</i>. 


text:
I will make you ashamed. People will always remember that I made you ashamed. They will not forget.’ 


text:
Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon took Jeconiah away to Babylon. Jeconiah was the son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah. He took with him all Jeconiah’s officers and all the men who had clever hands. After that, the <i>LORD</i> showed two baskets of <i>figs</i> to me. 


text:
One basket had very good fruit, like the first fruit on a tree. The other basket had very bad fruit. It was so bad that nobody could eat it. 


text:
Then the <i>LORD</i> asked me, ‘What do you see, Jeremiah?’ <n>‘<i>Figs</i>’, I answered, ‘the good ones are very good. But the bad ones are so bad that nobody can eat them.’ 


text:
‘The <i>LORD</i>, the God of Israel, says, “The people that I sent away from Judah are like the good <i>figs</i>. I see them as good. I sent them away from this place to Babylon. 


text:
I will watch them, and I will cause good things to happen to them. I will bring them back to this country. I will build them like a strong building and I will not destroy them. I will put them where they can grow like a plant. And I will not pull them up. 


text:
I will cause them to want to know me, the <i>LORD</i>. They will be my people and I will be their God. That will happen because they will completely return to me. <n>


text:
But Zedekiah, his officers and the people who are still in Jerusalem are like the bad <i>figs</i>. They are like the <i>figs</i> that nobody can eat. They may stay in this country or they may live in Egypt. But I will cause them to have to run from one country to another country. The people in all the <i>kingdoms</i> on the earth will hate them. People will not want them. And they will say that they are silly. And they will say bad things about them and they will <i>curse</i> them. They will do that in every place that I send them to. 


text:
I will send soldiers and illness to kill them. They will not have enough food to eat. So I will kill all the people still in the country that I gave to their <i>ancestors</i>.” ’ 


text:
The <i>LORD</i> spoke to Jeremiah in the 4th year of Jehoiakim. Jehoiakim was the son of Josiah king of Judah. The <i>LORD</i> spoke about the people in Judah. It was the first year when Nebuchadnezzar was the king of Babylon. 


text:
So Jeremiah the <i>prophet</i> spoke to all the people in Judah and to those who were living in Jerusalem. He said, 


text:
‘For 23 years the <i>LORD</i> has spoken to me. And I have told you the words that he has said. I have done that since the 13th year of Josiah. He was the son of Amon, king of Judah. I have spoken to you again and again, but you have never listened. 


text:
And you have not listened to the <i>prophets</i>, the <i>LORD</i>’s servants, at all. Even when the <i>LORD</i> sent them again and again, you would not listen to their words. 


text:
“Turn away from all the wrong things that you are doing. You know that they are bad”, they said. “If you stop doing <i>evil</i> things, you can stay in the country. It is the country that the <i>LORD</i> gave to you and to your <i>ancestors</i> for all time. 


text:
Do not work for other gods and do not <i>worship</i> them. You must not do the things that their servants do. Stop making the <i>LORD</i> angry. You are making him angry because you are making <i>false</i> gods with your hands. If you stop making the <i>LORD</i> angry, he will not hurt you.” ’ 


text:
‘But you did not listen to me’, the <i>LORD</i> says. ‘And you have made me angry because of the things that you have made. So I will cause trouble for you. That is only because you refused to obey me.’ 


text:
So I will call the <i>nations</i> in the north. And I will call my servant Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon’, he says. ‘And I will bring them to fight against this country and against the people who live here. They will also fight against all the countries round you. I will destroy all of those countries completely. They will be places that people are afraid of. They will say that people could not keep their countries safe. They will remain like a <i>desert</i> for all time. 


text:
I will stop any sounds of happy parties. Nobody will get married here. Nobody will make flour here. No lights will shine here. 


text:
The whole country will be empty and nobody will live here. The people from all these countries will work for 70 years for the king of Babylon. 


text:
But after the 70 years, I will <i>punish</i> the king of Babylon and his country. I will <i>punish</i> the people in Babylon for the bad things that they did’, says the <i>LORD</i>. ‘I will make Babylon empty for all time. Nobody will live there. 


text:
I will cause everything to happen to it that I have spoken about. You can read all those things in this book. They are the <i>prophecies</i> of Jeremiah against the countries. 


text:
Many countries and great kings will take the people from Babylon themselves as slaves. I will do to them all the bad things that they did to other <i>nations</i>.’ <n>Jeremiah takes a cup from the <i>LORD</i>.</n> 


text:
The <i>LORD</i>, the God of Israel, said to me, ‘Here is a cup that is full of <i>wine</i>. The <i>wine</i> is a picture of my <i>anger</i>. In the countries that I send you to, you must cause the people there to drink this <i>wine</i>. 


text:
I will send armies against them. Then when they drink the <i>wine</i> of my <i>anger</i> they will become crazy.’ 


text:
So I took the cup from the <i>LORD</i>’s hand. As in a picture, I saw all the countries that he had sent me to. Their people were drinking from the cup. 


text:
The people in Jerusalem and in all the towns in Judah drank from it. And their kings and officers also drank. Then God would break up all their country. He would make it a thing that people would turn away from. People would think that they did not have any value. And they would <i>curse</i> them. That is what they do today. 


text:
Pharaoh, king of Egypt and all his officers, his slaves and all his people would drink from the cup. 


text:
And all the foreign people in Egypt would drink from it too. The kings that must drink from the cup include the kings of Uz and all the kings of Philistia. (The kings of Philistia include the kings of the people in Ashkelon, Gaza, and Ekron. And they include the king of all the people who are still at Ashdod.) 


text:
Dedan, Tema, and Buz would drink from the cup. And everyone in far places would drink from the cup. 


text:
All the kings of Arabia and the kings of the foreign people who live in the <i>desert</i> would drink. 


text:
All the kings of the north would drink whether they live near or a long way away. The people in all the <i>kingdoms</i> on the earth will drink, one after another. The last to drink will be the king of Sheshach (Babylon). 


text:
Then tell them that the great and powerful <i>LORD</i>, the God of Israel, says, “Drink. Become ill with drink and be sick. Fall down and never get up again. I will send men with <i>swords</i> to hurt you.” 


text:
But they may refuse to take the cup and to drink from it. Then you must tell them that they must drink my <i>wine</i>. Say, “The great and powerful <i>LORD</i> says, 


text:
‘See the things that I am beginning to do. I am beginning to destroy the city that has my name. And I will <i>punish</i> all you people. I will bring war against everyone who lives on the earth. And that is the time when I will <i>punish</i> you.’ The great and powerful <i>LORD</i> is saying those things.” 


text:
Now <i>prophesy</i> all these words against them. Say to them, <n>“The <i>LORD</i> will shout from his high place. <n>He will make a noise like a storm from his <i>holy</i> place. <n>His great voice will shout against this country. <n>He will shout like the men who jump on <i>grapes</i> to make <i>wine</i>. <n>He will shout against all people who live on the earth. 


text:
The noise will be so great that all the earth will hear it. <n>That is because the <i>LORD</i> will <i>punish</i> all the countries. <n>He will <i>judge</i> all the people on the earth. <n>Soldiers will kill those people who have done any wrong things.” <n>Those are the <i>LORD</i>’s words.’ 


text:
The great and powerful <i>LORD</i> says, <n>‘Look! I am destroying one country after another. <n>A great storm is coming from the ends of the earth.’ 


text:
At that time dead bodies will lie everywhere. They will cover the earth. Nobody will cry because they are dead. Nobody will take them to bury them in the ground. They will lie there like things that people have thrown away. 


text:
You <i>shepherds</i> of my people will cry aloud. <n>Roll on the ground, you who lead them. <n>The time for you to die has come. <n>You will fall and you will break in pieces, like a pot. 


text:
The <i>shepherds</i> will not find anywhere to run and to hide. <n>The leaders will not be able to run away. 


text:
You will hear the leaders shout out. <n>They will shout loudly <n>because the <i>LORD</i> is destroying their country. 


text:
He will come out of his home like a <i>lion</i>. <n>And he will make their country a <i>desert</i>. <n>It will be empty because of the enemy’s army. <n>It will be empty because the <i>LORD</i> is very angry. 


text:
‘The <i>LORD</i> says. “Stand in front of my house and speak to all the people there. People from all the towns in Judah come to <i>worship</i> in the <i>LORD</i>’s house. Tell them everything that I say. Do not leave out one word. 


text:
Perhaps they will listen. And perhaps they will each turn away from the <i>evil</i> things that they are doing. Then I will change the thing that I had decided to do to them. I will not send very bad trouble to them.” 


text:
You must obey me and you must listen to the words of my <i>prophets</i>. If you do not obey me, I will <i>punish</i> you. I have sent my <i>prophets</i> to you again and again. But you have not listened to them. 


text:
So I will destroy this house. I will make it like Shiloh. And people in other countries will call this city a <i>curse</i>.’ ” ’ <n>An enemy had destroyed the <i>holy</i> place at Shiloh, a long time before this. 


text:
The <i>priests</i>, the <i>prophets</i> and all the people heard Jeremiah while he was speaking. He spoke the <i>LORD</i>’s words in the <i>LORD</i>’s house. 


text:
Jeremiah said everything that the <i>LORD</i> had given to him to say. When he had finished, the <i>priests</i>, <i>prophets</i> and people took him. They said, ‘You must die! 


text:
You should not <i>prophesy</i> that this house will be like Shiloh. You have said, “Enemies will destroy this city. And it will be empty after they have gone.” But you must not say that.’ And all the people became a crowd round Jeremiah in the <i>LORD</i>’s house. 


text:
The officers of Judah heard those words. So they left the king’s house and they went up to the <i>LORD</i>’s house. They sat in their places at the way into the New Gate. 


text:
Then the <i>priests</i> and the <i>prophets</i> spoke to the officers and to all the people. They said, ‘You must decide to kill this man. He has <i>prophesied</i> against this city. Your ears heard him say it!’ 


text:
Then Jeremiah said to all the officers and to all the people, ‘The <i>LORD</i> sent me to <i>prophesy</i> against this house and against this city. He told me that I must say those things. And you have heard the words that he gave to me. 


text:
Now you must turn away from the wrong things that you are doing. You must obey the <i>LORD</i> your God. Then the <i>LORD</i> will change his thoughts. He will not do all these bad things that he has told you about. 


text:
But I am sure that I have not done any wrong things. If you kill me, God will <i>punish</i> you. And he will <i>punish</i> your city and all the people who live in it. The <i>LORD</i> really did send me to speak all these words for you to hear. They are true.’ 


text:
Then the officers and all the people spoke to the <i>priests</i> and to the <i>prophets</i>. They said, ‘This man should not die. He has spoken to us on behalf of the <i>LORD</i>.’ 


text:
‘Micah from Moresheth <i>prophesied</i> when Hezekiah was king of Judah. He told all the people in Judah the words that the <i>LORD</i> had said. He said, <n>“<i>Zion</i> will be like a field. <n>Jerusalem will become a lot of stones. <n>The hill that the <i>temple</i> is on will have weeds everywhere.” 


text:
Neither King Hezekiah nor anyone else in Judah caused Micah to die. Hezekiah was afraid to make the <i>LORD</i> angry and he wanted to <i>honour</i> the <i>LORD</i>. And he wanted to give pleasure to him. And then the <i>LORD</i> changed what he had decided to do. He did not send to them what he had promised to send. We will cause a lot of trouble for ourselves!’ 


text:
(Uriah, son of Shemaiah from Kiriath-Jearim, was another <i>prophet</i>. He <i>prophesied</i> on behalf of the <i>LORD</i> against this city and against this country. He <i>prophesied</i> with the <i>LORD</i>’s authority against this city and against this country. He said things like the things that Jeremiah said. 


text:
When King Jehoiakim and all his officers heard those words, the king wanted to kill Uriah. But Uriah was afraid when people told him about that. So he ran away to Egypt. 


text:
They brought Uriah back to King Jehoiakim. The king caused his soldiers to kill Uriah. And they threw his dead body down in the place where they buried poor people.) 


text:
Ahikam, son of Shaphan, also said that Jeremiah spoke the true words of the <i>LORD</i>. So the officers did not let the people kill Jeremiah. 


text:
The <i>LORD</i> spoke to Jeremiah soon after Zedekiah became king. Zedekiah was the son of Josiah and he had become king of Judah. 


text:
Then send for the <i>messengers</i> in Jerusalem. They have come from other countries to see Zedekiah, king of Judah. The kings of Edom, Moab, Ammon, Tyre and Sidon sent them here. 


text:
Give to them a message for their masters. Say, “The great powerful <i>LORD</i>, the God of Israel, says this: ‘Tell this to your masters: 


text:
I made this earth with my long arm and with my great power. I made the people and the animals on the earth. And I will give it to anyone that I choose. 


text:
Now I will give all your countries to my servant Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon. He will have power over you and even over the wild animals. 


text:
People from all countries will <i>serve</i> him and his son and his grandson. They will <i>serve</i> him and his sons for as long as I let him and his sons rule. Then people from many countries will join together and they will take away his power. 


text:
If the people from any country will not <i>serve</i> Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, I will <i>punish</i> those people. I will send soldiers or illness or I will destroy their food. I will cause Nebuchadnezzar to do that if the people in that country will not be his servants. 


text:
So do not listen to your <i>prophets</i>, or to your people. They think that they know about future things. But they do not know. Do not listen to those who ask <i>spirits</i> for help. Do not listen to those who try to understand dreams. They might tell you that you will not become servants of the king of Babylon. 


text:
They would not be telling you what is true. That would make it sure that an enemy would take you a long way from your own country. I would send you away and you would die there. 


text:
But the people from a country might decide to obey the king of Babylon. They might become his servants. Then I would let those people remain in their own country. They could continue to live there’ ” ’, says the <i>LORD</i>. 


text:
I gave the same message to the king of Judah. I said, ‘Put on the <i>yoke</i> of the king of Babylon. You and your people must become his servants. Then you will live. 


text:
You and your people do not want to die. Any people who do not <i>serve</i> the king of Babylon will die. The <i>LORD</i> has promised this. He will kill those people with soldiers or with illness. Or they will die because they do not have any food. 


text:
Do not listen to the words of the <i>prophets</i> who say, “You will not <i>serve</i> the king of Babylon.” They are <i>prophesying lies</i>. 


text:
“I have not sent those <i>prophets</i>”, says the <i>LORD</i>. “They are using my name. But they are saying things that are not true. So I will send you away and you will die. You and the <i>prophets</i> who are <i>prophesying</i> to you will die.” ’ 


text:
Then I spoke to the <i>priests</i> and to all the people. I said, ‘The <i>LORD</i> says, “Do not listen to the <i>prophets</i>. They tell you that people will soon bring back from Babylon the things from the <i>LORD</i>’s house. But the things that they say are not true. 


text:
Do not listen to them. If you <i>serve</i> the king of Babylon, you will live. You do not want him to destroy this city! 


text:
Proper <i>prophets</i> who had heard the <i>LORD</i>’s message would ask him for help. They would ask the great powerful God to let the things still in the <i>LORD</i>’s house stay there. They would ask him not to let people take them to Babylon. They would ask that the things from the king’s house and in Jerusalem would remain there.” 


text:
Nebuchadnezzar let them remain here when he took Jehoiakim, king of Judah, away. He took him then with all the great people in Judah and in Jerusalem. He took them from Jerusalem to Babylon. 


text:
Yes, the <i>LORD</i> says. He says this about all the things that they had let remain in the <i>LORD</i>’s house and in the king’s <i>palace</i>: 


text:
“Nebuchadnezzar’s people will take them to Babylon. They will stay there until I come for them. Then I will bring them and I will put them back in this place.” ’ 


text:
The <i>prophet</i> Hananiah, son of Azzur, spoke to me. He spoke to me in the house of the <i>LORD</i> that same year. It was the 5th month of the 4th year, soon after Zedekiah had become king of Judah. Hananiah came from Gibeon. He spoke to me in front of the <i>priests</i> and all the people. 


text:
‘The great and powerful <i>LORD</i>, the God of Israel says this’, he said. ‘I will break the <i>yoke</i> of the king of Babylon. 


text:
Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon took many things from the <i>LORD</i>’s house. He took them to Babylon. In less than two years, I will bring them back to this place. 


text:
I will also bring back Jeconiah, king of Judah, and many other people. I will bring back all the people that Nebuchadnezzar took to Babylon. I will break his <i>yoke</i>’, says the <i>LORD</i>. <n>People made <i>yokes</i> from wood. And they put them on the shoulders of men or animals. They could tie heavy things to a <i>yoke</i>. Then the men could carry the things, or animals could pull them. Nebuchadnezzar was causing the men in Israel to do his work. 


text:
Jeremiah replied to the <i>prophet</i> Hananiah in front of the <i>priests</i> and in front of all the people. They were all standing in the house of the <i>LORD</i>. 


text:
‘<i>Amen</i>!’ he said. ‘I want the <i>LORD</i> to do that! I want him to bring back all the things to the <i>LORD</i>’s house. I want him to bring back all the people that Nebuchadnezzar took to Babylon. I want him to do as you have <i>prophesied</i>. 


text:
Many <i>prophets</i> have <i>prophesied</i> for many years before us. They said that war and illness would happen. They said that people would not have any food. Those things would happen in many countries and <i>kingdoms</i>, they said. 


text:
Other <i>prophets</i> say that <i>peace</i> will happen. That <i>peace</i> may happen. Only then can we know that their words are true. And we will know that the <i>LORD</i> has sent them.’ 


text:
Then the <i>prophet</i> Hananiah took the <i>yoke</i> off the neck of the <i>prophet</i> Jeremiah and he broke it. 


text:
He said in front of all the people, ‘The <i>LORD</i> says, “I will break the <i>yoke</i> of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon like that. In less than two years I will break his <i>yoke</i> from the neck of all the countries.” ’ After that, the <i>prophet</i> Jeremiah went away. 


text:
A short time after Hananiah had broken the <i>yoke</i> from Jeremiah’s neck, the <i>LORD</i> spoke to Jeremiah. 


text:
‘Go. And tell my words to Hananiah’, he said. ‘Tell him that the <i>LORD</i> says, “You have broken a <i>yoke</i> of wood, but I will give to you a <i>yoke</i> of iron in its place.” 


text:
The great and powerful <i>LORD</i> says this: The God of Israel says, “I will put an iron <i>yoke</i> on the neck of all those countries to make them slaves. They will <i>serve</i> Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon. I will even give to him power over the wild animals.” ’ 


text:
Then the <i>prophet</i> Jeremiah said to the <i>prophet</i> Hananiah, ‘Listen! The <i>LORD</i> has not sent you, Hananiah. But you have spoken things that are not true to the people in this country. And they believed that they were the <i>LORD</i>’s words. 


text:
So the <i>LORD</i> says, “I will cause you to die this year because you have taught people not to obey the <i>LORD</i>.” ’ 


text:
Jeremiah sent a letter from Jerusalem to Babylon. He sent it to the <i>Jewish</i> leaders and to the <i>priests</i>, <i>prophets</i> and people who were still there. Nebuchadnezzar had taken them from Jerusalem to Babylon. 


text:
(That was after Nebuchadnezzar had taken King Jeconiah and his mother. He had taken them to Babylon with Jeconiah’s officers. The leaders of Judah and Jerusalem and all the men who worked with clever hands had gone with them.) 


text:
Zedekiah was the king of Judah. He sent some men to King Nebuchadnezzar in Babylon. They were Elasah, son of Shaphan, and Gemariah, son of Hilkiah. Jeremiah gave his letter to them. It said this: 


text:
The great and powerful <i>LORD</i>, the God of Israel, says this to all the people. They were the people that he sent away to Babylon. 


text:
You must marry each other and you must have sons and daughters. Find wives for your sons, and let your daughters marry. Then they too can have sons and daughters. I want the numbers of the people of Israel in Babylon to grow more. I do not want them to become fewer. 


text:
Try to make the city where you are living rich. Pray to the <i>LORD</i> that it will do well. If it does become rich, you will become rich too.’ 


text:
Yes, the great and powerful <i>LORD</i>, the God of Israel says, ‘The <i>prophets</i> and the people look for signs. They tell <i>false</i> stories to you. Do not listen to them. Do not listen to the dreams that you ask them to have. 


text:
They say that they are <i>prophesying</i> with my authority. But the things that they are telling you are not true. I have not sent them’, says the <i>LORD</i>. 


text:
The <i>LORD</i> says, ‘I will come to you when you have been in Babylon for 70 years. Then I will do as I kindly promised you. I will bring you back to this place. 


text:
I want to do many good things for you’, the <i>LORD</i> says. ‘I want you to become rich and strong, and I do not want to hurt you. I want you to believe that you will have a good future life. 


text:
Then you will ask for my help. And you will come and you will pray to me. And I will listen to you. 


text:
‘You will find me’, says the <i>LORD</i>. ‘And I will bring you back from the foreign countries where you were slaves. I will bring you back from all the countries and from among the people that I sent you to’, he says. ‘I will bring you back from the places that I sent you away to.’ 


text:
But I must tell you what the <i>LORD</i> says about all the people in this city (Jerusalem). He is speaking to the king who sits on David’s <i>throne</i>. And he speaks to all his people who are still in this city. They are the people who did not go with you to Babylon. 


text:
Yes, the great powerful <i>LORD</i> says, ‘I will send men with <i>swords</i> to hurt them. They will not have enough to eat and I will make them ill. They will be like bad <i>figs</i> that nobody can eat. 


text:
I will send men to run after them with <i>swords</i>. They will not have any food and I will make them ill. I will cause the people in all the other countries to <i>hate</i> them. People will say many bad things about them. I will send them to many <i>nations</i>. The people in other countries will all think that they are worth nothing. 


text:
I will cause that to happen because they have not listened to my words’, says the <i>LORD</i>. ‘I sent these words to them again and again by my servants the <i>prophets</i>. And you, my people in Babylon, have not listened either’, says the <i>LORD</i>. 


text:
The great and powerful <i>LORD</i>, the God of Israel, says this: Ahab, son of Kolaiah, and Zedekiah, son of Maaseiah, say that they are <i>prophesying</i> with my authority. But they are telling you things that are not true. So I will give them to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and he will kill them in front of you. 


text:
Because of them, the people from Judah that I sent to Babylon will use this <i>curse</i>. “We want the God of Israel to make you like Zedekiah and Ahab. He caused them to burn in the fire.” 


text:
That is because they have done very bad things in Israel. They have had sex with other men’s wives. They have used my name to speak words that are not true. I did not tell them to say those words. I know this and I have seen it’, says the <i>LORD</i>. <n>A message to Shemaiah</n> 


text:
‘You sent letters on your own behalf to all the people in Jerusalem’, says the great and powerful <i>LORD</i>, the God of Israel. ‘You wrote to Zephaniah, son of Maaseiah the <i>priest</i>, and to all the other <i>priests</i>. You said to Zephaniah, 


text:
“The <i>LORD</i> has made you <i>priest</i> instead of Jehoiada to <i>care</i> for the house of the <i>LORD</i>. You should put silly men who say that they are <i>prophets</i> into the <i>stocks</i>. You should put their feet between two pieces of wood and you should put their neck in an iron ring. 


text:
So I do not know why you have not <i>punished</i> Jeremiah from Anathoth. He is among you. And he says that he is a <i>prophet</i>. 


text:
He has sent a message to us in Babylon. He says that we will be here for a long time. He tells us that we should build houses. He says that we should make ourselves comfortable. And he says that we should grow food to eat.” ’ 


text:
‘Send this message to all the <i>Jews</i> in Babylon’, he said. ‘The <i>LORD</i> says about Shemaiah from Nehelam. “Shemaiah has <i>prophesied</i> to you. But I did not send him. And he has caused you to believe a <i>lie</i>.” 


text:
So the <i>LORD</i> says, “I will certainly <i>punish</i> Shemaiah and his <i>descendants</i>. He will not have any <i>descendants</i> that are still alive among my people. He will not see the good things that I will do for my people”, says the <i>LORD</i>, “That is because he has taught my people not to obey me.” ’ 


text:
The time is coming”, says the <i>LORD</i>, “when I will bring back my people. I will bring Israel’s people and Judah’s people back from the countries where they are <i>prisoners</i>. I will take them back to the country that I gave to their <i>ancestors</i>”, says the <i>LORD</i>.’ 


text:
‘The <i>LORD</i> says, <n>“People will shout because they are afraid. They will not have any <i>peace</i>. 


text:
Men cannot have children. <n>But every strong man is holding his body <n>like a woman who is giving birth to a child. <n>Every face is as white as death. 


text:
That will be a day when everyone is afraid. <n>There will not be any other day like that day. <n>It will be a time of trouble for Jacob. <n>But I will save him out of all that trouble.” <n>Jacob was the <i>ancestor</i> of all the <i>Jews</i>. 


text:
“On that day I will break the <i>yoke</i> from your necks. <n>The <i>LORD</i> will save his people so that they will not continue to be slaves in Babylon. <n>I will destroy the things that make them <i>prisoners</i>. <n>They will not be still slaves to people from other countries. 


text:
Instead they will <i>serve</i> the <i>LORD</i> their God. <n>And they will <i>serve</i> David their king. <n>I will raise him up for them. 


text:
So do not be afraid, Jacob my servant. <n>Do not let yourself be afraid, Israel”, says the <i>LORD</i>. <n>“I will certainly bring you from a place that is far away. <n>I will save your sons from the country where they are <i>prisoners</i>. <n>Jacob (Israel) will again have <i>peace</i> and he will be safe. <n>And nobody will make him afraid. 


text:
I am with you and I will save you”, says the <i>LORD</i>. <n>“I may destroy completely all the countries that I send you to. <n>But I will not destroy you completely. <n>I will <i>punish</i> you in a fair way. <n>I certainly will <i>punish</i> you.” 


text:
The <i>LORD</i> says, <n>“Your enemies have hurt you so badly that nobody can make you better. <n>Nobody can make you completely well. 


text:
All those who were your friends have forgotten you. <n>They do not feel pain for your troubles. <n>I have hit you as an enemy would hit you. <n>I have <i>punished</i> you because you have not obeyed me very many times. <n>I have <i>punished</i> you because you have done many very bad things. 


text:
You shout because you people have hurt you. <n>And nobody can make you well again. <n>Your <i>sin</i> is great and you have done many wrong things. <n>So I have done these things to you. 


text:
People have hurt you and they have killed you. But I will hurt those people and I will kill them. <n>I will send all your enemies away to be <i>prisoners</i> in other countries. <n>I will take away the good things <n>from those people who took away your good things. 


text:
I will give back your health to you. <n>I will take away everything that hurts you”, says the <i>LORD</i>. <n>“I will do that because of the words that people say. <n>They threw you out. <n>They call you the people from <i>Zion</i> that nobody wants.” 


text:
The <i>LORD</i> says, <n>“I will repair the places where Jacob (Israel) lives. <n>I will be kind to his <i>descendants</i>. <n>You will build the city again over its broken stones. <n>The <i>palace</i> will stand again in its proper place. 


text:
You will hear people who are singing with thanks to God. <n>They will be making a happy noise. <n>I will make the number of my people larger. <n>It will not become less. <n>I will cause the <i>nations</i> to <i>honour</i> my people. <n>They will not think that my people have no value. 


text:
My children will be as they were before now. <n>I will make them into one strong people. <n>I will <i>punish</i> all the people who try to make them their slaves. 


text:
A <i>Jew</i> will lead them. <n>A <i>Jew</i> will become their ruler. <n>I will bring him near and he will come close to me. <n>Nobody can come to me if I do not call him”, says the <i>LORD</i>. 


text:
Look! The <i>LORD</i> will rush like a storm when he is angry. <n>He will be like a powerful wind that blows people away. <n>It blows away the people who do wrong things. 


text:
The <i>LORD</i> will not turn away his great <i>anger</i>. <n>He will completely finish all the work that he decides to do. <n>Only then will he stop being angry. <n>You will understand these things at a future time. 


text:
‘When that time comes’, says the <i>LORD</i>, ‘I will be the God of every family in Israel. And they will be my people.’ 


text:
The <i>LORD</i> says, <n>‘I was kind in the <i>desert</i> to the people who did not die. <n>That was when Israel’s people wanted to rest.’ 


text:
Before now, the <i>LORD</i> showed himself to us. He said, <n>‘I have loved you with a love that has no end. <n>So I am showing my love to you so that you will move towards me. 


text:
I will build you up again. <n>You will again make music together, <n>and you will dance a happy dance. 


text:
You will again plant <i>vines</i> on the hills in Samaria. <n>Farmers will plant <i>vines</i> and they will enjoy their fruit. 


text:
In a future day men who watch <n>will shout from the hills of Ephraim. <n>They will say, “Let us go up to <i>Zion</i>, <n>to the <i>LORD</i> our God.” ’ 


text:
The <i>LORD</i> says, <n>‘Sing and be happy for Jacob (Israel). <n>Shout for your great country. <n>Let the <i>LORD</i> hear you while you <i>praise</i> him. <n>Say, “<i>LORD</i>, save your people. <n><i>LORD</i>, save the few people from Israel who are still alive.” 


text:
Look, I will bring them from the country in the north. <n>I will bring them from the ends of the earth. <n>They will bring with them those who cannot see. <n>And I will bring also those who cannot walk well. <n>Women who will soon have babies will come. <n>And those who will very soon give birth will come. <n>A very big crowd of my people will return here. 


text:
They will be crying as they come. <n>They will pray while I am bringing them back. <n>I will lead them along by streams of water. <n>They will walk along flat paths so that they will not fall. <n>I will do that because I am Israel’s father. <n>And Ephraim (Israel) is my oldest son. 


text:
People in many countries, you must hear the <i>LORD</i>’s message. <n>Shout it by the coasts of countries that are far away. <n>“He who pushed Israel’s people away will fetch them back. <n>And he will watch them as a <i>shepherd</i> watches his sheep.” 


text:
The <i>LORD</i> will buy back Jacob (Israel). <n>He will take them away from the people who were stronger than them. 


text:
They will come and they will shout on the top of <i>Mount Zion</i>. <n>They will shout because they are very happy. <n>They will be happy with all the good things that the <i>LORD</i> gives to them. <n>He will give bread, new <i>wine</i> and oil to them. <n>The sheep and cows will have young ones. <n>Israel will grow like a garden that has much water. <n>Its people will not still be sad. 


text:
Girls will dance and they will be happy. <n>The young men and the old men will dance too. <n>I will make them happy and they will not be sad. <n>I will do things for them that will help them to feel better. <n>Their faces will smile and they will not be sad. 


text:
I will give plenty of good things to the <i>priests</i>. <n>And I will give to my people plenty of good things. They will have more than they need’, says the <i>LORD</i>. 


text:
The <i>LORD</i> says, <n>‘You will hear a voice in Ramah, <n>a loud voice that cries sadly. <n>It is the voice of Rachel (Israel’s people). She is crying for her children. <n>Nobody can stop her crying, <n>because her children are dead.’ 


text:
The <i>LORD</i> says, <n>‘Stop the loud noise of your voice, <n>and stop your eyes from crying. <n>I will be happy about the work that you do’, says the <i>LORD</i>. <n>‘Your children will return from the country of your enemies. 


text:
You are right to believe that your future days will be better’, <n>says the <i>LORD</i>. <n>‘Your children will return to their own country. 


text:
I have certainly heard my people when they were crying. <n>“You have <i>punished</i> me. <n>I feel like an animal that does not obey”, they said. <n>“And you did <i>punish</i> me. <n>Bring me back, and I will return. <n>I will come back because you are the <i>LORD</i>, my God. 


text:
After I had gone away from you, I became very sorry. <n>After you helped me to understand, I felt pain inside. <n>I was ashamed and I felt very small. <n>I had done wrong things when I was young. <n>I became ashamed of those things.” 


text:
But Ephraim (Israel) is the son that I love. <n>He is like a child that gives pleasure to me. <n>I may often say that he is doing wrong things. <n>But while I have been speaking against him, I have always remembered him. <n>So I want very much to see him again. <n>I love him very much. <n>And I will certainly be <i>merciful</i> to him’, says the <i>LORD</i>. 


text:
‘Put up signs along the roads, <n>to show people the way. <n>Return, Israel, the people that I love. Return to your towns. 


text:
You have been away from me for a long time. <n>You are like a daughter who loved another man. <n>The <i>LORD</i> will do a new thing. <n>A woman will keep a man safe.’ 


text:
The great and powerful <i>LORD</i>, the God of Israel, says, ‘I will bring my people back from the country where they are <i>prisoners</i>. Then the people in Judah and in its towns will again say, “We pray that the <i>LORD</i> will be good to the <i>holy</i> mountain. It is the special place where he lives!” 


text:
People will live together in the towns in Judah. Farmers and <i>shepherds</i> will work in the fields. 


text:
I will make the tired people feel less tired. I will make the weak ones strong.’ <n>The <i>holy</i> mountain in verse 23 is the hill at Jerusalem where the <i>temple</i> is. 


text:
‘There will be a time’, says the <i>LORD</i>, ‘when I will be like a gardener to my people. Young men and animals will be like plants that I will plant. I will put young men and animals in the <i>nations</i> called Judah and Israel. 


text:
Before now, I pulled up the <i>roots</i> of those “plants” to bring them down and to destroy them. Now I will plant them and I will watch over them. I want to cause them to grow’, says the <i>LORD</i>. 


text:
‘When that happens, people will not say, “The fathers have eaten <i>sour</i> fruit but the children’s mouths will taste bad.” 


text:
Instead, the mouth of anyone who eats <i>sour</i> fruit will taste bad. I will <i>punish</i> everyone for his own <i>sin</i>.’ 


text:
‘A time is coming’, says the <i>LORD</i>, <n>‘when I will make a new <i>covenant</i>. <n>I will make it with Israel’s people and with Judah’s people. 


text:
It will not be like the <i>covenant</i> that I made with their <i>ancestors</i>. <n>When I took them to lead them out of Egypt, <n>I was like a husband to them. <n>But they did not obey the rules in my <i>covenant</i>’, says the <i>LORD</i>. 


text:
‘This is the <i>covenant</i> that I will make with Israel. <n>I will make it when that time comes’, says the <i>LORD</i>. <n>‘I will put my <i>law</i> in their minds, <n>and they will always remember it. <n>I will be their God, and they will be my people. 


text:
A man will not teach his friend then. <n>And he will not teach his brother how to know the <i>LORD</i>. <n>That will be because they will all know me. <n>From the least of them to the greatest of them, they will all know me.’ <n>The <i>LORD</i> says, <n>‘I will <i>forgive</i> all the wrong things that they have done. <n>I will not continue to remember their <i>sins</i>.’ 


text:
The <i>LORD</i> is the God who causes the sun to shine in the day. <n>He causes the moon and the stars to shine at night. <n>He causes the sea to move and to make a loud sound. <n>He is the great, powerful <i>LORD</i>. That is his name. <n>And he says, 


text:
‘I will never stop watching over Israel’s children. <n>They will always be a <i>nation</i> <n>unless I forget those <i>laws</i> (about the sun, moon, stars and sea) completely.’ 


text:
The <i>LORD</i> says, <n>‘I will leave the children of Israel alone only if these things happen. <n>I will leave if men can measure the sky above. <n>Men can try to find the rock that I built the earth on. <n>I will leave if they can find that rock. <n>Then I will leave the children of Israel alone <n>because of all the things that they have done’, says the <i>LORD</i>. <n>Because none of these things will happen, the <i>LORD</i> will never leave his people alone. 


text:
‘At a future time’, says the <i>LORD</i>, <n>‘you will build this city again. You will build it for me from the <i>tower</i> of Hananel to the corner gate. 


text:
The whole valley will be <i>holy</i> to the <i>LORD</i>. It will include the place where they throw dead bodies. They throw things that they have burnt there. And it will include all the big steps to the east of the Kidron valley. It will end at the corner of the Horse Gate. I will never again destroy the city and I will never again take away its people.’ 


text:
The <i>LORD</i> spoke to Jeremiah when Zedekiah, king of Judah, had ruled for 10 years. Nebuchadnezzar had ruled for 18 years. 


text:
The army of the king of Babylon was all round Jerusalem at that time. They would not let anybody take food into the city. Jeremiah was in a prison in the soldiers’ yard. That was in the king’s house. 


text:
Zedekiah had put Jeremiah there. He did not like this message that the <i>LORD</i> had given to him by Jeremiah: ‘I will give power over this city to the king of Babylon. And he will win the city. 


text:
Zedekiah, the king, will not be able to run away. They will take him to the king of Babylon and he will see his face. They will speak to each other. 


text:
Then he will take Zedekiah to Babylon. He will stay there until I come to see him. If you fight against the soldiers from Babylon, you will not win.’ The <i>LORD</i> had said that to Zedekiah. 


text:
He told me that Hanamel, the son of my <i>uncle</i> Shallum, will come to see me. He will ask me to buy his field in Anathoth. I should do that because I am the cousin closest to his family. It is the right thing for me to do.’ 


text:
Then my cousin Hanamel came to the prison in the soldiers’ yard where they kept me. He said, “Buy my field at Anathoth. It is in the land of Benjamin. You must do that because it is right for you to buy it. You are the closest cousin. So buy it back and keep it for yourself.” <n>I knew that this was the <i>LORD</i>’s message. 


text:
So I bought the field at Anathoth from my cousin Hanamel. I weighed 17 <i>shekels</i> of <i>silver</i>. 


text:
I wrote my name on a special piece of paper and I closed it up. The paper showed that the field was mine. I did that in front of other men who put their names on it. Then I gave to Hanamel the <i>silver</i> that I had weighed. 


text:
I gave both pieces of paper to Baruch, the son of Neriah. Neriah was the son of Mahseiah. I did that in front of Hanamel and the other men who had written their names. And I did it in front of all the <i>Jews</i> who were sitting in the soldiers’ yard. 


text:
“The great and powerful <i>LORD</i> of Israel says this: Take these two pieces of paper. Take the piece that is closed and the piece that is open. Put them in a jar of <i>clay</i> to keep them safe. They will be safe there for a long time. 


text:
The great and powerful <i>LORD</i>, the <i>LORD</i> of Israel, says, ‘Men will again buy houses, fields and fields of <i>vines</i> in this country.’ ” 


text:
I prayed, “<i>LORD</i>, king of all people, you have made the earth and the sky by your great power. Your hands have made them. Nothing is too difficult for you to do. 


text:
You teach thousands of people to understand that you love them. But you <i>punish</i> children for the <i>sins</i> that their <i>ancestors</i> did in past times. Great and powerful <i>LORD</i>, your name is ‘All-powerful <i>LORD</i>’. 


text:
You are so <i>wise</i> that you do very great things. You see everything that men do. You give good things to those who give pleasure to you. Those who do good things give pleasure to you. And you <i>punish</i> everyone who has done wrong things. 


text:
You did <i>miracles</i> in Egypt. And you continue to do <i>miracles</i> in Israel and for all people. So your name is great and all people know it. 


text:
You brought your people out of Egypt with many great <i>miracles</i>. You put out your strong hand and arm to save them. So you caused men to be afraid of you. 


text:
You gave this country to your people as you had promised to their <i>ancestors</i>. Much good food grows in this country and cows give much milk. 


text:
Your people came in and they got power over this country. But they did not obey you. They did not obey the <i>law</i> that you had given to them. They did not do the things that you wanted them to do. So you caused them to have this great trouble. You sent it to them. 


text:
You can see the great hills that enemies have built to attack the city. Because of their sharp knives, they will win the fight. And because we are hungry and ill, they will win the fight. The soldiers from Babylon who are attacking the city will get power over it. You said that it would happen. You can see that all those things have happened. 


text:
The soldiers from Babylon will get power over the city. But you still told me that I must buy this field. You told me that I must buy it with <i>silver</i>. And men must see certainly that I had bought it.” ’ 


text:
So I say this: I will give this city to the soldiers from Babylon. I will give it to Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon. They will get power over it. 


text:
The soldiers from Babylon who are attacking it will come in. And they will burn it with fire. They will burn down the houses where people made me angry. There they burned oils that smell nice on their roofs for <i>Baal</i>. They made me angry because they gave gifts to other gods.’ 


text:
‘The people in Israel and Judah have done only <i>evil</i> things from the time when they were young. Israel’s people have always done the things that made me angry. They did that with the things that they have made with their hands’, says the <i>LORD</i>. 


text:
‘This city has made me angry from the time when they built it even until this day. So I must destroy it. 


text:
The people in Israel and in Judah have made me very angry. I became angry because of all the <i>evil</i> things that they and their kings and their officers have done. And the men in Judah and Jerusalem and their <i>prophets</i> and <i>priests</i> did many <i>evil</i> things. 


text:
They turned away from me and they would not look at me. They would not listen to me when I <i>punished</i> them. And they would not turn back to me. Again and again, I taught them the right things to do. 


text:
People have made the house that is called by my name <i>disgusting</i>. They have a put a “god” that is not God in my house. 


text:
They have built high places to <i>worship Baal</i> in Ben-Hinnom Valley. There they kill their sons and daughters to offer them to Molech. I never told them to do such a bad thing. I never thought that they would do such a wrong thing. It caused Judah’s people to <i>sin</i>.’ <n>God promises his people that they can continue to <i>trust</i> him.</n> 


text:
‘You are hungry and you do not have any food. So you say that <i>swords</i> and illness will cause the king of Babylon to get power over this city. But the <i>LORD</i>, the God of Israel says, 


text:
“I am very angry with them. So I will send them to countries that are far away. But I will certainly bring my people back to this place. I will let them live here and they will be safe. 


text:
I will give the same purpose to all the people. I will do that so that their lives and their children’s lives can be good. They will always give <i>honour</i> to me. 


text:
I will make a <i>covenant</i> with them that will last for all time. I will never stop doing good things for them. I will cause them to want to give <i>honour</i> to me so that they will never turn away from me. 


text:
I will be happy when I do good things for them. I really want to plant them in this country to grow, like trees. Nobody wants to do anything more than I want to do that.” ’ 


text:
The <i>LORD</i> says, ‘I have caused much trouble to this people. In the same way, I will give great riches to them as I promised. 


text:
Men will buy fields in this country again. You say, “It is an empty country, without people or animals, because the soldiers from Babylon have taken them.” 


text:
But people will buy fields in this country for <i>silver</i>. And people will write on papers to show who owns the land. People will close the pieces of paper and they will keep them in a safe place. Men will watch to see that they do it in a fair way. They will sell fields again in the land of Benjamin and the in the villages round Jerusalem. They will sell land in the towns of Judah. And they will sell it in the hills in the west and in the south. I will give back to them the good things that they lost. Those are the words of the <i>LORD</i>.’ 


text:
Jeremiah was still in the prison in the yard where the king’s soldiers were. God spoke to Jeremiah a second time while he was there. He said, 


text:
‘I am the <i>LORD</i> who made the earth. I gave a shape to it and I put it in its place. The <i>LORD</i> is my name. And I say, 


text:
The <i>LORD</i> is the God of Israel. And he says this about the houses in this city and about the houses of the kings of Judah: “The people had broken them down. They used the stones to make the city’s walls stronger against the enemy. 


text:
That was during their <i>battle</i> with the army from Babylon.” The <i>LORD</i> says, “The houses will be full of dead bodies. I will kill the people when I am very angry with them. I will not be kind to this city. That is because of all the bad things that the people have done. 


text:
But I will make the people in this city well again. I will make my people well. They will enjoy <i>peace</i>. 


text:
I will bring back Judah’s people and Israel’s people and I will make them safe and comfortable. I will build them up again. Then they will be as they were before. 


text:
I will make them <i>clean</i> from all their <i>sin</i>. They refused to obey me. But I will <i>forgive</i> all the wrong things that they did. 


text:
Then this city will cause the people in all the countries on the earth to <i>praise</i> me. They will hear about all the good things that I am doing for Jerusalem. So they will give <i>honour</i> to me. I will make the city rich and I will give <i>peace</i> to it. They will be afraid when they see that.” ’ 


text:
The <i>LORD</i> says, ‘You say that this place is empty, without men or animals. But people will return to the empty streets in Jerusalem. People will make a happy noise where now there are no men and no animals. 


text:
You will hear the voices of men and women who are just married. People will bring gifts to the house of the <i>LORD</i> to thank him. You will hear their voices as they say, <n>“Give thanks to the great, powerful <i>LORD</i>, <n>because the <i>LORD</i> is good. <n>His love lasts for all time.” <n>I will make the country as rich as it was before’, says the <i>LORD</i>. 


text:
The great and powerful <i>LORD</i> says, ‘This place is empty now, without people or animals. But I will put grass round its towns where sheep can rest with their <i>shepherds</i>. 


text:
<i>Shepherds</i> will count their sheep again in the towns among the hills. And they will do that in the towns in the west and in the south. And they will count them in the land of Benjamin. They will do it again in the villages round Jerusalem. And they will count them in the towns in Judah’, says the <i>LORD</i>. 


text:
‘At a future time’, says the <i>LORD</i>, ‘I will do the kind things that I have promised to do. I promised those things to the people of both Judah and Israel. 


text:
David and his <i>descendants</i> are like a tree. In that day, when the time is right, I will cause a good branch to grow from that tree. He will do things that are good and fair in my country. 


text:
At that time, the people from Judah and Jerusalem will come back and they will be safe. People will call the city, “The <i>LORD</i> makes us right and good.” ’ <n>‘A branch to grow from that tree’ means a ‘son that will be born from David’s <i>descendants</i>’. 


text:
And there will always be a <i>priest</i> from Levi’s <i>descendants</i> to offer meat and food to me. They will burn their gifts on the <i>altar</i> to show <i>honour</i> to me.’ 


text:
‘The <i>LORD</i> says, “You can never change my rules about the day and the night. They will always come at their proper times. 


text:
My promise to David my servant, and to the <i>Levites</i> is like that. They will always be <i>priests</i> who will <i>serve</i> me. And David will always have a <i>descendant</i> to sit on his <i>throne</i>. 


text:
I will cause David my servant and the <i>Levites</i> to have many <i>descendants</i>. There are many stars in the sky. And there are many pieces of sand by the sea. The number of their <i>descendants</i> will be like the number of those stars and like the number of those pieces.” ’ 


text:
And he said, ‘The people are saying that the <i>LORD</i> has left his people. But they are the people that he chose. They say that he is not still the God of Israel and Judah. They think that Israel and Judah are not still a <i>nation</i>. They do not think that they are important.’ 


text:
But the <i>LORD</i> says, ‘Nobody can change my rules about the day and the night. And I have made the <i>laws</i> about earth and sky. 


text:
I will never turn away from the <i>descendants</i> of Jacob and of David my servant. I will always choose one from among their <i>descendants</i> to rule over the <i>descendants</i> of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. I will bring them back to the place that is theirs. I will be kind to them.’ 


text:
Nebuchadnezzar and his army and all the people from all the countries that he ruled were fighting. They were attacking Jerusalem and the towns that were near to it. At this time, Jeremiah heard the <i>LORD</i> who was saying to him, 


text:
‘The <i>LORD</i>, the God of Israel says this: Go to Zedekiah, king of Judah, and say to him, “The <i>LORD</i> says this: I will give power over this city to the king of Babylon and he will burn it down. 


text:
You will not be able to run away because his soldiers will certainly catch you. They will give you to him. You will see the king of Babylon with your own eyes. And you will speak with him and you will see his face. Then you will go to Babylon. 


text:
But listen to the promise of the <i>LORD</i>, Zedekiah, king of Judah. The <i>LORD</i> says this about you: They will not kill you with a <i>sword</i>, 


text:
but you will die in <i>peace</i>. People will make a big fire when you die to give <i>honour</i> to you. People were sad when the kings, your <i>ancestors</i>, died. They will cry when you die, too. And they will be sad. They will say, ‘Our master has died!’ This is my promise”, says the <i>LORD</i>.’ 


text:
At this time, the king of Babylon and his army were fighting against Judah. He was fighting against Jerusalem and Lachish and Azekah, the cities that he had not got power over yet. They were the only <i>walled</i> cities in Judah that he had not got power over. <n>Zedekiah and the slaves</n> 


text:
King Zedekiah promised the people in Jerusalem that he would let their slaves go. After that, the <i>LORD</i> spoke to Jeremiah. 


text:
The king had said that no <i>Israelite</i>, neither man nor woman, should be a slave. They must all be free people. 


text:
All the officers and the people who promised to do that agreed with the king. They would not continue to have male or female slaves. They made them free men and women. 


text:
But after that, they did not do what they had promised to do. They took the people back and they made them slaves again. 


text:
‘The <i>LORD</i>, the God of Israel, says this: I made a <i>covenant</i> with your <i>ancestors</i> when I brought them out of Egypt. They were slaves when they were there. 


text:
I said that you must do something. Each 7th year you must let any of your <i>Jewish</i> brothers that you had bought become a free person. After he has worked for you for 6 years, you must let him go. But your <i>ancestors</i> did not listen to me. They did not obey me. 


text:
A little time ago, you were sorry that you had not obeyed me. I had said that you must do a good thing. And you did it. Each man made his <i>Jewish</i> slaves free men and women. You even made a promise to me in my house, the <i>temple</i>. 


text:
But now you have turned back to your old ways. You have taken away my <i>honour</i>. You have said to your slaves, “You can go where you want to go.” But now you have taken them back. You have caused free men and women again to become your slaves. 


text:
So the <i>LORD</i> says: You have not obeyed me. You have not let your slaves become free men and women. So now I will make you free, he says. I will make you free to die. Men will kill you with <i>swords</i>. You will not have enough to eat. And you will become ill and you will die. All the people in all the countries on the earth will <i>hate</i> you. 


text:
I will do this to the men who did not obey me. They will be like an animal that people offer to me. They will be like the young cow that they cut in half. They cut it in half so that they could walk between the pieces.’ <n>See Genesis 15:10-18. 


text:
‘I will <i>punish</i> the leaders of Judah and Jerusalem. I will <i>punish</i> the king’s officers, the <i>priests</i> and all the people in the country. I will <i>punish</i> all the people who promised that to me. They walked between the pieces of the young cow. 


text:
I will give to their enemies power over them. The enemies will kill them and I will give their dead bodies to the birds and wild animals for food.’ <n>At that time, people showed that they agreed to a promise in a special way. They killed animals and they cut them into two halves. Then they walked between the pieces. Perhaps they would not do what they had promised. Then the person that they had promised something to could kill them, like the animals. This was to show that. These leaders must do what they had promised to do. If they did not do it, the <i>LORD</i> would kill them. 


text:
‘I will give Zedekiah, king of Judah, and his officers to the enemies who want to kill them. The army of the king of Babylon has left you. But I will give to them power over Zedekiah and his officers. 


text:
I will tell their army that they must return to this city. They will fight and they will get power over it. And they will burn it down. And I will destroy the towns in Judah so that nobody can live there.’ 


text:
‘Go to Rechab’s <i>descendants</i> and ask them to come to the <i>temple</i>. Take them into a little room at the side of the <i>temple</i> and give to them <i>wine</i> to drink.’ 


text:
So I went to get all Rechab’s <i>descendants</i>. They were Jaazaniah, son of Jeremiah, son of Habazziniah, and his <i>relatives</i> and all his sons. 


text:
I took them into a room in the <i>LORD</i>’s house. It was the room of the sons of Hanan. He was the son of Igdaliah, the man of God. It was next to the officer’s room, and that was over the door <i>keeper</i>’s room. The <i>keeper</i> of the door was Maaseiah, son of Shallum. 


text:
Then I took some bowls of <i>wine</i> and some cups. I put them in front of the men from Rechab’s <i>descendants</i> and I said, ‘Drink some <i>wine</i>.’ 


text:
They replied, ‘We do not drink <i>wine</i>. Our <i>ancestor</i> Jonadab, son of Rechab, said to us, “You and your <i>descendants</i> must never drink <i>wine</i>. 


text:
And you must not build houses, or plant seed or <i>vines</i>. You must never have any of those things, but you must always live in <i>tents</i>. Then you will live for a long time while you move through the country.” 


text:
We have obeyed all the rules that our <i>ancestor</i> Jonadab, son of Rechab, gave to us. We have never drunk <i>wine</i>. And we have never built houses. And we have never planted seeds. And our wives and children have never done any of those things. 


text:
But, when Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came into this country, we came to Jerusalem. We said, “We must go to Jerusalem. We must save ourselves from the armies of Babylon and Aram.” So we stayed in Jerusalem.’ 


text:
‘The great, powerful <i>LORD</i>, the God of Israel, says this: Go and speak to the people in Judah and in Jerusalem. Ask them to learn a lesson from the <i>descendants</i> of Rechab. 


text:
Jonadab, Rechab’s son, said that his <i>descendants</i> must not drink <i>wine</i>. And they have always obeyed him. They have not drunk <i>wine</i> even to this day. They have always obeyed their <i>ancestor</i>’s rules. But I have spoken to you again and again and you have not obeyed me. 


text:
I have sent my servants the <i>prophets</i> to you again and again, but you have not obeyed me. The <i>prophets</i> said, “Each of you must stop doing wrong things. You must change the things that you do. Start doing the things that are right. Do not be servants of other gods. Then you will live in the country that I have given to you and to your <i>ancestors</i>.” But you did not think that this was important. You did not listen to me. 


text:
The <i>descendants</i> of Jonadab, Rechab’s son, obeyed the rules that their <i>ancestor</i> gave to them. But these people have not obeyed me. 


text:
So the great and powerful <i>LORD</i> says, “Listen! I will send all the bad things that I told you about. I am sending them to all those people who live in Judah and in Jerusalem. I spoke to them, but they did not listen. I called to them but they did not answer.” ’ 


text:
Then Jeremiah spoke to the <i>descendants</i> of Rechab. ‘The great and powerful <i>LORD</i>, the God of Israel, says, “You have obeyed the rules of your <i>ancestor</i> Jonadab. You have done everything that he asked you to do.” 


text:
So the great and powerful <i>LORD</i>, the God of Israel, says to you, “Jonadab, son of Rechab, will always have a male <i>descendant</i> to be my servant. This promise is for all time.” ’ 


text:
‘Write down all the words that I have spoken to you about Israel, Judah and the other countries. I began to speak to you when Josiah was king. Write everything that I have said from that time until now. 


text:
Perhaps the people of Israel will listen to my words. Perhaps they will hear about all the <i>punishments</i> that I will do. Then they may each turn away from the wrong things that they are doing. Then I will <i>forgive</i> those bad things and their <i>sin</i>.’ 


text:
So Jeremiah asked Baruch, son of Neriah to come. While Jeremiah spoke all the <i>LORD</i>’s words, Baruch wrote them down. He wrote them on a long dry piece of a sheep’s skin. 


text:
So you must go to the <i>temple</i> on a day when people choose not to eat. Read these words to the people. You wrote the <i>LORD</i>’s words as I spoke them to you. Read them to all the people. Do that when they come from the towns in Judah. 


text:
Perhaps they will ask the <i>LORD</i> for help and they will stop doing wrong things. Perhaps they will stop because of the <i>LORD</i>’s words. He has said that he will <i>punish</i> them. He will <i>punish</i> them because he is very angry with them.’ 


text:
Baruch, son of Neriah, did everything that Jeremiah the <i>prophet</i> had said. He read out the words of the <i>LORD</i> in the <i>LORD</i>’s <i>temple</i>. 


text:
The king said that he wanted the people to <i>fast</i> in the <i>temple</i> for one day. That was in the 9th month of the 5th year since he became king. He caused all the people to come from Jerusalem and from the towns in Judah. 


text:
Baruch stood in the room of Gemariah the <i>secretary</i>. He was the son of Shaphan. The room was in the yard by the <i>temple</i>’s New Gate. There Baruch read the <i>LORD</i>’s words to all the people. He read to them the words that Jeremiah had caused him to write. <n>To fast meant that people would choose not to eat for a day or more. It was one way to show to God that they were sorry for their <i>sins</i>. Or people might not eat any food to show God that they wanted him to help them. 


text:
Then he went to the <i>secretary</i>’s room in the king’s house. All the king’s officers were sitting there. They included Elishama who was the <i>secretary</i> and Delaiah, son of Shaphan. Elnathan, Achbor’s son, Gemariah, Shaphan’s son and Zedekiah, Hananiah’s son were also there. 


text:
The officers sent Jehudi to speak to Baruch. (Jehudi’s father was Nethaniah, the son of Shelemiah, the son of Cushi.) They said, ‘Bring the piece of skin with the words that you read to the people. And come here.’ So Baruch, Neriah’s son, went to them and he took the skin with him. 


text:
They heard the words that Baruch had written. And they became afraid. They looked at each other and they said to Baruch, ‘We must tell the king what these words say.’ 


text:
They asked Baruch, ‘How did you write these words? Did you write them down as Jeremiah spoke them to you?’ 


text:
‘You and Jeremiah go and hide yourselves’, the officers said to Baruch. ‘Do not tell anyone where you are.’ 


text:
The officers put the skin into Elishama’s room. Elishama was the <i>secretary</i>. Then they went to the king, who was in the yard. They told him all that they had heard. 


text:
They told the king about the skin on which Baruch had written God’s words. So, he sent Jehudi to fetch it. Jehudi brought the skin from the room of Elishama the <i>secretary</i>. Then he read the words to the king and to all the officers who there. 


text:
Jehudi read a small part of the words that Baruch had written on the skin. Then the king took a knife and he cut off that part of the skin. He threw it into the fire. Soon he had burned all the skin in the fire. 


text:
Neither the king nor the officers who were with him were afraid. And they did not want to show that they were sorry. So they did not tear their clothes. 


text:
Elnathan, Delaiah and Gemariah asked the king not to burn the skin on which Baruch had written. But he would not listen to them. 


text:
Instead, the king told his son Jerahmeel that he should take Baruch the <i>secretary</i> and Jeremiah the <i>prophet</i>. Then Jerahmeel should put them in a prison. But the <i>LORD</i> had hidden them. 


text:
So the king burnt the piece of skin on which Baruch had written Jeremiah’s words. After that, the <i>LORD</i> spoke to Jeremiah. 


text:
‘Take another piece of skin’, he said. ‘Write on it all the words that were on the other skin. That was the skin that Jehoiakim king of Judah burned up. 


text:
Also say to the king, “You burned the skin. And you asked why I wrote such bad things about Judah. You did not believe that the king of Babylon would come to destroy this country. You did not think that he would take both men and animals away from it.” 


text:
So the <i>LORD</i> says this about Jehoiakim, king of Judah: None of his <i>descendants</i> will become king of Judah. People will throw out his dead body. And the sun will burn it in the day and it will be cold at night. 


text:
His children and his servants have done bad things. I will <i>punish</i> them. I will do all the bad things that I promised to do. I will do them to your children and to the people in Jerusalem. I will <i>punish</i> them and the people in Judah for all the wrong things that they have done. I will do that because they have not listened to me.’ 


text:
So Jeremiah took another piece of skin and he gave it to the <i>secretary</i>, Baruch, Neriah’s son. Then Jeremiah spoke the words that had been on the first skin. King Jehoiakim had burnt the first skin in the fire. And Baruch wrote the words down with many other words that said the same things. 


text:
Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon would not let Coniah, son of Jehoiakim continue to be king of Judah. He chose Josiah’s son Zedekiah to be the king of Judah instead. 


text:
Zedekiah did not listen to the words of the <i>LORD</i> that Jeremiah had told him about. And neither the king’s servants nor the people of the country listened to the <i>LORD</i>’s words. 


text:
But King Zedekiah sent a message to Jeremiah the <i>prophet</i>. He sent Jehucal, son of Shelemiah, with the <i>priest</i> Zephaniah, son of Maaseiah, to deliver this message. ‘Please pray to the <i>LORD</i> our God for us.’ 


text:
Jeremiah was a free man at this time. They had not yet put him into the prison. He could walk among the people. 


text:
The army of Pharaoh, king of Egypt, had marched out of Egypt. People told the soldiers from Babylon who were round Jerusalem about that. So they went away. 


text:
‘Speak to the king of Judah, who sent you to ask for my help’, he said. ‘Say to him, “Pharaoh’s army, which marched out to help you, will turn back. They will return to Egypt, their own country. 


text:
Then the soldiers from Babylon will return and they will attack this city. They will get power over it and they will burn it completely.” 


text:
The <i>LORD</i> says, “Do not make a mistake. Do not think that the soldiers from Babylon will go away. They will not go away! 


text:
You might win the fight against the whole army that is attacking you. There might be only sick men in their <i>tents</i> after you had beaten them. But those sick men would still come and they would burn down this city.” ’ 


text:
So Jeremiah started to leave the city to go to the land of Benjamin. He wanted to visit his part of the country that was among his people. 


text:
When he came to the Benjamin gate of the city, Irijah, Shelemiah’s son, stopped him. He was the captain of the soldiers at the gate. And he put Jeremiah into the prison. ‘You are going to join the soldiers from Babylon!’ he said. 


text:
‘That is not true!’ said Jeremiah. ‘I am not going to join the soldiers from Babylon.’ But Irijah would not listen to him. So he took Jeremiah, his <i>prisoner</i>, to the king’s officers. 


text:
The officers were angry with Jeremiah. They hit him with a stick and they put him in the house of Jonathan the <i>secretary</i>. They had made Jonathan’s house into a prison. 


text:
They put Jeremiah in a small room with a high ceiling. It was deep under the house. He stayed there for a long time. 


text:
Then King Zedekiah sent for him and he brought him to his house. When they were alone, the king asked him, ‘Is there any message from the <i>LORD</i>?’ <n>‘Yes’, Jeremiah replied, ‘they will deliver you to the hands of the king of Babylon.’ 


text:
Then Jeremiah spoke to King Zedekiah. ‘I do not know what bad things I have done to you or to your officers. I do not know why you have put me into the prison. 


text:
Your <i>prophets</i> told you things that were not true. They said that the king of Babylon would not attack you or your country. 


text:
I want you to help me. Do not send me back to the house of Jonathan the <i>secretary</i>. If you do, I will die there.’ 


text:
Then King Zedekiah told his officers to put Jeremiah into the yard of his house with his soldiers. He told them to give bread from the bakers to him until there was no more bread in the city. So Jeremiah stayed in the yard with the soldiers. 


text:
Some men heard the things that Jeremiah was telling all the people. They were Pashhur’s son Shephatiah, Shelemiah’s son Jehucal and Malchijah’s son Pashhur. 


text:
Jeremiah had told the people that the <i>LORD</i> had said, ‘Any people who stay in this city will die. Soldiers or illness will kill them, or they will not have any food to eat. But those people who join the soldiers from Babylon will not die. They will live. 


text:
And the <i>LORD</i> says, “I will give this city to the soldiers from Babylon. Their king’s army will get power over it.” ’ 


text:
Then the officers spoke to the king. ‘You should kill this man’, they said. ‘He is making the soldiers who remain in the city afraid. And the people are becoming afraid because of the things that he is saying to them. This man does not want to help these people. He wants to destroy them.’ 


text:
So they took Jeremiah. And they put him in a big hole in the yard where the soldiers were. Malchijah, the king’s son had made the hole to store water. They tied a long piece of <i>rope</i> round Jeremiah and they held the end of it. Then they slowly dropped him into the deep hole. There was no water in the hole, but only wet ground. The ground pulled Jeremiah down. 


text:
Ebed-Melech was an officer in the king’s house. He came from the country called Ethiopia. People told him that other people had put Jeremiah into the hole in the yard. 


text:
He went out of the king’s house and he spoke to the king. The king was sitting in the Benjamin gate of the city. 


text:
‘My master, the king’, he said. ‘these men have done very bad things to Jeremiah the <i>prophet</i>. They have put him in a deep hole. He will die there when there is no food in the city.’ 


text:
Then the king told Ebed-Melech what he should do. ‘Take 30 men with you’, he said. ‘And lift Jeremiah the <i>prophet</i> out of the hole before he dies.’ 


text:
So Ebed-Melech took the men with him. He went to a room under the king’s house and he found some old clothes and some pieces of cloth. He tied them to <i>ropes</i>. And he let them drop down into the hole where Jeremiah was. 


text:
‘Put these clothes under your arms’, he said. ‘Then tie the <i>ropes</i> over them so that they will not hurt you.’ Jeremiah did as Ebed-Melech had said. 


text:
Then they pulled Jeremiah out of the hole. And he stayed in the yard with the soldiers. <n>Zedekiah asks Jeremiah more questions.</n> 


text:
Then King Zedekiah sent <i>messengers</i> to bring Jeremiah the <i>prophet</i> to see him. They brought him to the third gate of the <i>LORD</i>’s <i>temple</i>. ‘I will ask you something’, the king said to Jeremiah. ‘Do not hide anything from me.’ 


text:
‘If I give an answer to you, you may kill me’, Jeremiah said to the king. ‘I might tell you the things that you should do. But you would not listen to me.’ 


text:
But King Zedekiah made a secret promise to Jeremiah. ‘I believe that the <i>LORD</i> lives. So I will not kill you. And I will not give you to the men who are trying to kill you.’ 


text:
Then Jeremiah spoke to Zedekiah. ‘The great and powerful <i>LORD</i>, the God of Israel says this: “If you let the officers of the king of Babylon get power over your <i>kingdom</i>, you will not die. And they will not burn down this city. You and your family will live. 


text:
But you must let those officers get power over your <i>kingdom</i>. If you do not do that, I will cause much trouble for you. I will give this city to the soldiers from Babylon and they will burn it down. And they will make you their <i>prisoner</i>.” ’ 


text:
‘I am afraid of the <i>Jews</i> who have left to join the king of Babylon’, King Zedekiah said to Jeremiah. ‘Perhaps the soldiers from Babylon will give me to them, and they may hurt me.’ 


text:
‘They will not give you to those <i>Jews</i>’, Jeremiah replied. ‘Do as I tell you. That is how you can obey the <i>LORD</i>. Then your life will be good and you will not lose it. 


text:
But if you do not give power over your <i>kingdom</i> to the officers from Babylon, these things will happen: The <i>LORD</i> has shown them to me. 


text:
Your enemies will bring out all the women in the king of Judah’s house. They will give them to the officers of the king of Babylon. Those women will say this to you: <n>“You have believed the words of your friends. But they have said to you things that are not true. <n>Your feet are stuck in the ground and your friends have left you alone.” 


text:
The officers from Babylon will give all your wives and children to the soldiers from Babylon. You yourself will not get away. The king of Babylon will make you his <i>prisoner</i> and his soldiers will burn down this city.’ 


text:
‘Do not tell anyone what we have talked about’, Zedekiah said to Jeremiah. ‘If you do tell them, you might die. 


text:
My officers may come. And they may ask you what we talked about. They may want to kill you if you do not tell them. 


text:
All the officers did come to Jeremiah to ask about his meeting with the king. And he said everything that the king had told him to say. Nobody had heard what Jeremiah and the king had really said. So the officers did not ask him again. 


text:
And Jeremiah stayed in the yard where the soldiers were. He stayed there until the day when the soldiers from Babylon got power over Jerusalem. 


text:
This is how the soldiers of the king of Babylon got power over Jerusalem. After King Zedekiah had ruled Judah for eight years, Nebuchadnezzar marched to Jerusalem. His whole army went round the city to attack it. 


text:
And 10 years, 4 months and 9 days after Zedekiah had become king, soldiers from Babylon attacked Jerusalem. And they broke through the walls of the city. 


text:
Then the officers of the king of Babylon came into the city. And they sat in the Middle Gate. They were Nergal-Sar-Ezer, Samgar-Nebu, Sar-Sekim, an important officer and Nergal-Sar-Ezer, another important officer. There were also all the other officers of the king of Babylon. 


text:
Zedekiah, king of Judah, and all his soldiers ran away when they saw them. They left the city at night, through the king’s garden. They left through the gate between the two walls. And then they ran towards the flat land called the Arabah. 


text:
But the soldiers from Babylon ran after them. And they caught them on the flat land near Jericho. They took Zedekiah to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon. He was at Riblah in the place called Hamath. 


text:
In that place, Nebuchadnezzar decided how he would <i>punish</i> Zedekiah. He caused the soldiers to kill all Zedekiah’s sons. Zedekiah had to watch while they killed his sons. And Nebuchadnezzar killed all the important men from Judah. 


text:
Then the soldiers destroyed Zedekiah’s eyes. Then they put metal rings round his legs and they tied them together. Then they took him to Babylon. 


text:
The soldiers from Babylon burned the king’s house and the people’s houses. They broke down the walls of Jerusalem. 


text:
Nebuzaradan, the captain of the king’s own special soldiers, took away all the people who remained in Jerusalem. He took them as <i>prisoners</i> to Babylon with all the other people. With them, he took those who had joined the soldiers from Babylon. 


text:
But captain Nebuzaradan let some very poor people, who had nothing, remain in Judah. At that time he gave fields to them. Some of those fields had <i>vines</i> on them. 


text:
Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, had told Nebuzaradan, captain of his own soldiers, about Jeremiah. 


text:
‘Take him and be good to him. Do not hurt him. And do anything that he asks you to do’, he had said. 


text:
So Nebuzaradan, an important officer called Nebushazban, Nergal-Sar-Ezer and all the other officers of the king of Babylon obeyed Nebuchadnezzar. 


text:
They sent for Jeremiah and they took him out of the yard. It was where Zedekiah’s soldiers had put him. Then Gedaliah, who was Ahikam’s son and Shaphan’s grandson, took Jeremiah back to his own home. So Jeremiah stayed with his own people. 


text:
‘Go. And tell Ebed-Melech from Ethiopia, this’, the <i>LORD</i> said to him. ‘The great and powerful <i>LORD</i> of Israel says this: Now I will to do as I promised. I will destroy this city. I will not make it rich. You will see it when it happens. 


text:
I will save you and soldiers will not kill you. You believed that I could keep you safe. So I will keep you safe, says the <i>LORD</i>.’ 


text:
Nebuzaradan, captain of the king’s special soldiers, found Jeremiah at Ramah. They had tied him up with all the <i>prisoners</i> from Jerusalem and Judah. Nebuzaradan caused the soldiers to let Jeremiah go free. Then the <i>LORD</i> spoke to Jeremiah. They were taking the <i>prisoners</i> to Babylon. 


text:
Nebuzaradan said to Jeremiah, ‘The <i>LORD</i> your God promised that he would help me to destroy this place. 


text:
And now, your God has done that. He has done all that he promised. He did that because your people did not obey the <i>LORD</i>. That was their <i>sin</i>. 


text:
But today I am taking off the <i>ropes</i> that tie you up. You are a free man. You can come with me to Babylon if you want to do that. If you do come, I will help you. But you do not have to come with me. You can go to any part of the country that you like.’ 


text:
But before Jeremiah left, Nebuzaradan said, ‘Return to Gedaliah, who is Ahikam’s son and Shaphan’s grandson, and to the people. The king of Babylon has chosen Gedaliah to rule over the towns in Judah. Live with Gedaliah and all the people there. Or you can go to any other place that you want to go to.’ <n>Then Nebuzaradan gave food and a gift to Jeremiah and he let him go. 


text:
So Jeremiah went to Gedaliah, Ahikam’s son, at Mizpah. He stayed there with him and with the people who remained in Judah. <n>Some people kill Gedaliah.</n> 


text:
Some <i>Jewish</i> army officers and soldiers were living in the fields in Judah. Somebody told them that the king of Babylon had chosen Gedaliah, Ahikam’s son, as the ruler over the people. These people were the poorest men, women and children in the country. The soldiers from Babylon had not taken them to Babylon. 


text:
Some army officers and their men came to Gedaliah at Mizpah. They were Nethaniah’s son Ishmael, and Johanan and Jonathan, who were Kareah’s sons. They came with Seraiah, who was Tanhumeth’s son. The sons of Ephai from Netophah came. And the son of Jaazaniah from Maachah and their men also came. 


text:
Gedaliah, Ahikam’s son, saw that they were afraid. So he said, ‘Do not be afraid to be servants to the soldiers from Babylon. Stay here and <i>serve</i> the king of Babylon. If you do that, good things will happen. 


text:
I myself will stay with you. I will speak on your behalf when the men from Babylon come. But you can take in the summer fruits and the food seeds and you can make <i>wine</i> and oil. Then you can store them in jars. And you can live in the towns that you have got power over.’ 


text:
People told this news to the <i>Jews</i> in Moab, Ammon, Edom and all the other countries. People told them that the king of Babylon had let a few people remain in Judah. And they told them that he had chosen Gedaliah, son of Ahikam, son of Shaphan, as their ruler. 


text:
So all those <i>Jews</i> came back to Judah. They came to Gedaliah at Mizpah. They came from all the countries where they were hiding. And they took very much <i>wine</i> and summer fruit from the fields and they stored them. 


text:
‘You should know that Baalis, king of Ammon, has sent Ishmael, Nethaniah’s son, to kill you’, they said to him. But Gedaliah, son of Ahikam, did not believe them. 


text:
Johanan, son of Kareah, went to speak to Gedaliah secretly. ‘Let me go and kill Ishmael, son of Nethaniah. And nobody will know about it’, he said. ‘We should not let him kill you. There are many <i>Jews</i> with you. If he kills you, all those <i>Jews</i> will run away to different places. Then the few people from Israel that remain will die.’ 


text:
But Gedaliah, son of Ahikam, spoke to Johanan, son of Kareah. ‘Do not do anything like that’, he said. ‘The things that you are saying about Ishmael are not true.’ 


text:
Ishmael, Nethaniah’s son, came to Gedaliah, Ahikam’s son, at Mizpah in the 7th month. Ishmael was a <i>relative</i> of the king and he had 10 men with him. He had been an officer of the king. They were all eating a meal together. 


text:
During the meal, Ishmael and his 10 men stood up and they killed Gedaliah, Ahikam’s son. Ahikam was the son of Shaphan. They killed Gedaliah with their <i>swords</i>. They killed the man that the king of Babylon had chosen to rule the country. 


text:
Ishmael also killed the <i>Jews</i> who were with Gedaliah at Mizpah. And he killed the soldiers from Babylon who were there. <n>


text:
The day after Gedaliah died, 80 <i>Jews</i> came to the <i>temple</i> with <i>grain</i> and with nice oils. They came from Shechem, Shiloh and Samaria to offer them to the <i>LORD</i>. Nobody knew that Ishmael had killed Gedaliah. 


text:
Ishmael, son of Nethaniah, went out from Mizpah to meet them. He was crying while he went. ‘Come to Gedaliah, son of Ahikam’, he said, when he met them. 


text:
They came into the city. Then Nethaniah’s son Ishmael and the men who were with him killed them. They threw their dead bodies into a hole in the ground. 


text:
But 10 men said, ‘Do not kill us! We have <i>wheat</i>, <i>barley</i>, oil and <i>honey</i> that we have hidden in a field.’ So he let them go and he did not kill them with the other men. 


text:
He had thrown Gedaliah’s body into a hole that King Asa had dug. Asa had dug many holes to save himself from Baasha king of Israel. Ishmael, son of Nethaniah, filled this hole with dead bodies. 


text:
Ishmael caused all the other people who were in Mizpah to become his <i>prisoners</i>. He took the king’s daughters and all the other people who remained there. Nebuzaradan, captain of the king’s special soldiers, had said that Gedaliah, Ahikam’s son, must rule over those people. Ishmael, Nethaniah’s son, made them his <i>prisoners</i>. And he started to take them to the country called Ammon. 


text:
People told Johanan, Kareah’s son, and the army officers with him about the bad things that Ishmael had done. 


text:
So they took all their men and they went to fight Ishmael, Nethaniah’s son. They found him near the big pool in Gibeon. 


text:
All the people that were with Ishmael saw Johanan and the soldiers with him. They were happy when they saw them. 


text:
All the people that Ishmael had taken as <i>prisoners</i> at Mizpah left Ishmael. They went to join Johanan, son of Kareah. 


text:
But Ishmael, son of Nethaniah, ran away from Johanan. He and 8 men went to Ammon. <n>Johanan takes the people to Egypt.</n> 


text:
Johanan, Kareah’s son, and the officers with him took away the people who had come from Mizpah. They were the people that he had saved from Ishmael, son of Nethaniah. Ishmael had killed Gedaliah, son of Ahikam. These people were the soldiers, women, children and officers that Johanan brought from Gibeon. 


text:
These people went towards Egypt. They stopped at Geruth-Chimham on the way to Egypt. That is near Bethlehem. 


text:
They wanted to run away from the soldiers from Babylon. They were afraid because Ishmael, son of Nethaniah, had killed Gedaliah. And the king of Babylon had said that Gedaliah should rule Israel. 


text:
Then all the army officers and the people went to speak to Jeremiah the <i>prophet</i>. They included Johanan, son of Kareah, Jezaniah, son of Hoshaiah, and other people. The important people went. And those who were not important also went. 


text:
‘Please listen to us and pray for us’, they said. ‘Pray to the <i>LORD</i> your God for us who remain here. You can see that we are now only a few. But before now, we were many people. 


text:
‘I have heard you’, Jeremiah the <i>prophet</i> replied. ‘I will certainly pray to the <i>LORD</i> your God as you have asked me. I will tell everything that the <i>LORD</i> says to you. I will not hide anything from you.’ 


text:
‘We will do everything that the <i>LORD</i> has sent you to say to us. We want the <i>LORD</i> to <i>punish</i> us if we do not do that’, they said to Jeremiah. 


text:
‘We have asked you to pray to the <i>LORD</i> our God and we will obey him. We will obey him whether he tells us good things or bad things. We will obey him because we want good things to happen to us.’ 


text:
So Jeremiah brought Johanan, son of Kareah, and the soldiers and all the people together. He brought together all the people who were with him. He brought the important people and those who were not important. 


text:
‘If you will stay in this country, I will build you up. I will plant you like a seed and you will grow. I will not pull you up and I will not kill you. I am sad about the way that I hurt you. That is why I will do this. 


text:
Do not be afraid of the king of Babylon. You are afraid of him now but do not be afraid of him’, says the <i>LORD</i>. ‘I am with you and I will save you from him. 


text:
‘But you may not obey the <i>LORD</i> your God. Or you may say, “We will not stay in this country.” 


text:
You may say, “No, we will go to live in Egypt where we will not have to fight. And we will have enough food there.” 


text:
Then listen to me, you few people from Judah who remain here. The great and powerful <i>LORD</i>, the God of Israel, says this. I will cause this to happen if you decide to live in Egypt: If you make it your home, 


text:
you will die there. The soldiers that you are afraid of will kill you. Or you will not have enough food. 


text:
But all the people who decide to go to make their home in Egypt will die there. Soldiers will kill some of them. I will cause other people to die because they become ill. And other people will die because they do not have any food. Nobody will save any of them from the trouble that I will send. 


text:
The great and powerful <i>LORD</i>, the God of Israel, says this: I was very angry with the people who lived in Jerusalem. In the same way, I will be very angry with you when you go to Egypt. People will hate you and they will shout bad things about you. They will say that you have done wrong things. You will never see this place again. 


text:
You people from Judah that are still here, I am speaking to you. The <i>LORD</i> has said what you must do. He has said, “Do not go to Egypt.” 


text:
You made a bad mistake when you asked me to pray to the <i>LORD</i> for you. You said, “Tell us everything that he says. And then we will do it.” 


text:
I told you today, but you still have not obeyed the <i>LORD</i> your God. You have not done anything that he sent me to tell to you. 


text:
I will tell you something. You will die in the place where you want to live. Soldiers may kill you. Or you may die because you are ill. Or you will die because you do not have any food.’ 


text:
So Jeremiah finished telling the people all the words of the <i>LORD</i> their God. He told them everything that the <i>LORD</i> had sent him to tell them. 


text:
Then Hoshaiah’s son Azariah and Kareah’s son Johanan and some other men spoke to Jeremiah. All those men thought that they knew everything. They thought that they were better than other people. ‘You are speaking <i>lies</i>!’ they said to Jeremiah. ‘The <i>LORD</i> our God has not sent you to say that we must not go to Egypt to live there. 


text:
But you are doing what Baruch, son of Neriah, wants. He is against us. He wants the soldiers from Babylon to kill us or to take us as <i>prisoners</i> to Babylon.’ 


text:
So Johanan, son of Kareah, and all the officers in the army did not obey the <i>LORD</i>’s message. They did not stay in Judah. 


text:
Instead, Johanan and the officers led the people away from Judah. These were the few people who had returned to Judah. They had come from all the countries where their enemies had sent them. 


text:
They took with them the men, women and children and the king’s daughters. Nebuzaradan, the captain of Nebuchadnezzar’s special soldiers, had let those people remain with Gedaliah. (Gedaliah was Ahikam’s son and Shaphan’s grandson.) And Nebuzaradan had let Jeremiah the <i>prophet</i> and Baruch, son of Neriah, remain there with them. 


text:
Choose some large stones while the <i>Jews</i> are watching you’, he said. ‘Take them and put them under the path to the king’s house. 


text:
Then you must speak to the people. Say, “The strong, powerful <i>LORD</i>, the God of Israel, says this: I will send my servant, Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, here. He will put his <i>throne</i> here, over these stones that I have hidden. They will make his king’s <i>tent</i> over him. 


text:
He will come and he will attack Egypt. He will kill those people that I have chosen to die. He will take as <i>prisoners</i> those that I choose to be <i>prisoners</i>. His soldiers will kill those people that I choose to die in that way. 


text:
He will use fire when he attacks the <i>temples</i> of the gods of Egypt. He will burn them and he will take away their gods. He will do what he wants with Egypt. Nobody will stop him. 


text:
He will break down the places where the people in Egypt <i>worship</i> in the <i>temple</i> of the sun. And he will burn down the <i>temples</i> of the gods there.” ’ 


text:
The <i>LORD</i> spoke to Jeremiah. He spoke about the <i>Jews</i> who lived in Egypt. They lived in Migdol, Tahpanhes and Memphis and in other places. He said, 


text:
‘The great and powerful <i>LORD</i>, the God of Israel, says, “You saw the great trouble that I caused to Jerusalem and to all the towns in Judah. Your enemies have broken them down and nobody lives there now. 


text:
That is because of the <i>evil</i> things that the people did there. They made me angry because they made nice smells to give pleasure to other gods. And they <i>worshipped</i> those gods. Neither they nor their <i>ancestors</i> knew those gods. 


text:
Again and again I sent my servants the <i>prophets</i> to them. They gave my message to them. ‘Do not do this bad thing that I <i>hate</i>!’ they said. 


text:
But the people did not listen to my words and they did not obey me. They did not stop doing wrong things. And they did not stop making nice smells to give pleasure to other gods. 


text:
So I became very angry. I <i>punished</i> the towns in Judah and the streets in Jerusalem. I destroyed them. And I broke those places down as you can see today. 


text:
Now the great and powerful <i>LORD</i>, the God of Israel, says, ‘You are causing more trouble for yourselves. You are taking all the men, women, children and babies out of Judah. You have not let anybody stay in Israel. 


text:
You are making me very angry by the things that you have made with your hands. You are making nice smells to give pleasure to the gods of Egypt where you have come to live. Those things will destroy your <i>nation</i>. You will become a <i>nation</i> that all other <i>nations hate</i>. They will think that you do not have any value. 


text:
You must remember the <i>evil</i> things that your <i>ancestors</i> did. The kings and queens of Judah and you and your wives also did many wrong things. You did <i>evil</i> things in Jerusalem and in all Judah. 


text:
Even now your people have not become sorry. They have not agreed that they have done wrong things. They have not given any <i>honour</i> to me. They have not obeyed the rules that I gave to them and to their <i>ancestors</i>.’ ” 


text:
So the great and powerful <i>LORD</i>, the God of Israel, says, “I will certainly give much trouble to you and I will destroy all Judah. 


text:
I will take away the few <i>Jews</i> who decided to come to Egypt. They will all die there. Soldiers will kill them. Or they will die because they do not have any food to eat. Other people will <i>hate</i> them and they will make them ashamed. They will say how bad the <i>Jews</i> are. They will tell them that they have done wrong things. 


text:
I will <i>punish</i> those people in Egypt. I will use soldiers with <i>swords</i>. Or I might make them ill. Or I will not give any food to them so then they will die. I will <i>punish</i> them, as I <i>punished</i> the people in Jerusalem. 


text:
None of the few people from Judah who went to live in Egypt will return. They want very much to return to Judah. But not one <i>Jew</i> will be able to leave Egypt, except for a very small group who will run away.” ‘ 


text:
A large crowd came together from all the places in Egypt where they lived. The men knew that their wives were burning nice smelling oils to other gods. And there were many women with them. They spoke to Jeremiah. 


text:
‘You have said that the <i>LORD</i> has given a message to you. But we will not listen to you’, they said. 


text:
‘We will certainly do everything that we want to do. We will make nice smells for the Queen of <i>Heaven</i> and we will offer drinks to her. We will do what our <i>ancestors</i> did. We and our kings and our officers did this in Jerusalem and in all the towns in Judah. We had plenty of food then. We were rich and we did not have any troubles. 


text:
But since we stopped offering those things to the Queen of <i>Heaven</i> we have not had anything. Some of us have died because they did not have any food. And soldiers have killed other people.’ <n>The Queen of <i>Heaven</i> was a female god that some people <i>worshipped</i>. They thought that she had the power to give them much food and to make them rich. They believed that she could cause them to have many strong children. And they believed that she could cause their animals to have many strong young animals. They thought that gifts would cause her to do good things for them. 


text:
The women spoke. ‘Our husbands knew that we were burning oils to make nice smells to the Queen of <i>Heaven</i>. And we made cakes in her shape and we offered <i>wine</i> to her, too’, they said. 


text:
‘The <i>LORD</i> knew about the things that you and your <i>ancestors</i>, your kings and officers and all the people did. He knew that you burned those oils with nice smells in the towns in Judah. He knew that you burned them in the streets in Jerusalem’, he said. 


text:
‘He saw the things that you were doing. So he made your country empty and he did not let anything grow there. The <i>LORD</i> saw the bad things that you were doing. So he made the country a place where nobody wanted to live. He caused it to become empty and now nobody lives there. 


text:
The <i>LORD</i> did that because of the wrong things that you were doing. He would not let you continue to do them. You burned the nice oils. You did not obey his rules. And you did not do any of the things that he wanted you to do. So he has caused these bad things that you see.’ 


text:
‘Hear the <i>LORD</i>’s word, all you people from Judah who are in Egypt’, Jeremiah said. ‘I am speaking to the men and to the women. 


text:
The great and powerful <i>LORD</i>, the God of Israel, says this: You and your wives have certainly done as you promised. You said, “We will do the things that we have said. We will burn nice smelling oils and we will offer drink to the Queen of <i>Heaven</i>.” So go. And do what you promised to do! 


text:
But listen to the words that the <i>LORD</i> has to say to all you <i>Jews</i> in Egypt: “I am promising something to you. I will do this as certainly as I am alive”, says the <i>LORD</i>. “Nobody from Judah who lives in Egypt will again be able to say, ‘As certainly as the <i>LORD</i>, the ruler, lives.’ 


text:
I will not help the <i>Jews</i> in Egypt. I will kill all those <i>Jews</i>. They will die because they do not have any food. Or soldiers will kill them. 


text:
Only a few of those people that they do not kill will leave Egypt to return to Judah. Then all the <i>Jews</i> who came to live in Egypt will know this. They will know that my word and not theirs is true.” 


text:
“I will <i>punish</i> you in this place”, says the <i>LORD</i>. “I will tell you something that will happen soon. Then you will know that my promise to destroy you is a true promise.” 


text:
The <i>LORD</i> says, “I will deliver Hophra king of Egypt to his enemies. They want to kill him. I will do that in the same way that I delivered Zedekiah king of Judah to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon. Nebuchadnezzar wanted to kill Zedekiah.” ’ 


text:
Baruch wrote down on a <i>scroll</i> the words that I gave to him. That was in the 4th year that Jehoiakim, Josiah’s son, was king of Judah. Then I told him 


text:
you said, “I am not a happy man! I have pain and now the <i>LORD</i> has made me sad too. I am so sad that it has made me feel very tired. And there is no rest for me.” ’ 


text:
Then the <i>LORD</i> asked me to say this to Baruch. ‘But I, the <i>LORD</i>, am pushing down the things that I have built. And I am pulling up the things that I have planted. I will do that to all the country. 


text:
You may want to be very important. Do not want that. I will <i>punish</i> all men and women. But in any place that you go to, I will let you keep your life safe.’ 


text:
The <i>LORD</i> told Jeremiah the <i>prophet</i> about the things that he will do to the people in many countries. 


text:
This is the message against the army of King Neco of Egypt. Nebuchadnezzar, Babylon’s king, fought with them at Carchemish on the River Euphrates. Nebuchadnezzar won that fight in the 4th year after Josiah’s son Jehoiakim became king of Judah. 


text:
‘Get ready to march to the fight! <n>Prepare your <i>shields</i>, whether you are important or not. 


text:
Make the horses ready to obey you. <n>Stand ready with hard hats on your heads. <n>Make sharp the knives that you throw. <n>Put on strong clothes of leather and metal. 


text:
I see that the army are afraid. <n>They are running away. <n>Their soldiers have not won the fight. <n>They are running away fast. <n>They do not look behind them. <n>Everything round them makes them afraid’, <n>says the <i>LORD</i>. 


text:
But they cannot run as fast as they need to run. <n>The strong men cannot run away. <n>They are falling by the River Euphrates. <n>In the north, they fall down. 


text:
Egypt is rising like the River Nile, <n>like rivers of fast waters. <n>Egypt says, ‘I will rise up and I will cover the earth. <n>I will destroy cities and I will kill their people.’ 


text:
The horses run fast. <n>Men in their <i>chariots</i> cause them to go faster. <n>The soldiers continue to march. <n>Men from Ethiopia and Put are carrying their <i>shields</i>. <n>Men from the people called Lydians are bringing their bows. 


text:
But that day is a day when the <i>LORD</i>, the great powerful <i>LORD</i> will <i>punish</i> his enemies. <n>He is angry with his enemies and he will <i>punish</i> them. <n>His soldiers will kill with their <i>swords</i>. <n>They will kill many people. <n>They will be like a hungry man. He eats until he is not still hungry. <n>The <i>LORD</i>, the great and powerful <i>LORD</i>, will offer up the dead people. <n>He will offer them in a place in the north by the River Euphrates. 


text:
Go to Gilead to get medicine to make you well. <n>Go, you young women in Egypt. <n>But many medicines will not make you better. <n>Nothing will make you well. 


text:
All countries will see that you are ashamed. <n>All the people on earth will hear you when you cry. <n>Two soldiers will knock against each other. <n>They will fall down together. 


text:
This is the message that the <i>LORD</i> spoke to Jeremiah the <i>prophet</i> about Nebuchadnezzar. He, the king of Babylon, would come to attack Egypt. 


text:
‘Tell this to the people in Egypt and shout it in Migdol. <n>And tell it to the people in Memphis and in Tahpanhes. <n>“Get ready to fight because they are killing all the people round you.” 


text:
Enemies will knock down your soldiers. <n>They cannot stand because the <i>LORD</i> will push them down. 


text:
They will go on falling. <n>They will fall over each other. <n>They will say, “Get up. Let us return to our own people and to our own country. <n>We want to run from these fights and from our enemies.” 


text:
When they get back they will shout, <n>“The king of Egypt is weak. He is like a loud noise. <n>He is too late to win the fight.” ’ 


text:
The King, the great and powerful <i>LORD</i> says, <n>‘I am giving a promise to you. Someone will come who will be great. <n>He will be as great among men as Tabor and Carmel are great among the mountains. 


text:
You people who live in Egypt, pack your things ready to go to a far country. <n>They will destroy Memphis. Its buildings will lie in pieces and nobody will live there. 


text:
Egypt has bought soldiers. But they are like animals that men are ready to kill. <n>They will run away together. They will not stand and fight. <n>Now the day is coming when the <i>LORD</i> will kill those soldiers. 


text:
Egypt’s people will run from the enemy when many men come near to attack it. <n>They will attack it with axes. <n>They will be like men who cut down trees, 


text:
to destroy thick forests’, says the <i>LORD</i>. <n>‘There are too many enemies to count. <n>They are like many insects that seem like a great cloud. 


text:
They will make the people in Egypt ashamed. <n>The people from the north will make them their <i>prisoners</i>.’ 


text:
‘Now I will <i>punish</i> Amon, god of Thebes. And I will <i>punish</i> Pharaoh, the king of Egypt. And I will <i>punish</i> their other gods and kings, and the people that they rule. 


text:
I will give them to those who want to kill them. Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and his officers will take them’, says the great and powerful <i>LORD</i>. ‘But in later years, people will again live in Egypt as they did before’, he says. 


text:
‘Do not be afraid, my servant Jacob. Do not be afraid of trouble, Israel. <n>I will certainly bring you from a far country. <n>I will save your children from the places where they went as <i>prisoners</i>. <n>Jacob (Israel) will again have <i>peace</i> and he will be safe. <n>Then nobody will make him afraid. 


text:
Do not be afraid, Jacob my servant, <n>because I am with you’, says the <i>LORD</i>. <n>‘I may completely destroy all the countries where I send you. <n>But I will never completely destroy you. <n>I will be fair when I <i>punish</i> you. But I certainly will <i>punish</i> you.’ <n>Jacob here means the <i>nation</i>, Israel. 


text:
The <i>LORD</i> told this to Jeremiah the <i>prophet</i> before <i>Pharaoh</i>, king of Egypt, attacked Gaza. He spoke about the <i>Philistines</i>. 


text:
The great and powerful <i>LORD</i>, the God of Israel says, <n>‘See how the armies in the north are rising like water. <n>I will make them as strong as a great fast river. <n>They will cover the country and everything in it. <n>They will cover the towns and the people who live in them. <n>The people will shout. All the people who live in the country will cry. 


text:
They will cry when they hear the sound of horses <n>and the noise of their enemies’ war <i>chariots</i>. <n>They will hear them when they are coming. <n>Fathers will not turn to help their children. <n>Their hands will not move. 


text:
This is the day when God will kill all the <i>Philistines</i>. <n>He will not let anybody live to help Tyre and Sidon. <n>The <i>LORD</i> will soon remove the <i>Philistines</i>. <n>He will remove those who remain by the sea. He will remove them from the country called Caphtor. 


text:
The people in Gaza will be very sad. <n>No voice will speak in Ashkelon. <n>Stop cutting yourselves, you who live near the sea!’ <n>The <i>Philistines</i> would cut themselves so that their gods would see the blood. They thought that this would cause their gods to help them. 


text:
‘You shout to the <i>LORD</i>, “Your <i>sword</i> is attacking. <n>We want it to stop! <n>Put it back in its bag and make it still.” 


text:
But it cannot rest because the <i>LORD</i> has caused his <i>sword</i> to do this. <n>He has caused it to attack Ashkelon and the country by the sea.’ <n>The <i>Philistines</i> had always been enemies of Israel. They lived in the country west of Israel, near the sea. Now the <i>LORD</i> will destroy their country. He will use the armies of Babylon from the north, to do that. 


text:
The great and powerful <i>LORD</i>, the God of Israel says, <n>‘I will cause the people in Nebo city to cry, because I will destroy it. <n>The people in Kiriathaim city will be ashamed and its enemies will get power over it. <n>They will break its strong buildings, and its people will be ashamed. 


text:
Nobody will again say good things about Moab. <n>In Heshbon, men will think about how they can destroy Moab. <n>They will say, “Let us completely destroy that <i>nation</i>.” <n>And the town called Madmen will become completely quiet. 


text:
You will hear sad voices from Horonaim. <n>Its people will be afraid. And they will cry while enemies destroy it. 


text:
They will go to Luhith. And they will cry while they walk. <n>They will go towards Horonaim. And they will cry while enemies destroy their cities. 


text:
You thought that your rich things would save you. <n>But your enemies will take you away too. <n>The people and the god Chemosh will go to a foreign country <n>together with their <i>priests</i> and their officers. 


text:
The enemy’s armies will attack every town. <n>They will not save one town. <n>They will destroy the valley and the flat country. <n>The <i>LORD</i> has spoken. 


text:
They will put salt on Moab’s country so that nothing will grow there. <n>Nobody will live in their towns. They will be empty. 


text:
The <i>LORD</i> will <i>punish</i> any man who will not do God’s work! <n>He will <i>punish</i> anyone who does not kill with his <i>sword</i>! 


text:
Moab’s people have had peace since they became a <i>nation</i>. <n>They have been like <i>wine</i> that rests in a cupboard. <n>Nobody has ever taken them away to a foreign country. <n>So it is the same as it always was.’ 


text:
‘But the time will come’, says the <i>LORD</i>, <n>‘when I will send men to it. <n>They will pour out Moab’s people like <i>wine</i>. They will empty Moab like <i>wine</i> jars. <n>They will break the jars completely. 


text:
Then the people from Moab will be ashamed of Chemosh. <n>They will be like the people in Israel who <i>worshipped</i> the god at Bethel. <n>Those people became ashamed when they did that. 


text:
I will destroy Moab. Enemies will get power over its towns. <n>They will kill the best of its young men.’ <n>The King, the great and powerful <i>LORD</i> says, 


text:
The people who live round it must be sorry for it. <n>They all knew how great it had been. <n>They will say, “Moab’s great <i>kingdom</i> is broken. <n>Their king is not still ruling there!” 


text:
You people who live round Dibon, sit on the ground. <n>Come from your beautiful houses and sit in the dirt. <n>The enemy who is destroying Moab will come to attack you. <n>He will break down your cities that have walls round them. 


text:
Stand by the road, you people who live in Aroer. And watch. <n>You will see men and women who are running away. <n>Ask them, “Why are you running away from the city?” 


text:
Moab is ashamed because enemies have broken it. <n>Shout! <n>Tell the people by the River Arnon that enemies have destroyed Moab. 


text:
The <i>LORD</i> has <i>judged</i> the cities on the flat country. <n>He has <i>judged</i> Holon, Jahzah and Mephaath, 


text:
Kerioth and Bozrah that he has <i>judged</i> them. <n>Tell the people in all the towns in Moab, near or far away. 


text:
Moab does not have any power now. <n>Their enemies have destroyed the things that made them strong’, <n>says the <i>LORD</i>. 


text:
‘Moab has not obeyed the <i>LORD</i>. So make it like a woman who is <i>drunk</i>. <n>She will be sick and she will sit in her own dirt. <n>People will point at Moab. They will not give any <i>honour</i> to their people. 


text:
You said things that were not kind about Israel. <n>You said that they did not have any value. <n>You did not find Israel’s people when they were with many robbers. <n>So you do not have any good reason to speak like that about them. 


text:
You people in Moab, <n>leave your towns and go to live among the rocks. <n>Live like a bird that builds its house by a hole in the hill. 


text:
We have heard about the people in Moab. <n>They think that they are better than anyone else. <n>They think that other people are like dirt. <n>They think that nobody is good enough to speak to them. 


text:
I know about Moab’s thoughts. <n>They think that Israel does not have any value. <n>But their thoughts do not have any value’, says the <i>LORD</i>. <n>‘The loud words that they say will not help them. 


text:
I am weeping for your <i>vines</i> of Sibmah. <n>They reach as far as the sea. <n>Their branches reach to the sea called Jazer. <n>The enemy is destroying their fruit and their <i>grapes</i>. 


text:
The fruit farms and the fields of Moab are empty. <n>They make people sad. <n>They are not happy <n>because I have stopped them making <i>wine</i>. <n>They are not singing now and they are not happy now. 


text:
They are crying with a loud voice. <n>The noise rises from Heshbon to Elealeh and Jahaz. <n>It reaches from Zoar to Horonaim and Eglath-Shelishiyah. <n>Even the River Nimrim has become dry. 


text:
‘The people in Moab <i>worship</i> other gods. <n>They offer food to them on the high places. <n>They burn nice smelling oils to their gods. <n>I will cause them to stop that’, says the <i>LORD</i>. 


text:
‘So I am very, very sad for the people in Moab. <n>I will sing a sad song. <n>It is a song for the men in Kir-Heres <n>because they have lost their valuable things. 


text:
All the men have cut off the hair from their heads and faces. <n>They have cut their hands. <n>And they are wearing hard material. 


text:
On all the roofs and in the streets, <n>the people are sad and they are crying. <n>They are sad because I have broken Moab. <n>I have broken it like a jar that I do not want’, <n>says the <i>LORD</i>. 


text:
‘I have really broken Moab. So its people cry with loud voices. <n>They are ashamed and they turn away. <n>People look at Moab’s troubles. They do not give any <i>honour</i> to its people. <n>All who live near there are afraid to look at Moab.’ 


text:
The <i>LORD</i> says, <n>‘Look! A big bird is flying down. <n>Its <i>wings</i> are open while it flies over Moab.’ <n>This is like a picture of an attack by an enemy. 


text:
‘An enemy will win the fight for Kerioth <n>and he will get power over its strong buildings. <n>Then Moab’s soldiers will be afraid. <n>They will be afraid like a woman who is having a baby. 


text:
He will catch their people and he will <i>punish</i> them. <n>And they will be very afraid’, says the <i>LORD</i>. 


text:
‘People who run from dangerous things will fall into holes. <n>They will fall into holes that their enemies have dug. <n>And the enemy will catch those who climb out of the holes. <n>That will happen because now I will <i>punish</i> Moab’, says the <i>LORD</i>. 


text:
‘Those people who tried to run away will stand near to Heshbon. <n>Nobody will help them. <n>I have been like a fire that is coming from Heshbon. <n>It is like a fire from the centre of Sihon. <n>It burns the faces of Moab’s people. <n>And it burns the heads of the drunks who make a lot of noise. 


text:
Cry, you people in Moab! <n>I have destroyed the people of Chemosh. <n>The enemy has taken your sons to a far country. <n>They have taken your daughters to become slaves. 


text:
But one day I will cause Moab to become a <i>nation</i> again.’ <n>That is what the <i>LORD</i> says. <n>That is what the <i>LORD</i> says as the <i>judge</i> of Moab. <n>Chemosh was the god of the people in Moab. 


text:
The <i>LORD</i> says, <n>‘You have let Molech rule the people from Gad. <n>Your sons have not sent him away. <n>His people live in the country that I gave to Gad.’ <n>Molech was the god of the people in Ammon. 


text:
‘But at a future time, I will call my people to fight’, says the <i>LORD</i>. <n>‘They will fight against Rabbah, that city in Ammon. <n>They will pull it down to become a lot of stones. <n>And they will burn the villages round it with fire. <n>Then Israel’s people will push out the people who pushed them out’, says the <i>LORD</i>. <n>When they were fighting in an earlier war, some people in Ammon had run away from their own country. They got power over part of the country that God had given to Gad to live in. 


text:
‘Cry, you people in Heshbon, because they have destroyed Ai. <n>Cry aloud, you people who live in Rabbah. <n>You wear hard material when a friend has died. <n>Put on those clothes now and be very sad. <n>You do not know what to do. So you will run about. <n>Enemies will take the people from Moab to a far country. <n>They will take them with their <i>priests</i> and their officers. 


text:
You say to everyone that your valleys are full of fruit. <n>You are like a daughter that does not obey me. <n>You think that your valuable things will save you from your enemies. 


text:
But I will make you afraid of all the people who live round you’, <n>says the great and powerful <i>LORD</i>. <n>‘Enemies will push everyone away from his home. <n>Nobody will save those people who are running away. 


text:
But, after this, I will bring back Ammon’s people’, says the <i>LORD</i>. <n>A message about Edom</n> 


text:
The great and powerful <i>LORD</i> says this about Edom: <n>‘The men from Teman do not have any more clever thoughts. <n>Their great ideas have left them. 


text:
You people in Dedan, turn and run away. Hide in deep holes. <n>I will <i>punish</i> Esau’s <i>descendants</i> and I will cause a lot of trouble for them. 


text:
I will not be like men who pick fruits. They let a few fruits remain behind. <n>And I will not be like a robber who takes only a few things. 


text:
No, I will take everything and Esau’s country will be empty. <n>I will show enemies where Esau’s <i>descendants</i> hide. And they will find Esau’s <i>descendants</i>. <n>They will kill all their children, family and friends. <n>And they will die. 


text:
Leave those who do not have living fathers. Then I will save them. <n>And <i>widows</i> will be safe with me.’ 


text:
The <i>LORD</i> says, ‘Not all the people that I have <i>punished</i> were bad. So I must certainly <i>punish</i> you people who are bad. 


text:
I will do that as certainly as the fact that I am <i>LORD</i>. Enemies will destroy Bozrah. People will see that enemies have broken it down. And they will be afraid. They will point to it. And they will say how bad it was. All its villages will be <i>heaps</i> of stones for all time.’ 


text:
I have heard a message from the <i>LORD</i>. He has sent his <i>messenger</i> to the <i>nations</i>. He says, ‘Get ready to attack Edom. Prepare to fight!’ 


text:
You made people afraid. So you thought that you were great and strong. <n>But your thoughts were wrong. <n>You may hide in small holes in the rock or high up on the hill. <n>Even if you live as high as the homes of great birds, I will bring you down.’ <n>Those are the words of the <i>LORD</i>. 


text:
‘Edom will change so much that people will not want to look at it. <n>Those who walk past will say bad things about it. <n>They will turn away from it because its enemies have destroyed it completely. 


text:
Nobody will live there, not one man. <n>It will be like Sodom and Gomorrah <n>when men destroyed them and the towns near them’, <n>says the <i>LORD</i>. 


text:
‘I will be like a <i>lion</i> that comes into green fields. <n>I will come like a <i>lion</i> out of the trees by the River Jordan. <n>I will push Edom’s people quickly out of their country. <n>The leader that I choose will rule the people. <n>Nobody is like me. Nobody can say that they are as great as me.’ 


text:
So listen to the things that the <i>LORD</i> will do to Edom. <n>Listen to the things that he will do to the people in Teman. <n>Your people will be like sheep. He will take away their young sheep. <n>He will completely destroy their country <n>because they do not obey him. 


text:
The whole earth will move with the noise when they fall. <n>They will cry by seas that are far away. <n>People will hear them when they cry. 


text:
God will make the men who fight in Bozrah afraid. <n>They will feel like an animal that sees a big bird. The bird is flying to catch it. <n>They will be afraid like a woman who will soon have a child. <n>A message about Damascus</n> 


text:
The <i>LORD</i> says about Damascus, <n>‘People have brought bad news to the people who live in Hamath and in Arpad. <n>They are afraid. Their minds are full of trouble. <n>Their thoughts move like the waters of the sea. 


text:
Damascus has become weak. <n>Its people want to run away. <n>They are so afraid that they feel pain. <n>Their pain is like the pain of a woman who is having a baby. 


text:
The young men in it will die in its streets. <n>Then enemies will kill all its soldiers’, says the great and powerful <i>LORD</i>. 


text:
‘I will burn the walls of Damascus. <n>Fire will burn up the strong places of Ben-Hadad.’ <n>A message about Kedar and Hazor</n> 


text:
Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon had attacked Kedar and the <i>kingdoms</i> of Hazor. The <i>LORD</i> said about them, <n>‘Get up and attack Kedar. <n>And take all their valuable things from the people in the East. 


text:
Enemies will take their <i>tents</i> and their animals. <n>They will take their homes and all their things and their <i>camels</i>. <n>Men will shout at them, “Everything round you makes you afraid. 


text:
Run away as fast as you can! <n>You people in Hazor, hide in deep holes in the ground” ’, says the <i>LORD</i>. <n>‘Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon has decided to attack you. <n>He wants to get power over your country. 


text:
They think that they are safe. But he will attack them’, says the <i>LORD</i>. <n>‘The <i>nation</i> is comfortable. It does not have any gates. Its people live alone. 


text:
His soldiers will take their <i>camels</i>. <n>And they will lead away their animals. <n>I will send people who live far away to places all over the earth. 


text:
Only wild animals will live in Hazor. <n>It will always be a place where no people live.’ <n>A message about Elam</n> 


text:
The <i>LORD</i> spoke to Jeremiah the <i>prophet</i> soon after Zedekiah became king of Judah. He spoke about Elam. 


text:
The great and powerful <i>LORD</i> said, <n>‘I will destroy the <i>weapons</i> of Elam that make them strong. 


text:
I will bring against them the winds from every direction. <n>The wind will push them to the far places of the earth. <n>Some people from Elam will run to every <i>nation</i>. 


text:
Their enemies want to kill them. <n>They will run away from those who attack them. <n>I am very angry with them and I will cause much trouble to them’, <n>says the <i>LORD</i>. <n>‘I will send enemies to run after them with <i>swords</i> <n>until they are all dead. 


text:
I will become the ruler of Elam. <n>And I will kill their king and his officers’, says the <i>LORD</i>. 


text:
‘But at a time that is still future, <n>I will make Elam a <i>nation</i> again’, says the <i>LORD</i>. 


text:
The <i>LORD</i> spoke about the people in Babylon and about their country. He spoke by the <i>prophet</i> Jeremiah. He said, 


text:
‘Tell this to the <i>nations</i>. Shout it out to the countries. <n>Write it on a large piece of material and lift it up. <n>Do not hide anything but say, <n>“Enemies will get power over Babylon. <n>Bel will be ashamed and Marduk will be afraid. <n>All the gods that they have made with their hands will be ashamed.” ’ <n>Bel and Marduk were gods of the people in Babylon. 


text:
‘A <i>nation</i> from the north will attack Babylon and they will destroy that country. <n>Nobody will live in it. Men and animals will run away.’ 


text:
‘When that happens’, the <i>LORD</i> says, <n>‘The people from Judah and from Israel will be sorry. <n>They will cry while they go to find the <i>LORD</i> their God. 


text:
They will ask for the way to <i>Zion</i>. And they will go towards it. <n>They will return and they will promise to be the <i>LORD</i>’s servants. <n>They will make a <i>covenant</i> that will be for all time. <n>Nobody will forget that <i>covenant</i>. 


text:
My people have been like sheep that are lost. <n>Those who should have led them to me have led them away. <n>They have been walking on the mountains and hills. <n>They have walked about and they have forgotten their place to rest. 


text:
Anyone who found them killed them. <n>Their enemies said, “They have caused this trouble to themselves. <n>They did many wrong things. <n>They did not obey the <i>LORD</i> who was really their leader. <n>He was the leader that their <i>ancestors</i> followed. They <i>trusted</i> him.” <n>


text:
I will wake up the people in many <i>nations</i>. I will bring many great <i>nations</i> together from the country in the north. They will get ready to fight against Babylon. <n>They will come against Babylon from the north. And they will take its people away to be <i>prisoners</i>. <n>Their <i>arrows</i> will kill many people. <n>So run away from Babylon. Leave the country called Babylon. <n>Be the first people to leave Babylon. 


text:
Enemies will take all the things that they want from Babylon. <n>Every enemy will have enough things’, says the <i>LORD</i>. 


text:
‘Listen, you people who take away my things. <n>You are so happy that you dance like young cows. <n>You shout aloud like a horse that wants sex. 


text:
Your country will be like a mother who is very ashamed. <n>Her child does not bring <i>honour</i> to the woman who gave life to him. <n>Your people will be less important than other <i>nations</i>. <n>Your country will be a <i>desert</i>, dry and empty. 


text:
Nobody will live there because the <i>LORD</i> is angry with you. <n>Your country will be completely empty. <n>All who pass Babylon will be very afraid. <n>And they will say all kinds of bad things about it when they see its troubles. 


text:
All you men who can shoot <i>arrows</i> with a bow, <n>stand round Babylon. <n>Shoot at it! Use all your <i>arrows</i>. <n>Shoot because its people have done bad things against the <i>LORD</i>. 


text:
Shoot at them from all sides. <n>Its people will let you get power over it. Its strong buildings will fall. <n>You will pull down its walls. <n>That is how the <i>LORD</i> will <i>punish</i> them. You will <i>punish</i> them. <n>You must do to them what they have done to other people. 


text:
Do not let anyone remain in Babylon to work on the land. <n>And do not let anyone remain to get food from the fields at the proper time. <n>All the foreign workers will return to their own <i>nation</i> because they are afraid of the attacking enemies. <n>All those workers will run away to their own country. 


text:
Israel is like a group of sheep that have all run to different places. <n>They ran away because <i>lions</i> ran after them. <n>The first to eat them was the king of Assyria. <n>The man who finished the meal was Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon.’ 


text:
So the great and powerful <i>LORD</i>, the God of Israel says, <n>‘I will <i>punish</i> the king of Babylon and his country <n>as I <i>punished</i> the king of Assyria. 


text:
But I will bring Israel back to their own country. <n>And their cows will feed on Carmel and in Bashan. <n>They will eat and they will be full on the hills of Ephraim and Gilead. 


text:
At that time’, says the <i>LORD</i>, <n>‘I will <i>forgive</i> the people in Israel and Judah that remain. <n>Nobody will find any <i>sin</i> in Israel. <n>There will not be any <i>sin</i> in Judah or in Israel.’ 


text:
‘Attack the place called Merathaim. And attack the people who live in Pekod. <n>Run after them and kill all those people’, says the <i>LORD</i>. <n>‘Do everything that I have asked you to do. <n>Merathaim and Pekod are names of other parts of Babylon. 


text:
There is a noise of fights in the country. <n>It is like the noise when enemies are destroying everything. 


text:
Babylon was like a hammer to the whole earth. <n>But now enemies have broken it into small pieces. <n>It is now alone among the <i>nations</i>. 


text:
I meant to catch you, Babylon, but you did not know. <n>And now I have caught you! <n>Your enemies found you and they got power over you. They got power over you because you did not obey the <i>LORD</i>. 


text:
The <i>LORD</i> is angry. <n>He has taken out the <i>weapons</i> from where he had stored them. <n>The great and powerful <i>LORD</i> has work to do in the country called Babylon. 


text:
He will send people against Babylon from far places. <n>They will break open the places where people had put their food. <n>They will break its buildings into pieces. <n>They will destroy it completely. Nothing will still be there. 


text:
They will kill all its young male cows. <n>They will be sorry. They will all die. It is time for me to <i>punish</i> them.’ <n>The young male cows mean all Babylon’s young men. 


text:
‘People have run away from Babylon to <i>Zion</i>. <n>They will tell how the <i>LORD</i> has <i>punished</i> Babylon. <n>The <i>LORD</i> has <i>punished</i> Babylon because Babylon destroyed the <i>LORD</i>’s <i>temple</i>. 


text:
Bring the men with bows and <i>arrows</i> against Babylon. <n>They will stay all round it so that nobody will be able to run away. <n>You must <i>punish</i> it for all the bad things that its people have done. <n>Do to them as they did to you. <n>Do that because they <i>proudly</i> refused to obey the <i>LORD</i>, the <i>holy</i> God of Israel. 


text:
So, on that day, their young men will die in their streets. <n>Then none of their soldiers will be able to fight’, says the <i>LORD</i>. 


text:
‘You think that you are very important. <n>But you will see that I am against you’, says the great and powerful <i>LORD</i>. <n>‘That is because the day for your <i>punishment</i> has come. 


text:
Your <i>proud</i> people will <i>trip</i> and they will fall. <n>And nobody will help them to get up. <n>I will make a fire in your towns to burn up all who are near to it.’ 


text:
The great and powerful <i>LORD</i> says, <n>‘You have been cruel to the people from Israel and Judah. <n>You have taken them as <i>prisoners</i>, <n>and you will not let them go. 


text:
But the powerful <i>LORD</i> is great and strong. <n>He will come to <i>redeem</i> them. <n>He will fight hard to save them. <n>Then their country will have rest. <n>But Babylon’s people will not have any rest.’ 


text:
‘I am sending an army against Babylon’, says the <i>LORD</i>. <n>‘I am against those who live in Babylon. <n>And I am against its officers and its clever men. 


text:
I am against its <i>false prophets</i>. <n>I will cause them to become fools. <n>My <i>sword</i> will make its soldiers afraid. 


text:
My army will attack its horses and its <i>chariots</i> <n>and foreign men who fight for it. <n>They will be as weak as women. <n>I will cause them to give their valuable things to you. <n>You will take them away. 


text:
I will not send any rain and so its wet places will become dry places. <n>Their country is full of <i>idols</i>. <n>Their <i>false</i> gods will be afraid. 


text:
Wild animals, including wild dogs, will live there. <n>Birds that fly at night will live there, too. <n>Men will never live there again. <n>Nobody’s sons or grandsons will live there. 


text:
God destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah <n>and the towns near to them’, says the <i>LORD</i>. <n>‘Babylon will be like those towns, <n>so nobody will live there, not one man. 


text:
Look. You will see an army that is coming from the north. <n>A great <i>nation</i> and kings from all over the earth <n>are coming towards Babylon. 


text:
They have bows and knives that they throw. <n>They are cruel and they are not kind. <n>They make a noise like the moving sea while they ride on their horses. <n>They are an army that is ready to attack you, people in Babylon. 


text:
The king of Babylon has heard about them. <n>He is weak because he is afraid. <n>He feels pain like the pain of a woman who is having a baby. 


text:
I will be like a <i>lion</i> <n>that is coming out of the woods by the River Jordan. <n>I will come into your rich fields. <n>I will soon cause the people in Babylon to run from their country. <n>I will choose a man to do that, and nobody can stand against me. <n>Nobody can stop me.’ 


text:
So now listen to the things that the <i>LORD</i> will do to Babylon. <n>Hear about the things that he will do to their country. <n>He will pull the young children away from their mothers. <n>And he will completely destroy their good country <n>because of the bad things that they have done. 


text:
All the people in the world will hear how your people got power over Babylon. <n>Then people will be afraid. <n>All the <i>nations</i> will hear when its people shout with pain. 


text:
The <i>LORD</i> says, <n>‘I will wake up those people who want to destroy Babylon and the people in Leb-Kamai. 


text:
I will send foreign armies to Babylon. <n>They will break it and they will destroy its country. <n>They will be all round it at that time. 


text:
Its men will not have time to shoot <n>or to pick up their <i>weapons</i>. <n>You will kill all its young men. <n>You will completely destroy its army. 


text:
The great, powerful <i>LORD</i> is with Israel and Judah. <n>They have done many wrong things. <n>And they have not obeyed him. <n>But he has not left them. 


text:
Run away from Babylon! <n>Run to save your lives! <n>My armies are coming to <i>punish</i> Babylon. <n>Do not let them hurt you. <n>The time has come to <i>punish</i> Babylon. <n>The <i>LORD</i> will <i>punish</i> them for the bad things that they have done. 


text:
Babylon was like a great cup of <i>wine</i>. <n>The <i>LORD</i> saw that the <i>wine</i> made the whole earth <i>drunk</i>. <n>The <i>nations</i> drank the <i>wine</i> and they became angry. 


text:
We would have made Babylon well if we could. <n>But nobody can make it well. <n>We will leave it and each person will go to his own country. <n>Its <i>punishment</i> is very great. <n>It is as great as how far the sky is from the earth. 


text:
The <i>LORD</i> has saved us. <n>We must tell the people in <i>Zion</i> <n>about the things that our God has done. 


text:
Get your <i>arrows</i> ready and prepare your <i>weapons</i>. <n>The <i>LORD</i> has caused the kings of Media to prepare for war. <n>He wants them to destroy Babylon. <n>The <i>LORD</i> will <i>punish</i> its people because they destroyed his <i>temple</i>. 


text:
Get ready to attack the walls of Babylon. <n>Watch. And be ready to catch those who try to run away. <n>The <i>LORD</i> will do as he has promised against Babylon’s people. 


text:
It is the time for the end of their lives. <n>I speak to those rich people who live by the rivers of Babylon. 


text:
The <i>LORD</i> has given a serious promise that he will not change. He used his own name to promise this: <n>I will fill Babylon with men. They will come like a very big number of insects. And they will shout happily because they have beaten you. 


text:
The <i>LORD</i> used his power to make the earth. <n>He was so <i>wise</i> that he made it and the sky over it. 


text:
When he shouts, the waters in the sky make a loud noise. <n>He causes the clouds to rise from the ends of the earth. <n>He sends <i>arrows</i> of light with the rain. <n>And he causes the wind to blow. 


text:
No man is really clever. Nobody knows anything. <n>Men who work with gold should be ashamed. <n>They make <i>idols</i>, but those are not gods. They are not alive. 


text:
<i>Idols</i> do not have any value. We do not give any <i>honour</i> to them. <n>The <i>LORD</i> will <i>judge</i> them and he will destroy them. 


text:
The God of Jacob is the God who made all things. <n>So he is not like the <i>idols</i>. <n>He chose Israel’s people to be his own people. <n>His is called the great and powerful <i>LORD</i>. 


text:
You people are my <i>weapons</i> for war. <n>I use you to fight for me. <n>You will break the <i>nations</i> for me. <n>I will use you to destroy <i>kingdoms</i>. 


text:
With you I will break horses and those who ride on them. <n>With you I will break <i>chariots</i> and the men in them. 


text:
With you I will break men and women. <n>With you, I will break old men and young men. <n>With you, I will break young men and girls. 


text:
With you I will break sheep and the men with them. <n>With you, I will break farmers and their animals. <n>With you, I will break those in authority and their officers. 


text:
I will <i>punish</i> Babylon and all the people in it. <n>I will <i>punish</i> them for all the <i>evil</i> things that they did to Jerusalem. <n>You will see it with your own eyes’, says the <i>LORD</i>. 


text:
‘Babylon, you are like a mountain that destroys the whole earth’, <n>says the <i>LORD</i>. <n>‘I will put out my hands towards you and I will push you down. <n>I will burn you up. 


text:
Nobody will ever use any of your stones for a new building. <n>You will be like a <i>desert</i> for all time’, the <i>LORD</i> says. 


text:
‘Show to the people in the country that you are ready to fight. <n>You must make a noise with the <i>trumpet</i> so that all the <i>nations</i> can hear. <n>Cause the <i>nations</i> to prepare for war against Babylon. <n>Ask the armies of the <i>kingdoms</i> called Ararat, Minni and Ashkenaz to attack it. <n>They must choose their captain to lead them. They will have many horses. <n>Their horses will be like so many insects that they seem like a cloud. 


text:
Send <i>messengers</i> to the kings of Media <n>and to their officers and leaders. <n>Ask them to prepare for war against Babylon. <n>Cause them to bring armies from the places that they rule. 


text:
The <i>LORD</i> has decided to <i>punish</i> Babylon. He will not change. <n>The country is <i>shaking</i> because it is afraid. <n>The <i>LORD</i> will destroy Babylon and he will make it a <i>desert</i>. <n>Nobody will live there. 


text:
The strong men from Babylon have stopped fighting. <n>They are staying in their strong buildings. <n>They are very tired and they have become like women. <n>Soldiers are burning the city. <n>They have broken down its gates and they have burnt its houses. 


text:
One <i>messenger</i> follows another to the king of Babylon. <n>They all tell him that his enemies have got power over his city. 


text:
And they have got power over the places where men cross the rivers. <n>Enemies have made the country like a fire and the soldiers of Babylon are afraid.’ 


text:
The great and powerful <i>LORD</i>, the God of Israel says this: <n>‘Babylon is like the place where men walk on the <i>grain</i> to make the seeds separate from everything else. <n>It is time for men to walk over the city. <n>It will soon be time for men to take away the city’s valuable things.’ 


text:
‘Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon has destroyed us. <n>He has confused us. He has made us like an empty jar. <n>Like a snake, he has eaten us and he has filled himself with our good things. <n>Then he threw us away.’ 


text:
That is what <i>Zion</i>’s people will say. They will also say, ‘We are asking the <i>LORD</i> to <i>punish</i> Nebuchadnezzar. <n>‘We are asking him to do to Nebuchadnezzar all the bad things that he did to our people.’ <n>‘We ask him to <i>punish</i> Babylon’s people because they killed our people’, say Jerusalem’s people. 


text:
So the <i>LORD</i> says, <n>‘Watch. And see that I will fight for you. I will <i>punish</i> them. <n>I will cause its sea and its rivers to become dry. 


text:
I will make Babylon a hill of stones. <n>Wild animals will live there. <n>Men will hate the place and nobody will live there. 


text:
But even when they are shouting, I will prepare a <i>feast</i> for them. <n>I will cause them to get <i>drunk</i>. And so they will laugh. <n>They will sleep and they will never wake again’, says the <i>LORD</i>. 


text:
‘I will bring them down. They will be like sheep that people will soon kill. <n>They will be like sheep and goats and their young animals. 


text:
Enemies will get power over Sheshach (Babylon), the city that was the greatest city on the earth. <n>None of the <i>nations</i> will want to look at Babylon. 


text:
Its towns will be empty. Its land will be a dry <i>desert</i>. <n>Nobody will live there. Nobody will walk on its land. 


text:
I will <i>punish Bel</i>. <n>I will cause him to give back everything that he has taken. <n><i>Nations</i> will never run to him again. <n>And the walls of Babylon will fall. 


text:
Come out of it, my people! Run away and save your lives! <n>Run away because the <i>LORD</i> is very angry with it. 


text:
You must not be afraid <n>when people say things to make you afraid. <n>They will tell stories this year and they will tell more stories next year. <n>They will tell stories about men who hurt each other badly. <n>They will say that rulers will fight each other. 


text:
Certainly the time will come <n>when I will <i>punish</i> the <i>idols</i> of Babylon. <n>Men will be ashamed of its whole country. <n>And its dead people will lie in its streets. 


text:
Then the earth and the sky and all the people in them will shout. <n>They will be so happy that they will shout. And they will dance. <n>They will be happy because people will come to destroy Babylon. <n>They will come from the north to attack it’, says the <i>LORD</i>. 


text:
‘Enemies must destroy Babylon because its people have killed many people in Israel. <n>People killed the people in Babylon as they caused many to die in all the earth. 


text:
You <i>Jews</i> who have not died must run away. <n>Do not wait for anything, but go quickly. <n>Remember the <i>LORD</i>. Think about Jerusalem, you who are far away.’ 


text:
We are ashamed. They have taken away our <i>honour</i>. <n>We cannot look at people’s faces. <n>We are ashamed because <i>foreigners</i> have gone into the <i>holy</i> places of the <i>LORD</i>’s house. 


text:
‘But the time will come’, says the <i>LORD</i>, <n>‘when I will <i>punish</i> Babylon’s <i>idols</i>. <n>And I will hurt many people all over that country. <n>They will cry with pain. 


text:
Babylon’s people may build their city very high. <n>They may make its walls very strong. <n>But I will send men to destroy it’, says the <i>LORD</i>. 


text:
‘The sound of people who are shouting will come from Babylon. <n>It will be the noise of the country of Babylon as men destroy it. 


text:
The <i>LORD</i> will destroy Babylon. It will not continue to make any noise. <n>Enemies will come against it like a hill of waters. <n>Their voices will sound like the sea when it is moving like an angry person. 


text:
They will come against Babylon to destroy it. <n>They will take its soldiers and they will break their bows. <n>The <i>LORD</i> will be paying back those who have hurt his people. <n>He will give full <i>punishment</i> to them. 


text:
I will make its officers and its <i>wise</i> men <i>drunk</i>. <n>I will do that also to its rulers and to its soldiers. <n>They will sleep and they will never wake up’, says the King. <n>He is the great and powerful <i>LORD</i>. 


text:
The great and powerful <i>LORD</i> says, <n>‘They will knock down the thick walls of Babylon. <n>They will burn its high gates. <n>The <i>nations</i> run about and are tired. But they cannot do anything. <n>All the things that the <i>nations</i> do only make the fire worse.’ 


text:
This is the message that Jeremiah gave to the officer Seraiah. He was the son of Neriah, the son of Mahseiah. Seraiah gave it when he went to Babylon with Zedekiah, Judah’s king. It was in the 4th year of his rule. 


text:
Jeremiah had written his message on a piece of clean dry skin. He had written down all the <i>punishment</i> that the <i>LORD</i> would cause to happen to Babylon. 


text:
Then say, “<i>LORD</i> you have said that you will destroy this place. Then no man or animal will live in it. It will be empty for all time.” 


text:
When you have finished reading all the words, tie a big stone to the skin. And throw the stone and the skin into the River Euphrates. 


text:
Then say, “Babylon will go down like that stone and it will never rise again. I will cause all these bad things. Its people will be too tired and too weak to do anything about it.” ’ <n>That is the end of Jeremiah’s words. 


text:
Zedekiah was 21 years old when he became king. He ruled in Jerusalem for 11 years. His mother’s name was Hamutal, daughter of Jeremiah. She came from Libnah. <n>Zedekiah’s grandfather was another Jeremiah, not the <i>prophet</i>. 


text:
The <i>LORD</i> was angry, so he caused these things to happen to Jerusalem and Judah. They became so bad that the <i>LORD</i> sent his people away. He did not want them to be near to him. The king of Babylon had told Zedekiah what he must do. But Zedekiah did not do it. 


text:
So Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, and all his army marched against Jerusalem. That was when Zedekiah had been king for almost 9 years, on the 10th day of the 10th month. The army stayed outside the city. They built hills round it so that they could attack it from those hills. 


text:
The soldiers from Babylon broke down part of the city’s wall. The whole army of Judah ran away at night. They went out between the two walls near the king’s garden. The soldiers from Babylon were still round the city. The <i>Jews</i> ran towards the flat land called the Arabah. 


text:
But the soldiers from Babylon ran after King Zedekiah. They caught him near Jericho. All his soldiers ran different ways 


text:
and the enemy caught Zedekiah. <n>They took him to the king of Babylon. Nebuchadnezzar the king was at Riblah in the country called Hamath. There Nebuchadnezzar decided what to do to him. 


text:
At Riblah, he killed all Zedekiah’s sons in front of their father’s eyes. He also killed all the officers of Judah. 


text:
Then he took out Zedekiah’s eyes and he tied him with metal <i>ropes</i>. He took him to Babylon. And he kept him in a prison until he died. 


text:
Nebuzaradan, the leader of the king’s special soldiers, came to Jerusalem. It was the 19th year of Nebuchadnezzar’s rule. He came on the 10th day of the 5th month. 


text:
He burned the <i>LORD</i>’s <i>temple</i> and the king’s house and all the houses in Jerusalem. He burned down every important building. 


text:
Nebuzaradan took away some of the very poor people and those who remained in the city. And he also took those who had clever hands. 


text:
The soldiers from Babylon broke up all the big things of <i>bronze</i> that were in the <i>temple</i>. And they took the <i>bronze</i> to Babylon. 


text:
And they took away all the small <i>bronze</i> tools that the <i>priests</i> used in the <i>temple</i>. 


text:
The leader of the king’s soldiers took all the bowls. And he took all the things that people had made from gold or from <i>silver</i>. 


text:
They had a lot of <i>bronze</i> from the things that King Solomon had made for the <i>temple</i>. There was so much that they could not weigh it. 


text:
The metal parts of the doors were more than 6 metres high and 4 metres round. Each was as thick as 4 fingers and they were empty inside. 


text:
Nebuchadnezzar’s captain took Seraiah the leader of the <i>priests</i> and his most important helper as his <i>prisoners</i>. And he took the three men who were <i>keepers</i> of the doors of the <i>temple</i>. 


text:
He also took the most important officer of the soldiers who remained in the city. Seven men had helped Judah’s king to decide what he should do. Nebuchadnezzar’s captain took them also. He took away the most important man who chose men to become soldiers and 60 of his helpers. 


text:
Nebuzaradan, Nebuchadnezzar’s most important officer, took all those men to the king of Babylon at Riblah. 


text:
There, at Riblah in the country called Hamath, the king’s soldiers killed all those men. <n>So he took the people from Judah to live as <i>prisoners</i> in a country far away. 


text:
This is the number of the people that Nebuchadnezzar took away: <n>He took 3023 <i>Jews</i> in his 7th year. 


text:
And he took 745 <i>Jews</i> in his 23rd year. <n>So Nebuzaradan, Nebuchadnezzar’s captain, took 4600 people away. 


text:
Jehoiachin had been in prison for 37 years when Evil-Merodach became king of Babylon. Evil-Merodach let Jehoiachin king of Judah go free. He let him go out from the prison on the 25th day of the 12th month. 


text:
He spoke kind words to him. He gave to him a more important place than the other kings who were with him in Babylon. 


text:
So Jehoiachin took off the clothes that he had worn in the prison. And he ate his food at the king’s table until the day that he died. 


text:
The city that was full of people is lonely now. <n>The city is like the wife of a dead husband. <n>Once she was great. <n>She was like a queen among the other places in the country. <n>Now she is a slave. <n>God made <i>Jerusalem</i> great and important. So he can stop it being great or important. He will stop it if the people go against him. In Isaiah 47:1-11 and Revelation 18:1-8, he says that he will do this to another city. 


text:
She weeps in the night <n>and there are <i>tears</i> on her face. <n>Not one of her lovers will help her to feel better. <n>All her friends have left her. <n>They have gone against her and they are now her enemies. <br/>·Many people had always come to <i>Jerusalem</i>. They do not come any longer. God took their friends away so that Jerusalem’s people would turn back to him. <br/>·See how very sad Jeremiah is: Jeremiah 9:1. 


text:
The enemies have taken <i>Judah</i>’s people away as slaves. <n>The slaves have only trouble and difficult work. <n>They now live among strangers. <n>They have no rest, and they live far away from home. <n>They cannot go away from those who do cruel things to them. <n>Jerusalem was the capital city of the country called <i>Judah</i>. Zion is another name for Jerusalem. 


text:
<i>Zion</i>’s streets are sad places now. <n>Nobody comes to <i>worship</i> God there any longer. <n>There is nothing to hear at the city gates. <n>The <i>priests</i> are sad. <n>Strangers are cruel to the young women. <n>The people in <i>Zion</i> are very sad. <n>The leaders always met at the city gate to talk together. See Lamentations 5:14. 


text:
The people’s enemies rule them now. <n>Those who <i>hate</i> them have plenty. <n>The <i>Lord</i> has caused trouble for the people <n>because they did so many wrong things. <n>The enemies took the children away to work as slaves.


text:
<i>Zion</i> is not beautiful any longer. <n>Her leaders are like animals without food. <n>They are too weak to run from their enemies.


text:
<i>Jerusalem</i>’s people are in trouble and they are away from their homes now. <n>So, they remember the good things <n>that they had a long time ago. <n>When their enemies came, nobody was there with them. <n>Nobody helped them. <n>Their enemies laughed when they destroyed Jerusalem.


text:
Jerusalem’s people have <i>sinned</i> very much. <n>That is why this city is not clean any longer. <n>People thought that this city was the best. <n>Now they think that it is not important. <n>They see it as it is. <n>Jerusalem’s people make sad noises and they want to hide themselves away.


text:
Jerusalem seemed dirty because the people were so bad. <n>They never thought that the end would be like this. <n>But their enemies destroyed the city. <n>They do not have anyone who can help them to feel better. <n>God did not listen any longer when they asked for his help. <n>‘<i>Lord</i>, see our troubles. <n>See how happy our enemies are’, the people pray.


text:
The enemies have taken away all Jerusalem’s valuable things. <n>Foreign people have walked into God’s <i>holy</i> house. <n>But God had said that people like that must not go in there. <n>They are not his people.


text:
Jerusalem’s people are making sad noises. <n>They are sad as they look for food. <n>They sell things that they love. <n>They use them to buy food. <n>That way, they can keep themselves alive. <n>The city’s people are speaking like one person</n> <n>‘<i>Lord</i>, see what is happening. <n>Think about me, <n>because nobody else does’, the people pray.


text:
‘Come and really look at me! <n>All you people who pass me do not show any interest in me. <n>But you have never seen anything as sad as I am. <n>The <i>Lord</i> was very angry with me. <n>So it was the <i>Lord</i> who did this to me.’ <n>The city’s people are speaking</n>


text:
‘It is like God has sent fire down into our bones to hurt us. <n>He wants us to turn towards him again. <n>So he has caused things to be very difficult for us. <n>All day he causes us to feel lonely and weak.


text:
He has caused our <i>sins</i> to seem like something very heavy that lies on our necks. <n>It makes us weak. <n>He has let the enemy be very strong. <n>He let them win against us. <n>So we cannot beat them.


text:
The <i>Lord</i> has let the enemy beat all our strong men. <n>He brought a big army to fight our young men. <n>And the enemy won that fight. <n>People walk on <i>grapes</i> to break them. <n>Like that, the <i>Lord</i> let the enemy hurt our young women here in <i>Judah</i>.’ <n>People walk on the fruit called grapes to break them. This makes something to drink come out of them. This means that the <i>Lord</i> caused trouble and pain for the strong men, the young men and the women. He was <i>punishing</i> them. But he also did it to teach them. He wanted them to change. 


text:
‘We weep because of these things. <n><i>Tears</i> run down our faces because God is not with us. <n>Nobody will help us. <n>We are the children of this city <n>and we have nothing now. <n>The enemy has won.’ <n>Jeremiah is speaking again</n>


text:
<i>Zion</i>’s people ask for help, <n>but nobody is their friend. <n>They are <i>Jacob</i>’s children. <n>But the <i>Lord</i> has said that he will cause their enemies <n>to come from every country near them. <n>Those other people think about <i>Jerusalem</i> as they would think about something dirty. <n><i>Jacob</i> was a man of God who lived a long time ago. The Bible sometimes uses the name <i>Jacob</i> to mean all God’s people, <i>Israel</i>. God often saved <i>Israel</i> from troubles (Psalm 44:1-8). Now they are in trouble because they have turned against God. <n>The city’s people are speaking again</n>


text:
‘The <i>Lord</i> is right to <i>punish</i> us. <n>We have not obeyed him. <n>Listen, all people everywhere, and look at us. <n>We are in very bad trouble. <n>The enemy has taken away our young women <n>and our young men to be slaves.’ <n>When God causes trouble, he causes it for a reason. People should know that he is right. Some people might say that he is wrong. If they say that, they do not understand either him or themselves. See 2 Chronicles 12:5-6. 


text:
‘We shouted to our friends. <n>They had said that they would help us. <n>But they did not help us. <n>Our <i>priests</i> and our leaders died in the city. <n>They were looking for food to keep them alive.


text:
Look, <i>Lord</i>, we are in a lot of trouble. <n>We are very sad. <n>We are weak deep inside ourselves <n>because we have done so many bad things. <n>They are killing our people in the streets. <n>People are dying in the houses.’ <n><i>Jerusalem</i>’s people are talking to God, (see verses 20-22). It helps people to know that God sees all their troubles. God thinks about their troubles because he loves them. He will even cause good things to be the result of bad things. 


text:
‘Everybody knows that we are very sad. <n>Nobody wants to help us. <n>All our enemies know about our trouble. <n>They are happy, God, that you caused that trouble. <n>Please cause trouble for those enemies too, as you promised.


text:
You know that they have done many bad things. <n><i>Punish</i> them as you have <i>punished</i> us. <n>You <i>punished</i> us because we did many bad things. <n>Now we are ashamed and we are very sad.’


text:
The <i>Lord</i> was very angry. <n>He wanted <i>Zion</i>’s people to be ashamed. <n><i>Zion</i> was the most beautiful city in <i>Israel</i>. <n>But he has put it down to the ground from its high place. <n><i>Zion</i> was like a place where he had rested his feet. <n>Now that he is angry, he has forgotten about that. <n>Some people think that the <i>holy</i> house of God in <i>Jerusalem</i> made the city beautiful. See Isaiah 64:11. <n>‘he rested his feet’. See Isaiah 60:13. 


text:
The <i>Lord</i> has destroyed all the houses where <i>Jacob</i>’s people lived. <n>He decided that he must <i>punish</i> them. <n>Because he is angry, <n>he has destroyed all <i>Judah</i>’s strong towns. <n>Yes, he has destroyed all the buildings. <n>And he has killed the rulers and all the people.


text:
Yes, because he is very angry, <n>he has destroyed <i>Israel</i>’s whole army. <n>He did not help them when they were fighting the enemy. <n>He was like a big hot fire <n>that burned <i>Jacob</i>’s people from all sides.


text:
He has bent his <i>bow</i> like an enemy ready to kill people. <n>And, like an enemy, <n>he has killed all those who once gave him pleasure. <n>He has shown how angry he was. <n>He has sent a fire and he burned all <i>Zion</i>’s houses.


text:
The <i>Lord</i> has become like an enemy. <n>He has destroyed <i>Israel</i> <n>and all the beautiful houses there. <n>He has destroyed all the strong towns that had walls. <n>He has caused <i>Judah</i>’s people to weep. <n>They are very sad.


text:
He has knocked down his own <i>holy</i> house <n>as easily as someone can knock down a hut in a garden. <n>He has destroyed this place where people once met him. <n>He has caused <i>Zion</i>’s people to forget <n>the special events and the <i>Sabbaths</i> in his <i>holy</i> house. <n>He was very angry. <n>So he thought that our king and our <i>priests</i> were not important. <n>He refused to help them. <n>The ‘<i>holy</i> house’ is the place in <i>Jerusalem</i> where <i>Israel</i>’s people went to <i>worship</i> God. The Bible calls it ‘the Temple’. King Solomon built the Temple that Jeremiah is talking about here. See 1 Kings 5:1-5. 


text:
His <i>holy</i> house and his <i>altar</i> there <n>no longer give pleasure to the <i>Lord</i>. <n>He has given <i>Zion</i>’s most beautiful houses to the enemy. <n>They shout in the <i>holy</i> house of the <i>Lord</i> <n>as people shout on a special <i>holy</i> day.


text:
The <i>Lord</i> decided to destroy the strong walls of <i>Zion</i>. <n>He carefully broke away each stone. <n>It causes us to weep when we look at those walls. <n>He destroyed them all. <n>He destroyed the inside walls and he destroyed the strong outside walls.


text:
<i>Zion</i>’s gates fell down on the ground. <n>He destroyed them and he has broken them in pieces. <n>The enemies have taken away our king <n>and his sons to a foreign country. <n>The people have nearly forgotten God’s rules. <n>And God does not send messages to us any longer. <n>His <i>prophets</i> have nothing to say to us. <n>Verse 7 Foreign people should not be in the ‘<i>holy</i> house’. See Nehemiah 13:1. <n>Verse 9 ‘nearly forgotten’. God’s rules were still there, but people did not think about them any longer. They did not obey them. 


text:
<i>Zion</i>’s leaders sit on the ground and they are saying nothing. <n>They have dressed themselves in <i>sackcloth</i> <n>and they throw dirt on their own heads. <n>They are showing everyone that they are very sad. <n>And the young women of <i>Jerusalem</i> can only look down to the ground, <n>because they are very sad too. <n>In those times, people sometimes put dirt on their heads and they put on clothes of <i>sackcloth</i>. They did it to show that they were very sad. 


text:
I have cried so much that my eyes are red now. <n>Even the parts inside my body hurt, <n>because my people are dying. <n>I feel ill because I am so sad. <n>The children and babies fall in the city’s streets <n>because they are so weak.


text:
‘Where has all the food and drink gone?’ <n>the hungry children ask their mothers. <n>Then they fall down in pain on the streets of the city. <n>They die in their mothers’ arms.


text:
I want to help you people of <i>Jerusalem</i>. <n>But there is nothing that I can say to you. <n>I do not know about anything like what has happened to you. <n>God has destroyed <i>Zion</i> completely! <n>I do not know anyone who can make you people better.


text:
Your <i>prophets</i> have promised you many good things. <n>Those good things will not happen. <n>They should have told you that you should not do wrong things. <n>If they had told you that, none of these troubles would have happened. <n>The <i>prophets</i> do not tell you true messages from God <n>and their dreams are false. <n>God had told the people many times that they must not listen to these false <i>prophets</i>. God also told the people how to recognise good <i>prophets</i>. Only good <i>prophets</i> brought messages from God. See Jeremiah 23:16-22; 28:9. 


text:
Everyone who goes by laughs. <n>They are happy because you are sad. <n>They see how the enemy has destroyed everything in <i>Jerusalem</i>. <n>“Surely this cannot be the city that men called ‘most beautiful’ ”, they say. <n>“People have said that this city is the best city on earth.”


text:
All your enemies make noises through their teeth <n>because they are very happy. <n>‘We have won!’ they say. <n>‘We have waited for this day. <n>Now we have beaten you! <n>Now we have seen it!’


text:
The <i>Lord</i> has done what he decided to do. <n>Yes, he has done what he told you about a long time ago. <n>He has destroyed your city and he has not felt sorry about it. <n>He has caused your enemies to be happy. <n>He has made them strong <n>so that they could win against you. <n>See Deuteronomy 28:15, 36, 47-68; 29:22-28; 30:1-5. God gave people clear messages a long time before this time. If they did not obey him, their enemies would beat them. And God would help their enemies. 


text:
Day and night, cause your <i>tears</i> to run like a river round the walls of <i>Zion</i>. <n>Cry to the <i>Lord</i> all the time, you people. <n>Do not rest. <n>Do not let your eyes stop crying.


text:
Stand up and pray for God’s help. <n>Talk to God all night. <n>Pour out your words and thoughts to God <n>as you pour out water from a jar. <n>Lift up your hands to him when you ask him. <n>And ask him to save the lives of your children. <n>They fall down to die at the end of every street <n>because they are so hungry. <n><i>Jerusalem</i>’s people speak</n>


text:
‘Look at us, <i>Lord</i>’, you should say. <n>‘You have done all this to your people. <n>Women eat their own children now! <n>But they are the children that they <i>looked after</i>. <n>People have killed your own <i>priests</i> and <i>prophets</i> <n>in your <i>holy</i> house!


text:
Young people and old people lie dead in the streets. <n>The enemy has killed the young men and women with long knives. <n>But it was really you who killed them. <n>You were very angry with us. <n>So you killed them and you did not feel sorry.


text:
You asked our enemies to come round us <n>as people come to a special party. <n>They killed our people because you were angry. <n>Nobody could hide or run away. <n>They all died. <n>We saw the enemy kill our own children.’


text:
God has caused my skin and my whole body to become old. <n>He has broken my bones. <n>God may be angry with his people and he may <i>punish</i> them. He <i>punishes</i> them so that they learn from him. But they must not think that he has also stopped loving them. God is not against them, but he is against their <i>sin</i>. 


text:
He has fought against me from every side. <n>He caused much trouble for me, <n>so that I am very sad.


text:
I am like a person inside high walls that God has built. <n>And I cannot go out. <n>My troubles are very bad. <n>They are like heavy metal and they hold me down.


text:
He is like an animal that pulls a person away from the path. <n>Then it tears the person in pieces. <n>He has made me very lonely.


text:
God has caused my life to become a thing of pain. <n>It is as if he filled a cup with a very <i>bitter</i> drink for me.


text:
It is as if he caused me to eat small stones. <n>And the stones broke my teeth. <n>Then he put me on the ground, <n>and he covered me with ashes.


text:
He has taken <i>peace</i> away from my mind. <n>I have forgotten what good days are like. <n>There were good days when I had plenty. <n>And there were good days when I was happy. <n>But I have forgotten what that was like.


text:
‘Everything good has finished for me! <n>The things that I hoped for from the <i>Lord</i> have not come!’ I tell myself.


text:
Remember (<i>Lord</i>) all my troubles because I am sad. <n>Remember that I am very lonely. <n>And my mouth tastes bad as I think about it.


text:
The <i>Lord</i> does good things for people who wait for him. <n>He is kind to everyone who looks for him.


text:
It is good when people go on hoping. <n>It is good when they quietly wait for God, <n>because he will save them. <n>Verse 21 Jeremiah begins to hope again. God’s people think that God has forgotten to be kind. <n>Verse 22 Now Jeremiah is telling them true things about God. It is always good to believe God. We must remember what he has promised. And we should believe him even more when bad things happen to us. 


text:
Cruel people will want to hurt them. <n>And those people will want to say cruel things to them. <n>They should let them do it and they should not fight them. <n>Verse 28 God does not speak to us when we are talking all the time. <n>Verse 29 When people felt small or ashamed in front of God, they often lay down on the ground. <n>Verse 30 Jesus spoke about this too in Matthew 5:39. 


text:
God does cause people to feel sad sometimes, <n>but he is sorry for us. <n>He is also very kind to us, <n>because he loves us very much.


text:
He does not enjoy seeing people who are in pain. <n>He does not enjoy causing trouble for them. <n>God only wants people to learn from him. Then they can be happy. 


text:
Bad people may take other people’s things. <n>But God does not like to see that. <n>And God is the greatest of all.


text:
People with authority may not be fair to other people. <n>But the <i>Lord</i> is not happy when he sees that.


text:
God is the greatest of all and he causes things to happen. <n>He causes good things and bad things when he speaks.


text:
He only <i>punishes</i> us when we do wrong things. <n>We are still alive, so we should not be angry with God.


text:
Instead, we should think a lot about what we do. <n>And we should turn back to the <i>Lord</i> again.


text:
God is in his home and we should pray to him. <n>We should offer ourselves completely to him. <n>Heaven is the name of God’s home. 


text:
‘We have done wrong things, <n>and we have gone against you. <n>And you have not <i>forgiven</i> us’, we say to God.


text:
‘You have hidden yourself from us because you are angry. <n>You have followed us so that you could kill us. <n>You were not sorry about it.


text:
You let people from other countries think bad things about us. <n>They think that we have no value. <n>We are like things that nobody can use any longer.


text:
And we are very afraid of the people who have beaten us. <n>They have caught us like animals. <n>They have killed us. <n>And they have destroyed all the things that we had.’ <n>Jeremiah has suggested an honest way for the people to speak to God. 


text:
I weep, and my eyes are red with all my <i>tears</i>. <n>It is because the enemy has killed my people.


text:
until the <i>Lord</i> looks down on us from his home in <i>heaven</i>. <n>He will see us and he will help us.


text:
‘Please listen to me, <i>Lord</i>’, I shouted. <n>‘Help me! Save me!’ I shouted, <n>and you heard me.


text:
You know all the bad things that they did to me. <n>And you know about all the bad things that they want to do to me.


text:
You have heard their cruel words against me, <i>Lord</i>. <n>Yes, you know about all the bad things that they want to do to me.


text:
Look at them as they sing cruel things about me. <n>They sing when they are sitting. <n>And they sing when they are standing.


text:
Run after them angrily. <n>Kill them all because you are angry with them. <n>Let nobody on earth remember them any longer.


text:
Look! The gold has stopped shining! <n>Look how the best gold has changed! <n>The valuable stones from the <i>Holy</i> Place lie at the end of every street!


text:
<i>Jerusalem</i>’s men were valuable, like the best gold. <n>Now they lie in the streets, because God has broken them. <n>They are like common pots that a <i>potter</i> makes. <n><i>Jerusalem</i>’s people were valuable to God, as gold is valuable. Perhaps the ‘valuable stones’ from the <i>Holy</i> Place were like <i>Jerusalem</i>’s leaders and <i>priests</i>. Certainly the enemy had destroyed and burnt the <i>Holy</i> Place there. They broke the beautiful stones from its walls, and those stones were lying in the street. <n>People did not think that common pots were valuable. 


text:
Even the wild animals offer the breast to their young animals. <n>But <i>Jerusalem</i>’s young women have become cruel. <n>They are like <i>ostriches</i> that put their young ostriches in wild places. <n><i>Ostriches</i> are large birds that put their eggs in the sand. See Job 39:14-16. 


text:
The mouths of the babies in Jerusalem are completely dry, because they are so <i>thirsty</i>. <n>And the young children ask for food, but nobody gives them anything to eat.


text:
There are people here who had been very rich. <n>They ate the best foods, but now they are hungry. <n>Now they lie in the streets with nothing to eat. <n>They wore the best clothes, but now they sit in the ashes.


text:
God has <i>punished</i> my people. <n>He <i>punished</i> us more than he <i>punished Sodom</i>’s people. <n>God destroyed that city in a moment, <n>and no human person helped him. <n><i>Sodom</i>’s people were very bad and they did not know much about God. They all died quickly. <i>Jerusalem</i>’s people knew a lot about God, but they also did many very bad things. They died more slowly. They were in pain for a long time before they died. 


text:
The leaders of <i>Jerusalem</i> were more clean than the cleanest cold water. <n>They seemed to be more white than milk. <n>Their bodies had very good health, <n>and they seemed to shine like valuable stones.


text:
Now their faces are black like wood that somebody has burnt. <n>People see them in the streets, but do not recognise them. <n>Their skin hangs on their bones. <n>Their skin is as dry as wood for a fire. <n>A long time ago, these leaders had been extra careful to be clean. They wanted to do what God wanted them to do. People thought that these leaders were very special. But now, they are the same as everybody else in the streets. 


text:
Our enemies have killed many people with long knives. <n>It is better for those dead people <n>than for the people who have no food. <n>They are very hungry. <n>And they die slowly because they have nothing to eat.


text:
Women who once were very kind <n>have boiled their own children. <n>Their children became their food, <n>when the enemies were destroying the city. <n>These people had done some very bad things in the bad times when they were very sad and hungry. But God wants them to learn his ways again. 


text:
The <i>Lord</i> was very angry. <n>So he sent fire to burn <i>Zion</i>. <n>It destroyed the whole city, even the strongest houses.


text:
The kings in the other cities on earth could not believe it. <n>None of the people on earth could believe it. <n>They thought that no enemy could go through <i>Jerusalem</i>’s gates. <n>These other people had seen or they knew about <i>Jerusalem</i>’s strong walls. They also knew that <i>Jerusalem</i> and Jerusalem’s people were special to God. So, they were very surprised about what happened to the city. 


text:
God <i>punished Jerusalem</i> and its people because their leaders <i>sinned</i>. <n>God did not like the things that their <i>prophets</i> and <i>priests</i> did. <n>They had caused good people to die.


text:
Those leaders walked in the streets like men who cannot see. <n>There was blood on their clothes and everybody was afraid to touch them.


text:
‘Go away!’ people shouted at them. <n>‘Do not touch us! <n>You are too dirty to be among God’s people!’ <n>So they went away to other countries, but the people there did not want them. <n>‘They cannot stay here with us!’ those people said.


text:
The <i>Lord</i> himself has sent them away because he is angry with them. <n>He will not be kind to them any longer. <n>Nobody likes bad <i>priests</i> and nobody likes bad leaders. <n>Some people were as bad as their leaders, the <i>priests</i> and the <i>prophets</i>. It was sad that good people in <i>Jerusalem</i> also died because of other people’s <i>sins</i>. <n>God does not think well of people who do bad things again and again. Good people may be sorry for bad <i>priests</i> or for other leaders, but they do not listen to them. And they do not think that they are important. 


text:
Our eyes became red as we watched. <n>We were looking for help, but it did not come. <n>The people from other countries could not save us.


text:
Enemies ran after us, so that we could not go into the streets any longer. <n>We knew that we would die soon. <n>We could not live like this any longer.


text:
The enemy was quicker than big birds that fly in the air. <n>They followed us so that they could catch us out on the mountains. <n>They hid and they waited for us in the wild places.


text:
God had chosen a man to be our king. <n>We thought that he would save us. <n>‘Under his shadow we will live among the other countries’, we had always said. <n>But the enemy caught him. <n>Nobody could help them if God was against them. The king was Zedekiah. He was the last King of <i>Judah</i>. Jeremiah tells us about him in the other book that he wrote. (See Jeremiah 39:1-8.) <i>Israel</i>’s people thought that their kings were very special. They thought that God had given those kings to them. 


text:
You, <i>Edom</i>’s people, live in the country called <i>Uz</i>. And you are happy now. <n>But at a future time, God will hurt you also. <n>The enemy will take away everything that you have. <n>So you will become like drunks.


text:
God has finished <i>punishing Zion</i>’s people. <n>He will let them return to their homes soon. <n>But you, <i>Edom</i>’s people, God will certainly <i>punish</i> you. <n>He will discover everything that you have done wrong. <n>God will <i>punish Edom</i>’s people because they have been cruel to God’s people. <i>Edom</i>’s people did all die. There is no country called <i>Edom</i> now. 


text:
<i>Lord</i>, please remember the trouble that has happened to us. <n>Look at us, because we are ashamed.


text:
Our enemies cause us to work like animals. <n>But the work is too difficult <n>and they will not let us rest.


text:
We gave ourselves to the <i>Egyptians</i> and to the <i>Assyrians</i>, <n>so that we could get food to eat.


text:
Our fathers <i>sinned</i>, but they are dead. <n>Now we have the troubles that you caused because of them. <n>You <i>punished</i> us because of their <i>sin</i>. <n>This does not mean that these people had not <i>sinned</i> against God also. They say that they have in verse 16 below. 


text:
Our skin feels as if we are burning. <n>We are so hungry that we are ill. <n>They had no food if they could not plant in their fields. 


text:
Enemies do what they want with the women in <i>Zion</i>. <n>They are cruel to the young women in <i>Judah</i>’s cities.


text:
They took the young men to work as slaves. <n>Those young men make flour for them. <n>And our boys carry wood. <n>They fall down under big bags of wood.


text:
Our enemies no longer let our old men decide things. <n>The old men cannot say what is right or fair for us. <n>And the young men have stopped their music. <n>Old men always sat together at the city gate to talk about things. When someone did something wrong, people brought them to these older men. They would decide what was fair <i>punishment</i>. That was what they always did in <i>Israel</i>. 


text:
And we have no king in <i>Jerusalem</i> any longer. <n>We have <i>sinned</i> and so very bad things have happened to us.


text:
So our bodies feel ill and we feel ill deep inside us. <n>Our eyes are very tired and we cannot hope for good things any longer.


text:
We are so sad because they destroyed <i>Zion</i>’s walls and buildings. <n>Wild animals walk on them now.


text:
Help us to come back to you, <i>Lord</i>. <n>We really want to make a new start with you. <n>We were great before our enemies beat us. <n>We pray that you will make us as great as that again.


text:
That could happen unless you have turned away from us completely. <n>That could happen unless you will continue to be very angry with us. <n>Not only has their king gone, but also these people will not have another king. Their beautiful city has gone, and all their beautiful things have gone with it. But Jeremiah wants the people to turn back to God. He wants God to <i>forgive</i> his people. If he does, they can be happy again.


text:
God spoke to me on the fifth (5th) day of the fourth (4th) month. I was among the <i>Jews</i> by the side of the river Kebar. Nebuchadnezzar had taken them there from Israel. God opened heaven (God's home) and I saw pictures of him in the sky.


text:
Nebuchadnezzar had kept King Jehoiachin in Babylon for five (5) years. On the fifth (5th) day of the month, 


text:
God spoke to Ezekiel the <i>priest</i>. He was the son of Buzi. He was standing by the River Kebar in the country called Babylon. This was the place where the <i>Lord</i> God spoke to Ezekiel. He told him what he wanted him to do.


text:
I, Ezekiel, looked. And I saw great clouds that were coming from the north. They came with a strong wind and bright lights. Light shone all round the clouds. It was like a fire that had burning metal in the centre. 


text:
I could see something like four (4) living things in the fire. Each of them had the shape of a man. 


text:
Their legs were straight and their feet were like the feet of a young cow. They shone like bright metal. 


text:
They had hands under their <i>wings</i> on the four (4) sides. They were like the hands of a man. Each of these four living things had faces and <i>wings</i>. 


text:
And their <i>wings</i> touched each other. Each living thing went straight towards the front. They did not turn from their straight path.


text:
I saw their faces. The face at the front was the face of a man. On the right side each had an <i>ox</i>’s face. And on the left side each had a <i>lion</i>’s face. Each also had the face of a great bird. 


text:
That is how I saw their faces. Each of them held two <i>wings</i> up from their sides. The <i>wings</i> of each living thing touched the <i>wings</i> next to them. 


text:
Each living thing covered its body with two <i>wings</i>. Each living thing moved straight towards the front. They did not turn when they moved. So they went where the <i>spirit</i> wanted. 


text:
They looked like hot fires or burning sticks of wood. Fire moved between the living things. It shone brightly, and it sent out light like sharp knives. 


text:
I continued to look at them. And I saw four (4) <i>wheels</i> on the ground. Each was by the side of a living thing. 


text:
The <i>wheels</i> were all the same. They shone like bright glass. Each was like a <i>wheel</i> across another <i>wheel</i>. 


text:
When the living things moved, the <i>wheels</i> moved with them. If they rose from the earth, the <i>wheels</i> rose with them. 


text:
They went where the <i>spirit</i> wanted, and the <i>wheels</i> went with them. The <i>wheels</i> also had the <i>spirit</i> of the living things. 


text:
The <i>wheels</i> moved when the living things moved. The <i>wheels</i> stood in the same place when the things stopped. When the living things rose from the ground the <i>wheels</i> also rose. The same <i>spirit</i> moved the living things and the <i>wheels</i>.


text:
The living things stood under the roof. Each stood with their <i>wings</i> held towards the things next to them. They covered their bodies with their other two <i>wings</i>. 


text:
I heard a noise like a fast river or like a great army when they flew. It was like the voice of the great, powerful God. They put their <i>wings</i> down when they stood still. 


text:
Over the roof like ice I saw a kind of <i>throne</i>. Someone had made it out of blue stone. And high above the <i>throne</i> I saw something like a man. 


text:
It was like the ring of light over the earth on a wet day. This light showed that the <i>Lord</i> was there, in his <i>glory</i>. When I saw it, I fell down on my face. Then a voice spoke to me.


text:
‘Son of man, you must stand up on your feet’, the <i>Lord</i> said to me. ‘Then I will speak to you.’ 


text:
‘Son of man’, he said. ‘I am sending you to Israel's people. They are people who have not obeyed me. Their <i>nation</i> has turned away from me. They and their fathers have never obeyed my rules. 


text:
I am sending you to a people who do not listen to me. They think that their ideas are better than mine. This is what you must say to them. “This is what the great, powerful <i>Lord</i> says.” 


text:
They may listen or they may not listen. But they will know that you are a <i>prophet</i>. They are not an <i>obedient</i> people. But they will know that I have sent a <i>prophet</i> to them. 


text:
You, son of man, must not be afraid of them or their words. You may feel like you have sharp branches all round you. You may think that they can bite you like animals. But they cannot hurt you. Do not be afraid of what they say. They are all against me. 


text:
You must speak my words to them, whether they will listen or not. They are a people that do not obey me. 


text:
But you, son of man, must listen to what I say to you. Do not turn against me, like those bad people. Open your mouth. And eat what I give you.’


text:
Then I looked and I saw a hand. It held a very long piece of skin. Someone had written words on the skin. The hand offered it to me. 


text:
When the hand opened the skin, I saw words on both sides of the skin. I read them. They were not happy words, but were very sad.


text:
‘Son of man, eat what is in front of you’, he said to me. ‘Eat this skin with words on it. Then go and speak to the <i>Israelites</i>.’ 


text:
‘Son of man, eat this and fill your stomach with it’, he said. So I ate it, and it was very sweet in my mouth.


text:
And I do not send you to people who speak a foreign language. I could have sent you to those people. And I am sure that they would have listened to you. 


text:
But Israel's people will not listen to you. That is because they will not listen to me. They have all decided not to obey me, and they will not change. 


text:
You will be strong and you will not change. They may refuse to do as I say. But you must not be afraid of them, even when they do.’


text:
And he said to me, ‘Son of man, listen carefully to all that I say. Remember the words that I speak to you. 


text:
Now you must go to Babylon. Speak to Israel's people who are there. Say this, “This is what the great powerful <i>Lord</i> says.” They may listen or they may refuse to listen.’


text:
Then the <i>Lord</i>’s <i>Spirit</i> lifted me up. I heard a loud noise and a voice spoke. ‘<i>Praise</i> the <i>glory</i> of the <i>Lord</i> in his home above’, it said. 


text:
I heard the sound of the living things’ <i>wings</i>. Their <i>wings</i> were hitting each other. And the <i>wheels</i> made a noise like the sound of the earth when it moves about. 


text:
Then the <i>Spirit</i> lifted me up and he took me away. He carried me with great power. I felt angry and hurt in my mind. 


text:
I came to Tel Abib near the river Kedar. The people who had come from Israel lived there. I stayed there with them for seven (7) days. I was very tired and confused. <n>The <i>Lord</i> tells Ezekiel that he will become a <i>watchman</i></n>


text:
‘Son of man, I have made you a <i>watchman</i> for Israel's people. So listen to what I say. They may not obey me. Then tell them what will happen. 


text:
I may say to a bad man, “I am going to make you die.” You must tell him this. Or you must say that he must stop doing wrong things. Then he will save his life. If you do not tell him this, he will die. He will die because of the bad things that he has done. But I will <i>punish</i> you, because you did not give him my message. 


text:
You must tell him what I have promised. But he may not listen. Then he will die because he has not obeyed me. But you will have saved yourself.


text:
A very good man may start to do bad things and I can make his life difficult. But he will die if you do not tell him about his <i>sin</i>. He will die because of his <i>sins</i>. I will not remember the good things that he did. But you did not tell him what I would do. Then I will <i>punish</i> you. 


text:
If you give him my message, he may stop <i>sinning</i>. Then he will stay alive. He will not die, because he stopped doing wrong things. And you will not die.’


text:
The <i>Lord</i> was very near to me. ‘Go into the flat land and I will speak to you there’, he said. 


text:
So I got up and I went out to the flat land. And I saw the <i>glory</i> of the <i>Lord</i> there. It was like the <i>glory</i> that I had seen by the River Kebar. I fell down with my face to the ground. 


text:
Then the <i>Lord</i>’s <i>Spirit</i> lifted me up and he made me stand up. ‘Go into your house and shut the door’, he said. 


text:
‘I will stop you from moving. You will be like a man that men have tied up. You will not be able to go out among the people. 


text:
I will stop your <i>tongue</i> from moving so that you cannot speak. You will not be able to tell my people that they have not obeyed me. But they have done wrong things. 


text:
I will speak to you again. Then you will be able to give them my message. “This is what the great and powerful <i>Lord</i> says”, you will say. Some of my people will listen to my words, but some people will refuse to listen. They are people who will not obey me.’


text:
‘Now, son of man, make a square flat plate out of soft earth. Draw a picture on this plate. Draw a picture of the city, Jerusalem. 


text:
Then build hills round it for soldiers to attack the city. Put your <i>tents</i> round the city. Prepare very heavy long sticks to hit its gates. 


text:
Then you must turn your face towards it. Take an iron plate and put it between your face and the city. This will be a wall between you and the city. <n>The army is round the city. But you will attack it. This is to show Israel's people what I will do.


text:
Then lie on your left side. I will put on you the <i>sin</i> of the <i>Israelites</i>. You will stay there for 390 days and you will <i>suffer</i> because of their <i>sin</i>. 


text:
After you have finished this, lie down on your right side. You will stay there for 40 days. You will <i>suffer</i> for the <i>sin</i> of Judah's people. This is to show that I will <i>punish</i> them for 40 years. 


text:
Turn your face towards the picture of the soldiers who are attacking Jerusalem. Point to it and <i>prophesy</i> against the city. 


text:
I will tie you up so that you cannot turn from one side to another. You will stay on one side until the day when the soldiers round the city go away.


text:
You must take different kinds of food <i>grains</i>. Then put them in a jar. Use them to make bread for yourself. You must eat this for 390 days. Those are the 390 days that you are on your left side. 


text:
Weigh out 20 shekels (about 8 ounces or 220 grams) of food for each day. This is all the food that I will let you eat in one day. 


text:
Bake the food like a cake. Bake it in front of the people on a fire that you have made with human dirt.’ 


text:
The <i>Lord</i> said, ‘I will send Israel's people to live in foreign lands. This is to show them that they will eat bad food there. That food will not be <i>clean</i>.’


text:
‘No, great and powerful <i>Lord</i>’, I replied. ‘I have never eaten anything that would make me not <i>clean</i>. Even when I was a child, I obeyed your rules. An animal might have died when nobody had killed it. I did not eat that meat. Nor did I eat meat that wild animals had killed. I have never eaten any food that was not <i>clean</i>.’


text:
So God spoke to me. ‘It is good’, he said. ‘You can use dirt from cows instead. You can cook your bread on that.’


text:
Then God said, ‘I am going to take away the bread from the people in Jerusalem. They will have to measure the food that they eat. And they will measure the water that they drink. I will give them great trouble. 


text:
They will have no more bread or water. They will be very sad and their bodies will become thin. This is because they have done so many bad things.’ <n>God had given Israel's people a list of the only animals that they should eat. They might not obey him and eat another animal. Then they would not be <i>clean</i>. Then they must not go near to God. They would not be <i>holy</i>. 


text:
‘Now, son of man, take a sharp <i>sword</i>. Use it to cut all the hair from your head and face. Then take the hair and weigh it. Make it into three (3) equal parts.


text:
Keep this hair until the end of the days that you lie still. Then you will not watch the soldiers round your picture of Jerusalem any longer. Take one part of the hair and burn it inside the city. Take another part and hit it all round the city with a <i>sword</i>. And take the third (3rd) part and throw the hairs to the wind. I will run after them with a <i>sword</i>. 


text:
Then take out some of these hairs and burn them in the fire. This fire will grow and go out to all Israel.’


text:
The <i>Lord</i>, the King who rules Israel, says this. ‘I have put Jerusalem in the centre of all the <i>nations</i>. There are countries all round it. 


text:
So this is what the <i>Lord</i>, your King says: ‘They have done more bad things than any of the <i>nations</i> round them have done. They have refused to obey my rules. I said that they must not do certain things. But they have done them. They have done even worse things than the <i>nations</i> round them have done.’


text:
So this is what the <i>Lord</i>, your King, says: ‘I am against you, people in Jerusalem. I will <i>punish</i> you in front of all the <i>nations</i>. 


text:
I will <i>punish</i> you as I have never <i>punished</i> anyone before. And I will never do it again. I will <i>punish</i> you because you <i>worship</i> so many wrong things. You <i>worship idols</i>. But they are not gods. 


text:
You will have among you fathers who will eat their children. And children will eat their fathers. I will <i>punish</i> you. I will send far away those few people who do not die. They will go to all parts of the earth.


text:
You can be sure that I am alive. I will surely not help you again. You have put your bad things (<i>idols</i>) in my house, and you have done wrong things there. Because you have made my house not <i>clean</i>, I will not be sorry for you. I will not save you. 


text:
A third (1/3rd) of the people will die. They will die inside your city because they are ill. Or they will die there because they have no food. Soldiers will kill a third (1/3rd) of the people outside your walls. And I will send a third (1/3rd) away. Their enemies will run after them with a <i>sword</i>.


text:
When I have done this I will not be angry any longer. I will not <i>punish</i> them any more, because it is enough. They will know that I, the <i>Lord</i>, have spoken to them. And I <i>hate</i> the wrong things that they have done.


text:
I will break down your walls and your buildings. People from other <i>nations</i> who walk past you will be afraid. 


text:
They will look at you. They will see what I did to you. I did it because I was angry. They will think that you have no value. They will know what I told you. You should not do bad things. And they will say that I <i>punished</i> you because you did not obey me. And they will be afraid.’ I, the <i>Lord</i>, say this. 


text:
‘I will take away your food in order to kill you. You will have pain because you will be very hungry. I will make it more and more difficult for those in the city to get food. 


text:
You will have nothing to eat and wild animals will attack you. They will kill your children. I will send illness, armies and <i>swords</i> to kill you.’ I, the <i>Lord</i>, have spoken.


text:
‘Son of man, you must turn to speak against the mountains of Israel. Give my <i>prophecy</i> to them. 


text:
“You mountains of Israel”, you must say. “This is what the <i>Lord</i>, your ruler, says to you. I am speaking to the mountains, the hills and valleys. ‘I am going to attack you. I will destroy your high places where men <i>worship</i> other gods. 


text:
I will break down your <i>altars</i> where they burn food to <i>idols</i>. I will destroy the <i>altars</i> where they offer their sweet smelling oils to false gods. And I will kill the people in front of those <i>idols</i>. 


text:
Their dead bodies will lie in front of their false gods. And soldiers will throw their bones round the <i>idol</i>’s <i>altars</i>. 


text:
In every place that they live, they will destroy their towns. <n>They will break the <i>altars</i> on the high places. And they will pull down the <i>altars</i> where you burnt the sweet oils. They will destroy your <i>idols</i>. 


text:
When they are there, far away, they will remember me. They will remember how they made me very sad. They turned away from me and they did wrong things. They <i>worshipped idols</i> and they did not obey me. Then they will be angry with themselves. They will be ashamed of the <i>evil</i> things that they did. 


text:
And they will know that I am the <i>Lord</i>. They will know that I <i>kept my promise</i> to <i>punish</i> them.’ ”


text:
This is what the <i>Lord</i>, your King, says. “Make a loud noise. Hit your hands together. Hit the ground with your feet. Shout ‘Help!’ Do this because of all the bad, <i>evil</i> things that Israel's people have done. I will send soldiers and illness to kill them. Or they will die because they do not have anything to eat. 


text:
People who are far away will become ill. And they will die. Soldiers will kill those who are near to the city. The people in the city will die because they do not have any food. That is how I will <i>punish</i> them. I am very angry. 


text:
They will see their dead bodies. Then they will know that I am the <i>Lord</i>. The bodies will be lying in front of their <i>idols</i> and their <i>altars</i> to false gods. They will see dead bodies on every high hill and mountain and round their <i>altars</i>. They will see them in every place. Their bodies will lie under big trees. That is where they offered sweet oils to their <i>idols</i>. 


text:
I will make the land from Diblah to the <i>desert</i> empty. I will change the land where they live into a <i>desert</i>. Then they will know that I am the <i>Lord</i>.” ’


text:
‘Son of man, the <i>Lord</i>, your King, is speaking to the land in Israel. He says, “This is the end. Now I am going to finish with all the land. 


text:
Now I will show you how angry I am. I will <i>punish</i> you because of all the wrong things that you have done. The <i>punishment</i> will be as great as the wrong things that you have done. 


text:
I will not be sorry for you or save you. I will <i>punish</i> you. I will <i>punish</i> you because of all the wrong things that you have done. Then you will know that I am the <i>Lord</i>.”


text:
This is what the <i>Lord</i> says. “Great trouble! I am going to send you greater trouble than anyone has ever seen. 


text:
I will destroy the lives of the people who live in this country. They will not have parties where they <i>worshipped idols</i>. They will have no more parties in the high places. People will be confused, not happy. 


text:
I will soon cause you to know how angry I am. I am going to be your <i>judge</i> for all that you have done. And I will <i>punish</i> you because of all the wrong things that you have done. 


text:
I will not make your <i>punishment</i> less. I will give you great <i>punishment</i> for all the <i>sins</i> that you have done. Then you will know that I, the <i>Lord</i>, am <i>punishing</i> you.


text:
I have become very angry. I will <i>punish</i> the <i>wicked</i> people. I will <i>punish</i> all of them. None of their dear things will remain, nor anything that has any value. 


text:
The day when I <i>punish</i> my people has come. The person who buys will not be happy. Nor will the person who sells. I am angry with every one of them. 


text:
Any man who sells his land will not get it back. I will <i>keep my promise</i>. Nobody who has done wrong things will stay alive. 


text:
They may prepare for war, but nobody will go out to fight. The whole <i>nation</i> has made me very angry.


text:
The enemy is outside the city. Inside the city, people are ill and they have no food. Soldiers will kill the people in the country. The people in the city will die from illness, or because they do not have any food. 


text:
Some people will stay alive. They will leave the city and they will run to the mountains. They will be like birds that are flying from the hunters. They will all cry because of their <i>sins</i>. 


text:
They will want to show that they are sorry. So they will wear clothes that are not comfortable. They will be very afraid. They will be ashamed and they will cut all the hair from their heads. 


text:
They will throw their <i>silver</i> and gold away like dirt. They will know that neither <i>silver</i> nor gold can save them from God’s <i>anger</i>. Neither will buy them food or anything that they want. These valuable metals have made them <i>sin</i>. 


text:
They were happy because they had beautiful things. But they used them to make <i>idols</i>. That is why the <i>Lord</i> has made them <i>hate</i> their <i>silver</i> and gold. 


text:
He will give their <i>silver</i> and gold to <i>foreigners</i> and to robbers. People will think that their <i>idols</i> have become not <i>clean</i>. 


text:
I will turn away from my people. Bad men will go into my special house (<i>temple</i>) and they will make it not <i>clean</i>. Nobody will <i>worship</i> me there.


text:
I will bring the most <i>evil</i> people here and they will live in your homes. Your strongest men will feel weak when they see the <i>temple</i>. <i>Evil</i> men will have made it not <i>clean</i>.


text:
Many bad things will come, one after another. Men will bring bad news all the time. They will ask the <i>prophet</i> to tell them what will happen. The <i>priests</i> will not have anything to teach the people. And the leaders will have not have anything to say. 


text:
The king will be very sad and his son will not be able to hope for anything. The people will be very afraid. And their bodies will move about like leaves in the wind. I will <i>punish</i> them because of the wrong things that they have done. I will be their <i>judge</i> in the same way that they were <i>judges</i> for other people. Then they will know that I am the <i>Lord</i>.” ’


text:
I was sitting in my house. The leaders of Judah sat in front of me. It was the sixth (6th) year and the fifth (5th) day of the sixth (6th) month. While I sat there, the <i>Lord</i> showed me a picture in my mind. 


text:
I saw something that looked like a man. The top half of his body looked as bright as burning metal. The half of his body that was below looked like fire. 


text:
He put out something like a hand. Then he held me by my hair. The <i>Lord</i>’s <i>Spirit</i> lifted me up in a dream, high in the sky. And, in my dream, God took me to Jerusalem. He took me to the north gate of the <i>temple</i>’s inside yard. Enemies had put an <i>idol</i> there that had made God angry. 


text:
And in front of me I saw the bright light of the <i>Lord</i>. It was like the light that I had seen by the River Kebar.


text:
Then the <i>Lord</i> spoke to me. ‘Son of man’, he said, ‘Look towards the north.’ <n>When I looked, I saw the <i>idol</i>. It made God angry. It stood near the <i>altar</i> by the north door.


text:
‘Son of man, you see what they are doing’, he said to me. ‘Israel's people are doing very bad things here. They are keeping me a long way away from my <i>holy temple</i>. But I will show you worse things than these.’


text:
So I went in and I saw pictures on the walls. They were pictures of snakes and other animals. They were all animals that God did not let us touch or eat. And there were other pictures there. Israel's people were <i>worshipping</i> them. 


text:
Seventy (70) leaders were there. Jaazaniah, son of Shaphan, was among them. Each man held a pot with burning sweet-smelling oil in it.


text:
‘Son of man’, said the <i>Lord</i>. ‘Look at what these leaders are doing! Each man is burning oil to offer <i>worship</i> to his own <i>idol</i>. It is their secret. They say, “The <i>Lord</i> does not see us. He has gone away from us.” ’


text:
Then he took me to the north gate of the <i>temple</i>. Women there were crying because the god Tammuz was dead.


text:
He took me to the inside yard, between the <i>altar</i> and the gate. About twenty-five (25) men were standing there. Their backs were turned away from the <i>Lord</i>. And their faces were looking to the east. Then they bent their heads down to <i>worship</i> the sun when it rose.


text:
‘Son of man, you saw that’, the <i>Lord</i> said to me. ‘This is not a small thing. The people in Judah are doing the wrong things that you have seen here. And they are fighting and killing in all the country. They are making me angry all the time. They are <i>worshipping</i> other gods in my <i>holy temple</i>. They are taking away the <i>honour</i> of my name. 


text:
So I will show them how angry I am. I will not be kind to them or save them. They may shout to me, but I will not listen to them.’


text:
I heard God’s Spirit speak in a loud voice. ‘Bring here the men who keep the city safe. Tell them that they must bring their arms with them.’ 


text:
And I saw (6) six men. They came out of the higher gate. People can look towards the north from that gate. Each man carried his powerful arms. A man who was wearing white clothes came with them. He was carrying tools with which to write. They came in and they stood next to the <i>altar</i> of yellow metal.


text:
The bright light that was the <i>glory</i> of Israel’s God moved away from the living things. It went to the door of the <i>temple</i> that was outside. Then the <i>Lord</i> called out to the man with the writing tools. 


text:
‘Go through all the city (Jerusalem)’, he said. ‘Some people are very sad. They are sad because of the <i>evil</i> things that men are doing there. Put a mark on those people who are so sad. Put it on their faces.’


text:
While I listened, the <i>Lord</i> spoke to the other men. ‘Follow that man through the city. And kill anyone who does not have the mark. 


text:
Kill the old men, young men and women. Kill the women and the children. Do not be kind or save any of them. But do not touch anyone that has the mark on their face.’ So they started to kill. The leaders were in front of the <i>temple</i>. They began with them.


text:
‘Fill the yard of the <i>temple</i> with dead bodies. Then the people cannot use the <i>temple</i> for <i>worship</i>’, he said. ‘Go now!’ So they went out and they started to kill people all over the city. 


text:
They left me alone while they were doing this. I fell down on my face. ‘Great and powerful <i>Lord</i>’, I cried. ‘Jerusalem has made you very angry. Will you kill all Israel's people who remain?’


text:
This was his answer. ‘Both Israel and Judah are very, very bad. They have hurt and killed each other. And they have not been fair to each other. They say, “The <i>Lord</i> has forgotten his country. The <i>Lord</i> does not see us.” 


text:
I looked and I saw something like a <i>throne</i> of blue stone. It was high over the heads of the living things. 


text:
The <i>Lord</i> spoke to the man with white clothes. ‘Go between the <i>wheels</i> under the living things’, he said. ‘See the stones that are burning among the living things. Fill your hands with them. Then throw them all over the city.’ The man went in. And I watched him while he went in.


text:
Then the <i>Lord</i>’s <i>glory</i> rose up. It went from above the living things. Then it moved to the outside door of the <i>temple</i>. The cloud filled the <i>temple</i>. And the <i>Lord</i>’s <i>glory</i> shone through the whole inside yard. 


text:
I could hear the noise of the living things’ <i>wings</i> as far as the outside yard. The noise was like the voice of the great and powerful God when he speaks.


text:
The man in white clothes went and he stood next to a <i>wheel</i>. He did this when the <i>Lord</i> said ‘Take fire from among the <i>wheels</i>. Take it from under the living things.’ 


text:
Then one of the living things put his hand into the fire. He took some fire. He put it into the man’s hands. Then the man in white clothes went out. 


text:
I looked and I saw four (4) <i>wheels</i> next to the living things. There was one <i>wheel</i> next to each living thing. And the <i>wheels</i> shone like broken ice. 


text:
When the living things moved, they could go in any direction. They all moved together to go where they wanted. They did not have to turn round to change their direction. 


text:
All their bodies were covered with eyes. This included their backs, hands and <i>wings</i>. And eyes covered the <i>wheels</i>. 


text:
Each of the living things had four (4) faces. One face was the face of a male cow. And the second (2nd) was the face of a man. The third (3rd) face was a <i>lion</i>’s face. And the fourth (4th) face was the face of an eagle (a great bird).


text:
When they rose in the air, the <i>wheels</i> rose too. They put out their <i>wings</i> to fly. And then the <i>wheels</i> stayed by them. 


text:
When the living things stood still, the <i>wheels</i> also stood still. And when the living things rose in the air, the <i>wheels</i> rose also. This was because the same <i>spirit</i> ruled them all. 


text:
Then the <i>glory</i> of the <i>Lord</i> left the outside door of the <i>temple</i>. It moved to a place above the living things. 


text:
They put out their <i>wings</i>. So they flew up from the earth. And the <i>wheels</i> went with them. They stopped by the east gate of the <i>Lord</i>’s house. And the <i>glory</i> of the <i>Lord</i> was above them.


text:
They were the same living things that I had seen before. They were under the <i>Lord</i>’s <i>glory</i>. And I knew that they were called cherubs. 


text:
Each of them had four (4) faces and four (4) <i>wings</i>. And they had something that looked like a hand under each <i>wing</i>. 


text:
Their faces were the same as those that I had seen by the river Kebar. Each of them moved along a straight path.


text:
Then the <i>Spirit</i> lifted me and he took me to the <i>Lord</i>’s house. We stood by the east gate. I saw Jaazaniah, Azzur’s son and Pelatiah, Benaiah’s son among them. They were leaders of the people. 


text:
The <i>Lord</i> spoke to me. ‘These are the men who want to do <i>evil</i> things in this city’, he said. ‘They are saying wrong things to the people. 


text:
They are saying, “It will soon be time to build houses. This city is like a pot to cook meat. And we are that good meat.” 


text:
Then the <i>Lord</i>’s <i>Spirit</i> told me what I should say. ‘I know what you are saying, Israel's people. And I know what you want to do. 


text:
So this is what the great and powerful <i>Lord</i> says: “The bodies that you threw into the street are the meat. And the city is the pot in which to cook them. But I will push you out of the city. 


text:
You are afraid of <i>swords</i>. So I will send men with <i>swords</i> to attack you”, says the <i>Lord</i>. 


text:
Their <i>swords</i> will kill you in your own country. This is how I have decided to <i>punish</i> you. Then you will know that I am the <i>Lord</i>. 


text:
This city will not be like a pot that holds the meat inside it. And you will not be the meat in the pot. I will <i>punish</i> you near the edges of Israel. 


text:
Then you will know that I am the <i>Lord</i>. This is because you have not obeyed my rules. Instead you have done the same things as the <i>nations</i> round you.” ’


text:
While I was speaking the words from the <i>Lord</i>, Pelatiah, Benaiah’s son, died. Then I fell with my face down. And I shouted to the <i>Lord</i>. ‘Great and powerful <i>Lord</i>, will you kill all Israel's people who remain?’


text:
‘Son of man, this is what the people in Jerusalem say. They say that your family and all Israel’s people are far away from me. They say that I gave them this country to keep.’ <n>The <i>Lord</i> promises that some of the people will return to their country</n>


text:
‘So say this to them. “This is what the <i>Lord</i>, your King, says. ‘I did send them to many different lands far away. But for that short time I have kept them safe in those countries.’ ”


text:
Then say, “This is what the <i>Lord</i>, your King, says. ‘I will fetch you and bring you home. I will bring you back from the countries where I sent you. I will give the land of Israel back to you.’ ”


text:
They will want to <i>worship</i> only me. I will put a new <i>spirit</i> into them. I will take away the bad <i>spirit</i> that is in them. I will make them understand how I want them to live. 


text:
Then they will know my rules. They will be careful to obey them. They will be my people and I will be their God. 


text:
But I will <i>punish</i> those who continue to <i>worship idols</i>. I will <i>punish</i> them because of the <i>evil</i> things that they do’, says the <i>Lord</i>, your God.


text:
Then the living things put out their <i>wings</i> to fly. The <i>wheels</i> were by their sides. And the <i>glory</i> of Israel’s God was above them. 


text:
The <i>glory</i> of the <i>Lord</i> rose up from the city. It stopped to the east of it. The <i>glory</i> was above the mountain. 


text:
In my dream, the <i>Spirit</i> took me back to Babylon. I went to the <i>Israelites</i> who were there. That was the end of the dream. 


text:
‘Son of man, you live among a people who refuse to obey me. They have eyes to see, but they do not see. They have ears to hear, but they do not hear. Then they refuse to obey me.


text:
So you must prepare your things for a journey. Enemies will take you as a <i>prisoner</i> to a country far away. Go to another place while it is day. Then the people can watch you go. They do not obey me but perhaps they will understand. 


text:
Bring out the things that you have prepared. Bring them out during the day while the people are watching you. Then go out in the evening while they watch you. Go like someone who is leaving the country. 


text:
Put your things on your shoulder while they watch you. Carry them out while the light starts to go away. Cover your face so that you cannot see the land. This is how I have made you a picture for Israel’s people.’


text:
So I did what the <i>Lord</i> had said. I brought out the things that I had prepared. I would take them with me out of the country. I did this during the day. Then evening came. I dug a hole in the wall with my hands. I took my things out when it became dark. I carried them on my shoulders while the people watched me.


text:
‘Son of man, you know about those people who refuse to obey me. They did not even ask you what you were doing’, he said to me.


text:
‘You must speak to them. Say, “This what the <i>Lord</i>, your King says. ‘This is a picture of the king in Jerusalem and all the people there.’ ” 


text:
You must say to them, “I am a picture of what the <i>Lord</i> will cause to happen. The people will do what I have done. Enemies will take them far away to another country as <i>prisoners</i>.” 


text:
Their king will leave when it starts to become dark. He will carry his things on his shoulders. They will dig a hole in the wall for him to go through. He will cover his face so that he cannot see the land. 


text:
I will catch him and take him to Babylon. That is the country where the people called Chaldeans live. But he will not see the land, and he will die there. 


text:
I will make all his officers and soldiers run away. I will make their enemies run after them with <i>swords</i>. Their enemies will be ready to kill them.


text:
I will send the people away from their city. Then they will know that I am the <i>Lord</i>. They will know this when I send them to many different countries. 


text:
But I will save a few of them. I will not make them all die. In those far countries they will be sad. Then they will be sorry because of the many bad things that they have done. And they will know that I am the <i>Lord</i>.’


text:
‘Son of man, let your body <i>shake</i> while you eat your food. Be afraid and <i>shake</i> your body. You will shake while you drink your water. 


text:
Speak to the people in this country. Say, “This is what the <i>Lord</i>, the King, says. He is speaking about those who live in Jerusalem and in Israel. They will be afraid while they eat their food. They will be very afraid. They will <i>shake</i> while they drink their water. This is because nothing will remain in their country. All who live there are angry. Then they hurt each other. 


text:
Enemies will knock down the towns where people live. The country will be empty. Then you will know that I am the <i>Lord</i>.” ’


text:
‘Son of man, there is a thing that people say in Israel. They say, “People see pictures in the mind. But what they see never happens. Time passes and people forget about it.” 


text:
But you must say to them. “This is what the <i>Lord</i>, your King, says. ‘I will stop you from saying these words. I say that soon every one of your dreams will become true. I will do it. 


text:
Nobody in Israel will again dream things that are false. Nobody will say that bad things will not happen. 


text:
But I, the <i>Lord</i>, will say what I want to say. I will make it happen immediately. I say this to you people who do not obey me. I will do this while you are alive. I will do all the things that I have said’, says the <i>Lord</i>, your King.” ’


text:
‘Son of man, Israel's people are saying wrong things. “Your message will not become true for many years. That day will not be soon.” That is what they say. 


text:
So you must speak to them. “This is what your <i>Lord</i>, the King says, ‘I will not wait any longer to do what I have said. I will do everything that I told you’ ”, says the <i>Lord</i>.’ <n>In this chapter, Ezekiel tried to make people hear the true words of the <i>Lord</i>. The people did not want to hear, because his words brought bad news. People had their own ideas. Ezekiel showed them that their ideas were false. The <i>Lord</i> would do as he had said. And he would do it soon. 


text:
‘Son of man, <i>prophesy</i> against the <i>prophets</i> who are now speaking to Israel’s people. Their <i>prophecies</i> are their own ideas. Say to them, “Listen to what the <i>Lord</i> says. 


text:
This is what he says. ‘You will not be happy, you fools. You have not seen anything. You are speaking your own words. 


text:
They have not built up the broken walls for Israel's people. So they will not be strong when I send enemies to attack them. 


text:
These <i>prophets</i> describe false dreams and their words are not true. They say, “The <i>Lord</i> says”. But I have not sent them. The things that they tell the people will not happen. But they think that they will happen. 


text:
Their dreams are false. And they have said things that are not true. You know that they said, “The <i>Lord</i> says”. But I have not spoken to them.’ ”


text:
So this is what the <i>Lord</i>, your King, says to them. “I am against you because of your words and dreams that are not true”, says the <i>Lord</i>. 


text:
“I will <i>punish</i> the <i>prophets</i> who see false dreams. I will <i>punish</i> those who say false things. They will not become leaders of my people. People will not remember them. They will not go into the country called Israel. Then you will know that I am the <i>Lord</i>, your King.”


text:
They are leading my people away from me. They say that there will be <i>peace</i>. But there is no <i>peace</i>. They are like men who build a thin wall. And they paint it white. 


text:
You must speak to the men who painted the wall. Say that it will fall. I will send much rain and hail (rain like stones) and strong winds. 


text:
This, then, is what the <i>Lord</i>, your King, says. “I am very angry. So I will send strong winds and hail (rain like stones). Hard rain will fall and it will destroy much. 


text:
I will break down the wall that you painted. The wall will fall flat. Then you will see the ground on which it was. When the wall falls it will kill you. And you will know that I am the <i>Lord</i>. 


text:
By this, I will show you that I am very angry. I will destroy the wall and those who painted it white. I will say to you, ‘The wall is gone. And so are those who painted it.’ 


text:
I am speaking about the <i>prophets</i> of Israel. They promised that Jerusalem would have <i>peace</i>. But I will send no <i>peace</i> to Jerusalem”, says the <i>Lord</i>, your King.’


text:
‘Now, son of man, you must turn against the women <i>prophets</i>. They say to your people things that are not true. They tell them things that are their own ideas. You must <i>prophesy</i> against them. 


text:
Say, “This is what the <i>Lord</i>, your King, says. ‘I will <i>punish</i> those who tie special things on their arms. They think that these can make good things happen for them. They wear special cloths over their heads to give them power over people. They want to have power over other people so that they can save themselves. 


text:
You have taken away my <i>honour</i> so that you can get a little bread. You have said things that are not true. This is how you have caused people to die. But they should not have died. And you have caused people to stay alive who should not stay alive. You say what is not true to my people. And they believe you.’ ”


text:
Now this is what the <i>Lord</i>, your King, says. “You catch people as you catch birds with your special cloths and things. But I will tear the special things from you. I will make everyone free from your power. 


text:
I will tear the cloths from your heads. And you will have no power over people. Then you will know that I am the <i>Lord</i>. 


text:
The false things that you said made the good people sad. But I did nothing to make them sad. And you did not try to make the bad people stop doing wrong things. You did not try to save their lives. 


text:
So you women will not see false dreams or have power over people. I will save my people from the things that you do. And then you will know that I am the<i>Lord</i>.” ’


text:
‘Son of man’, he said, ‘These men <i>worship idols</i>. They will not listen to me. I do not want them to ask me for anything. 


text:
You must speak to them. Say, “This is what the <i>Lord</i>, the King, says. ‘A man who <i>worships idols</i> may come to ask me something. And I will answer him. I will show him that his <i>idols</i> have no value. 


text:
I will do this so that Israel’s people will turn back to me. Those who <i>worship idols</i> will again <i>worship</i> me.’ ”


text:
So you must speak to Israel's people. Say, “This is what the <i>Lord</i>, your King says. ‘Be sorry about the bad things that you have done! You must not <i>worship idols</i>. Stop doing all the wrong things that you were doing.”


text:
An <i>Israelite</i> or a <i>foreigner</i> who lives in Israel may not want to be my servant. He may turn from me and <i>worship idols</i>. Then he may go to ask a <i>prophet</i> for help. I myself, the <i>Lord</i>, will answer him. 


text:
I will be against that man. I will make bad things happen to him. People will see what I have done. I will make him an example to them and they will push him away. He will no longer belong to my people. Then you will know that I am the <i>Lord</i>.


text:
I can make a <i>prophet</i> give a false answer. He will give a false <i>prophecy</i>. But I have made him say it. 


text:
Then Israel's people will stay close to me. They will no longer be like a bad smell to me because they do so many bad things. They will be my people and I will be their God’ ”, says the <i>Lord</i>.’


text:
‘Son of man, a country’s people may not obey me. Then this is what I will do. I will not give its people any food if they turn away from me. The men and animals that live there will die because they do not have anything to eat. 


text:
I would only save men like Noah, Daniel and Job, if they lived there. They would save themselves because they did good things’, says the <i>Lord</i>, your King.


text:
‘Or I might send wild animals to kill the people in that country. Nobody would be able to travel through it because of the animals. 


text:
I am surely alive’, the <i>Lord</i>, your King says. ‘And I say what is true. Even if these three (3) men lived in that country, they could not save their own children. I would save only those three men.


text:
Or I might bring men with <i>swords</i> to fight against that country. I would let them kill the men and their animals. 


text:
I am surely alive’, says the <i>Lord</i>, your King. ‘And my promise is true. Even if these three (3) men lived there, they could not save their own children. I would save only those three men.


text:
Or I might be angry and send illness into that country. It would kill the men and animals that lived there. 


text:
I am surely alive’, says the <i>Lord</i>, your King. ‘And what I say is true. Even if Noah, Daniel and Job lived there, they could not save their sons or daughters. They would save only themselves because they had done good things.’


text:
This is what the <i>Lord</i>, your King says. ‘Jerusalem’s people will have a very bad time when they do not have any food to eat. And I will send soldiers and wild animals and illness to <i>punish</i> them. 


text:
But they will not all die. Some sons and daughters will remain alive. They will come to you. You will see that they stay alive. And then you will be happy. You will be happy that I sent all these things to <i>punish</i> Jerusalem’s people. 


text:
Nobody takes its wood to make into a thing that they can use. They cannot even make from it a little thing on which to hang clothes! 


text:
They can burn it in the fire. Then only the black, burnt centre remains. But they still cannot use it. 


text:
They could not use it while it was green. So they surely cannot use it after they have burnt it black.


text:
So this is what the <i>Lord</i>, your King, says to you. “I have burnt the wood of the <i>vine</i>. In the same way, I will burn the people who live in Jerusalem. 


text:
I will not save them. If the fire has not burnt them yet, it will still burn them. I will do this. Then you will know that I am the <i>Lord</i>. 


text:
I will cause the land to be empty. I will do this because they have not continued to <i>worship</i> me” ’, says the <i>Lord</i>, your King.


text:
Say to them, “This is what the <i>Lord</i>, your King says to Jerusalem’s people, ‘Your mother gave you birth in the country called Canaan. Your father was an <i>Ammonite</i> and your mother a <i>Hittite</i>. 


text:
They did not wash you on the day that you were born. They did not cut you from your mother’s body. They did not make you clean or tie you in cloths. 


text:
Nobody was sorry or wanted to do these things for you. <n>No, they threw you out on the day that you were born. They threw you into a field. They thought that you had no value.


text:
Then I came. I was walking by and I saw you. You were lying there. You were kicking and blood covered you. Then I said to you, “Stay alive.” 


text:
I made you grow like the plants in a field. You became beautiful, like a valuable shining stone. Your breasts and your hair grew. You had no value before, but I had made you beautiful.


text:
I walked by again. Then I saw that you were old enough for me to love you. I covered you with my coat. I gave you clothes. I made a promise to you that was true. We agreed that you would belong to me’, said the <i>Lord</i>, your King.


text:
I put a beautiful dress on you and leather shoes on your feet. The clothes that I gave you were very good. They were the best and most expensive that I could find. 


text:
I put valuable rings in your nose and ears. And I put a beautiful ring round your head. I dressed you like a queen. 


text:
I made you beautiful with gold and <i>silver</i>. I gave you pretty, expensive clothes and I fed you with the best food. You became very beautiful and then you became a queen. 


text:
The people in all countries heard how beautiful you were. I was the person who had made you so beautiful. I had given you all your good things’, says the <i>Lord</i>, your King.


text:
‘But you used your <i>beauty</i> to do wrong things. You wanted to do what you liked. You thought like this because you were so beautiful. You had sex with those who were not your husband. You had sex with any traveller who came past. He tasted your beautiful body. 


text:
You took some of your good clothes. You used them to make beautiful the places where they <i>worship idols</i>. 


text:
You took the things of gold and <i>silver</i> that I had given to you. You made male <i>idols</i> for yourself. You had sex with them. 


text:
You offered to <i>idols</i> the food that I gave to you. You <i>worshipped</i> them with sweet smells. You made all this happen’, says the <i>Lord</i>, your King.


text:
You offered them to those <i>idols</i> for food. You did what was wrong. You <i>worshipped</i> other Gods. But you did a much worse thing. You killed my children and you offered them to <i>idols</i>. 


text:
When I found you, then you had no clothes. And blood covered you. You did not remember this when you had sex with <i>idols</i>.


text:
Be very sad. I will bring great trouble to you!’ says the <i>Lord</i>, your King. ‘You have done even more <i>evil</i> things. 


text:
In the centre of every town, you have built hills. On each hill you have built a place to <i>worship</i> other gods. 


text:
You have put these places at the end of every street. There you offered yourself to anyone who went past. You have made yourself of no value. 


text:
So I took away some of your land. I gave your enemies, the people who live in Philistia, power over you. They were ashamed because you were not <i>faithful</i> to me. 


text:
You had sex with the people from Babylon, who sell things. But even then you had not had enough sex.’ ” ’ 


text:
‘Your mind is so weak’, says the <i>Lord</i>, your King. ‘You do these things like a woman who is not ashamed. She asks a man for money to have sex with her. 


text:
But you are not like one of those women. You built places to <i>worship idols</i> in every street. But you did not let men pay you when they had sex with you.


text:
You are like a wife that is not <i>faithful</i> wife to me. You want to have sex with strangers more than with your own husband! 


text:
Men pay bad women who let them have sex with them. But you give gifts to the men who have sex with you. You pay them to come and have sex with you. 


text:
You gave your good things to those who were not your husband. And you showed them your body without any clothes. You offered them your children’s blood. 


text:
So I will bring all those with whom you had sex round you. I will bring those that you liked. And I will bring those that you did not like. Then I will remove your clothes in front of them all. They will see you without clothes. 


text:
They <i>punish</i> wives who are not <i>faithful</i>. You are like those who kill people. So I will <i>punish</i> you. I will show you that I am very angry. I am like a good husband who is angry with a wife. He is angry because she is not <i>faithful</i>. 


text:
I will make those men who loved you <i>punish</i> you. They will destroy the high places where you <i>worshipped idols</i>. They will take away your beautiful clothes and your things of gold and <i>silver</i>. They will leave you with no clothes. 


text:
They will burn down your houses. Women will watch while they <i>punish</i> you. I will stop you from having sex with other men. You will not pay them to have sex with you. 


text:
After this, I will no longer be angry with you. I will be quiet, and not angry. <n>The <i>Lord</i> is telling Jerusalem's people a story. He says that they are like a bad wife. Her husband gave her everything that she had. But she was not <i>faithful</i> to her husband. Israel’s people do not love the <i>Lord</i>. They do not <i>worship</i> him. They have loved foreign gods. So, like an angry husband, the <i>Lord</i> will <i>punish</i> his people (his wife). He will take away the good things that he gave them. 


text:
I will surely <i>punish</i> you because of what you have done’, says the <i>Lord</i>, your King. ‘You forgot what I did for you. I was kind to you when you were young. You did many things to make me very angry. And you were not ashamed of the bad things that you did.


text:
Yes, you are a true daughter of your mother! She thought that her husband and her children were not valuable. And you are like your sisters. They thought that their husbands and their children had no value. Your mother was a <i>Hittite</i> and your father was an <i>Amorite</i>. 


text:
Your older sister was Samaria. She and her daughters lived north of you. Your younger sister was Sodom. She and her daughters lived south of you. 


text:
Your sister Sodom and her daughters never did such bad things as you and your daughters have done’, says the <i>Lord</i>, your King.


text:
‘This is the <i>sin</i> that your sister Sodom did. She and her daughters (people) thought that they were better than other people. They ate too much and they did not try to help poor people. 


text:
They thought that they could do what they liked. And I saw them do all kinds of bad things. So I took them away, as you have seen. 


text:
Samaria's people did only half as many bad things as you have done. You have done much worse things than your sisters. The things that you have done make your bad sisters seem good! 


text:
Now I must <i>punish</i> you. You have done such bad things that you should be ashamed. After I have looked at you, your sisters seem to be good.


text:
But I will give things back to Sodom and her daughters (people). I will give to Samaria and her daughters the things that I took from them. And I will give you back the things that I took away from you. 


text:
You will be sorry that you did such bad things. And your sisters will be happy that I <i>punished</i> you. 


text:
I will make your sisters, Sodom and Samaria with their daughters, the same as they were before. And you and your daughters will become what they were before. 


text:
Before I <i>punished</i> you, you would not speak about your sister Sodom. You thought that you were much better than she was. 


text:
But then I showed everyone how bad you were. Now the people in Edom and the people near to that country think that you have no value. The people in Philistia and all the people round you think that you have no value. 


text:
This is because you were not a <i>faithful</i> wife to me. And you did so many wrong things’, says the <i>Lord</i>.


text:
‘You have not <i>kept your promise</i> to me. You did not think that it was important’, says the <i>Lord</i>, your King. ‘Because of this, I must <i>punish</i> you. 


text:
But I will remember my promise. I agreed it with you when you were young. And I will make a promise with you that will always remain. 


text:
Then you will remember the bad things that you did. You will be ashamed when you meet your sisters. I will make them like daughters to you. That was not part of my promise but I will do it. 


text:
When I pay the price of your <i>sin</i>, you will remember. And you will be ashamed. You will remain quiet because you will be so ashamed’, says the <i>Lord</i>, your King.


text:
Say this to Israel's people. “A big bird had great powerful <i>wings</i>. <i>Feathers</i> of beautiful colours covered his <i>wings</i>. He came to Lebanon. 


text:
There he broke the top from a big tree. He took this top branch to a city. In that city, men buy and sell many things. There he planted his branch.


text:
The bird took seed from your land. And he planted it in good ground. He planted it near to much water where trees grow. 


text:
The branch grew along the ground and it became a <i>vine</i>. The branches turned up towards the bird. And the <i>roots</i> went down into the ground. The <i>vine</i> grew and it covered itself with branches and leaves.


text:
Another big bird came, with great <i>wings</i> and many <i>feathers</i>. Then the <i>vine</i> made its branches and <i>roots</i> grow towards this bird. The <i>vine</i> thought that the new bird would give it even more water. 


text:
But the <i>vine</i> was in a lovely garden where there was good ground and much water. It could grow leaves and fruit (<i>grapes</i>) there, and become big and strong.”


text:
Ask the people a question’, said the <i>Lord</i>. ‘Do they think that the <i>vine</i> will stay alive? No, enemies will pull it up and take its fruit. They will let it die. All its new branches will die. It would not be difficult for a strong man or a few people to pull it up. 


text:
‘This people do not obey me. Perhaps they do not know what these things mean’, he said. ‘Speak to them. Say, “The king of Babylon came to Jerusalem. He took away the king and his officers. He took them back with him to Babylon. 


text:
Then he agreed to let one of the king’s family rule Jerusalem as its king. <n>This king made a promise to the king of Babylon. He said that he would obey Babylon’s king. 


text:
The king of Babylon wanted to make Israel weak. So he took Jerusalem’s important men away to Babylon. He did not want them make Israel strong enough to fight him. 


text:
But the king of Jerusalem did not <i>keep his promise</i>. He sent <i>messengers</i> to the king of Egypt. He asked him to send an army with horses to save Jerusalem. I tell you that he did a bad thing. He has done the thing that he had promised not to do. The king of Babylon will <i>punish</i> him.


text:
I am surely alive”, says the <i>Lord</i>, your King. “The king of Israel will die in Babylon. The king of Babylon gave him authority to rule Israel. Israel’s king will die in his country. This is because he did not remember his promise to the king of Babylon. He thought that the promise was not important. 


text:
Pharaoh (the king of Egypt) will not be able to help him with his big army and many soldiers. An enemy will build hills round the city. Then they will attack it. And soldiers will attack Jerusalem and they will kill many people. 


text:
Your king did not remember his promise. He did not <i>keep it</i>. <n>Because he did all these things, I will <i>punish</i> him.” ’ 


text:
So this is what the <i>Lord</i>, your God, says. ‘He did not obey me. So I will do all the bad things that I promised. He promised to do good things. But he did not do them. He thought that his promise to me had no value. 


text:
I will catch him like a hunter that catches an animal. I will take him to Babylon and I will <i>punish</i> him there. I will <i>punish</i> him because he was not <i>faithful</i> to me. 


text:
His soldiers will run away and enemies will kill them. A few of them will run to countries that are far away. Then you will know that my words are true.’


text:
The <i>Lord</i>, your King, says this: ‘I myself will take a small branch from the top of a great tree. I will take it and I will plant it on a high mountain. 


text:
I will plant it on a high mountain in Israel. It will grow more branches and make fruit. It will become a great tree. Many kinds of birds will live in the tree. They will make their homes in it. Its branches will keep them safe from the sun. 


text:
Then all the trees in the field will know that I am the <i>Lord</i>. I break down big trees and I make small trees grow. I make the green tree dry and I make the dry tree grow well. <n>This is what I, the <i>Lord</i>, have said. And I will do it.’


text:
‘Your people say this about the country called Israel. “Fathers have eaten fruit that makes their mouths dry. But their children have the dry mouths.” 


text:
Everything that is alive is mine, says the <i>Lord</i>. Both the father and the son are mine. I will <i>punish</i> any person who does wrong things. 


text:
He does not eat with people who <i>worship idols</i>. He does not himself <i>worship idols</i>. He does not have sex with another man’s wife. He does not have sex at the time that the woman is not <i>clean</i>.


text:
He does not hurt other people. He may take something from a man and lend him money. He will keep the thing until the man has paid him back. But he will always give the man’s thing back. <n>He does not take things from other people. But he gives food to hungry people. <n>And he gives clothes to people who have no clothes.


text:
He does not lend money and then ask the man to give back a lot more money. <n>He will not do anything that is wrong. <n>Sometimes men do not agree. He decides what is right.


text:
He obeys all my rules. <n>Surely he is a good man. And I will let him stay alive’, says the <i>Lord</i>, your King.


text:
‘Now think about that man’s son. He might be angry. And he might hurt or kill people. <n>He might do other bad things. 


text:
(But the father has not done any of these things.) <n>The son might eat with people who <i>worship idols</i>. <n>He might have sex with another man’s wife.


text:
He might hurt people who are poor or sick. <n>He might take things that are not his. <n>He might not give back things that he took from other men. <n>He might <i>worship idols</i> and do other bad things.


text:
He might lend money and take back much more money. <n>I will not let any man that does these things stay alive. I will kill him because he has not obeyed me. I am a fair <i>judge</i>.


text:
But this bad man might have a son. The son would see all the wrong things that his father had done. But he would not do them himself.


text:
He would not eat with people who <i>worship idols</i>. <n>He would not <i>worship idols</i>. <n>He would not have sex with another man’s wife.


text:
He would not hurt anyone. <n>He would not take anything when he lent money to someone. <n>He would not take things that belonged to other people. But he would give food to hungry people. <n>He would give clothes to people who had none.


text:
He would not do any wrong thing. He would not take back too much money from people to whom he had lent it. <n>He would obey my rules. And he would do the things that give me pleasure. <n>This son will not die because his father did bad things. He will stay alive. 


text:
But his father did things that were wrong. So he will die. He took too much money from people to whom he had lent it. He took things from his brother.


text:
You do not understand why I do not <i>punish</i> the son with his father. The son has done what is good and right. And so he will stay alive. He obeyed all my rules, so he will stay alive. 


text:
But I will <i>punish</i> people who do wrong things. They will die. I will not <i>punish</i> the son because of the bad things that his father did. And I will not <i>punish</i> the father because of the bad things that his son did. Men who do good things give me pleasure. But I will <i>punish</i> those men who do bad things.


text:
A bad man might not do the wrong things that he did any longer. And he might start to do good things. He would begin to obey me. Then he would stay alive. I would not kill him. 


text:
I do not want to kill anyone. That does not give me pleasure’, says the <i>Lord</i>, your King. ‘When bad men start to do good things, it gives me pleasure. Then they stay alive.


text:
A good man might not do things that are good and true any longer. He might start to do the same wrong things as bad men. Then I will not remember any of the good things that he did. I will <i>punish</i> him because of the wrong things that he has done. He will die because he has not been <i>faithful</i> to me.


text:
You say that I am not fair. But listen to me, Israel's people. The things that you do are not fair. 


text:
A good man might stop doing good things. If then he does bad things he will die. He will die because he has done wrong things. 


text:
He has seen that he had done wrong things. And so he has started to do good things. I will not kill him and he will stay alive. 


text:
But you, Israel's people, say that I am not fair. You must see that you are not fair to me. The things that you do are wrong.


text:
So I will be a <i>judge</i> for each of you. I will <i>punish</i> those people who do bad things. And I will save the people who do good things’, says the <i>Lord</i>, your King. ‘You must be sad if you have done bad things. You must be sorry and you must start to do good things. Stop doing bad things and I will not <i>punish</i> you. 


text:
You must live in a different way. You need new thoughts. You must want to do good things. I am sure that you, Israel's people, do not want to die. 


text:
I do not want anyone to die. That gives me no pleasure’, says the <i>Lord</i>, your King. ‘Be sad. Turn back to me and stop doing wrong things. Then you will stay alive.’


text:
“Your mother was a strong female among the great wild animals. <n>She lay among her young animals. She kept them safe among the males.


text:
One of her young animals became a great strong male. <n>He caught animals for food and he tore them into pieces. <n>He also ate men.


text:
Men in other countries heard what he did. <n>So they dug a hole and they caught him in it. <n>They pulled him out and they took him to Egypt.


text:
The mother saw that her strong son was taken away. <n>So she took another of her sons and she made him big and strong.


text:
He attacked their towns and he broke down their strong buildings. <n>All the people in the country were afraid. The noise that he made frightened them.


text:
Men from countries round them came to attack him. <n>They dug a hole and they made him run into it. <n>They caught him and they put him in a box.


text:
They took him to the king of Babylon. <n>There they put him in prison. <n>The people on the hills of Israel could not hear his voice any longer.


text:
Your mother was like a <i>vine</i> that was growing in a field of <i>vines</i>. <n>Her <i>vine</i> grew near the water and its branches had much fruit.


text:
The branches were strong enough to use as a stick to show a king’s power. <n>The <i>vine</i> grew high above other trees. <n>It was very tall and it had many branches.


text:
But I was angry with it. So I threw it to the ground. <n>The east wind dried it up and its leaves died. <n>They took its fruit. <n>Its strong branches dried and they burnt them in a fire.


text:
Fire from one of its big branches burnt up its fruit. <n>Now it has no big branches that men can make into a special stick. <n>That stick is for the king. <n>This is a sad story for people to sing.” ’


text:
In the tenth (10th) day of the fifth (5th) month some of Israel’s leaders came to me. That was in the seventh (7th) year in Babylon. They sat in front of me. They wanted me to ask the <i>Lord</i> for his help.


text:
‘Son of man, say this to the leaders of Israel. “This is what the <i>Lord</i>, your King, says. ‘I see that you have come to ask for my help. Be sure that I am alive. But I will not let you ask me anything’ ”, he says.


text:
You must be a <i>judge</i> for them, son of man. Make them remember all the wrong things that their fathers did. 


text:
Say to them, “On the day that I chose Israel's people, I the <i>Lord</i>, your King said: ‘I made a promise to all Jacob’s sons and their sons. I showed myself to them in Egypt. I promised to be their God. 


text:
I said that I would take them out of Egypt. <n>And I promised to take them to a country that I had chosen for them. It was a most beautiful country and it would give them milk and sweet food. 


text:
I said to them: “You must each destroy the <i>idols</i> that you <i>worshipped</i> in Egypt. You are not <i>clean</i>. I am the <i>Lord</i>, your God.”


text:
But your fathers would not obey me. They would not listen to me, and they did not destroy their <i>idols</i>. They continued to <i>worship</i> the <i>idols</i> of Egypt. So I was very angry. I said that I would <i>punish</i> them there in Egypt. 


text:
But the people who lived near to Egypt knew about me. They had seen that I had taken the <i>Israelites</i> out of Egypt. I did not want them to say bad things about me. 


text:
I gave them my rules. I told them how I wanted them to live. The man that obeys my rules will live a good life. 


text:
And I gave them the <i>Sabbath</i>, the seventh (7th) day of the week. This special day showed them that I had chosen them to be my <i>holy</i> people. It helped them to remember our promises to each other.


text:
But when Israel’s people were in the <i>desert</i>, they did not obey me. They did not obey my rules. I told them what they should do. But they did not do those things. (But the man that does these things will stay alive.) And they did not obey my rules about the <i>Sabbath</i>. I was very angry. So I said that I would destroy them there in the <i>desert</i>. 


text:
I wanted the <i>nations</i> who had seen me take them from Egypt to give me <i>honour</i>. I did not want them to think that I could not save my people. 


text:
But I spoke to my people in the <i>desert</i>. I had chosen a beautiful country that gave milk and sweet food for them. But I said that I would not bring my people into their country. 


text:
I would not do this because they had not obeyed my rules. And they had done so many wrong things. They wanted to <i>worship</i> their <i>idols</i> and not to <i>worship</i> me. 


text:
I spoke to their children in the <i>desert</i>. “Do not do the wrong things that your fathers do”, I said. “Do not obey their rules or <i>worship</i> their <i>idols</i>. 


text:
I am the <i>Lord</i> your God, so obey my rules. Be careful to do the things that give me pleasure. 


text:
Make the <i>Sabbath</i> a <i>holy</i> day. Then I will know that you remember my promises. You will know that I am the <i>Lord</i> your God.”


text:
But the children did not obey my rules. They did not do the things that give me pleasure. (But people who obey my rules will stay alive.) And they did not make the <i>Sabbath</i> day a <i>holy</i> day. So I showed them there in the <i>desert</i> that I was angry. 


text:
But I did not kill them. All the <i>nations</i> round Israel had seen me take my people out of Egypt. I wanted the <i>nations</i> to give me <i>honour</i>. I did not want them to say bad things about me. 


text:
There in the <i>desert</i> I made a strong promise to my people. I said that I would send them to many different countries. 


text:
This was because they had not obeyed my rules. Nor had they made the <i>Sabbath</i> a <i>holy</i> day. And they had chosen to <i>worship</i> their father’s <i>idols</i>. 


text:
I let them kill their first-born children to offer to <i>idols</i>. This would make them so sad that they would be sorry. Then they would know that I am the <i>Lord</i>.’ ”


text:
Son of man, you must speak to Israel's people and say, “This is what the <i>Lord</i>, your King says, ‘This is how your fathers took away my <i>honour</i>. They stopped obeying me. 


text:
They came to the country that I had promised to give them. They looked at the mountains and high hills When I took them there they offered gifts to <i>idols</i> on those high hills. They offered them gifts under the tall trees. This made me angry. And they made sweet smells and they gave food and drink to those <i>idols</i>. 


text:
Say this to Israel's people. “This is what the <i>Lord</i>, your King says: ‘The things that you are doing are not right. They are quite as bad as the wrong things that your fathers did. You still want to <i>worship</i> things that they made out of wood and stone (idols). 


text:
You offer your sons to them in the fire as gifts. This shows how bad you are. You must see that. But you still do it even to this day. I cannot let you ask me for help. I am surely alive and I will not let you do this.


text:
You say: “We want to be like people in other countries. They <i>worship</i> things that they have made out of wood and stone (idols).” But I will not let this happen. 


text:
I am alive’, says the powerful <i>Lord</i>. ‘I will rule over you. I will rule you with my strong power. And I will <i>punish</i> you when you make me angry. 


text:
I will bring you back from the <i>nations</i> where I sent you. I will do this with my strong power. I am still angry with you. 


text:
As I <i>punished</i> your fathers in the <i>desert</i> of Egypt, so I will <i>punish</i> you’, says the <i>Lord</i>, your King. 


text:
I will remove those who will not obey my rules. I will bring them out of the country where they are living. But I will not bring them into the country called Israel. Then you will know that I am the <i>Lord</i>.


text:
Israel's people, this is what the <i>Lord</i>, your King says: “Go, every one of you, to be servants to your <i>idols</i>! But after you have gone to do it you will listen to me. I am sure about that. And you will no longer give gifts to <i>idols</i>. You will no longer give them <i>honour</i>. You should give me that <i>honour</i>. 


text:
The high mountain of Israel is my <i>holy</i> mountain, says the <i>Lord</i>, your King. There in the country called Israel you will all be my servants. This will give me pleasure. There you will bring me your good gifts. I want you to offer me your <i>holy</i> gifts there. And you will burn them on my <i>altar</i>. 


text:
You will be like a sweet smell to me when I bring you home. I will bring you back from all the <i>nations</i>. I will bring you back from all the countries to which I sent you. I will show you that I am <i>holy</i>. And those <i>nations</i> will also see that I am <i>holy</i>. 


text:
Then you will know that I am the <i>Lord</i>. You will know this when I bring you into the country. I promised to give your fathers that country. 


text:
Then you will remember all the wrong things that you did. You will be sorry. You will be ashamed of the <i>evil</i> things that you have done. 


text:
Then I will be good to you. And you will know that I am the <i>Lord</i>. I will forget the bad things that you did and your wrong thoughts. This will bring <i>honour</i> to me, you Israel's people” ’, says the <i>Lord</i>, your King.” ’


text:
‘Son of man’, he said. ‘Turn and look towards the south. Speak my words to the people there. <i>Prophesy</i> against the forests in the south. 


text:
Say this to those forests: “Listen to what the <i>Lord</i> says. I am going to make you burn with fire. The fire will destroy all the young trees and the dry trees. You will not be able to stop the fire. It will burn the faces of people. It will burn those in the south and in the north. 


text:
Then I told the <i>Lord</i> what the people thought. They said that I was only telling them stories.


text:
‘Son of man’, he said. ‘You must look towards Jerusalem. Then tell them what I say. They are doing things in my <i>holy</i> place that are wrong. Speak to the people in Israel. 


text:
Say to them, “This is what the <i>Lord</i> says. ‘I will fight against you. I will take out my <i>sword</i> and I will use it to kill everyone. I will kill the good people and the bad ones. 


text:
Then all the people will know that I am attacking them with my <i>sword</i>. And I will not put my <i>sword</i> back in its place.’ ”


text:
They will ask you why you are so sad. Then you will say, “Because of the bad news that is coming to you. Every one of you will be afraid and will become weak. Your hands will hang down and your knees will bend. You will be very afraid. You can be sure that I am coming to <i>punish</i> you”, says the <i>Lord</i>, your King.’


text:
‘Son of man, <i>prophesy</i> to them. Say, “This is what the <i>Lord</i> says: <n>I have a <i>sword</i>. It is sharp and it shines.


text:
It is ready to kill. It shines like the light that shoots from the sky!” <n>This <i>sword</i> will destroy all arms made from wood. So we cannot be happy.


text:
I have made it ready to hold in the hand. <n>It is sharp and it shines. My <i>sword</i> is ready for the hand of the person who kills.


text:
Cry with a loud voice, son of man, <n>because the <i>sword</i> is coming against my people. <n>It is coming against the <i>princes</i> of Israel. <n>I will throw the <i>princes</i> and the people to the <i>sword</i>. <n>So you must show them that you are very sad.


text:
I will surely be a <i>judge</i> for my people. <n>And if they do not obey me, these things will happen’, says the <i>Lord</i>, your King.


text:
‘So <i>prophesy</i>, son of man. <n>Hit your hands together. <n>The <i>sword</i> will hit them more than once. <n>I made the <i>sword</i> to kill. It will kill many times. <n>The <i>swords</i> come from all round the city.


text:
The people are very afraid. <i>Swords</i> will kill many of them. <n><i>Swords</i> wait at every gate. They move fast to kill.


text:
I, too, will hit my hands together. Then I will not be angry any longer. <n>I, the <i>Lord</i> have spoken.’


text:
‘Son of man, draw two roads for the king of Babylon to follow. They must both start from the same country. Put a sign where the two roads go away from each other. 


text:
Mark one road for the <i>sword</i> to go to Rabbah of the <i>Ammonites</i>. The other road goes towards Judah and the strong city, Jerusalem. 


text:
The king of Babylon will stop when he comes to the sign. He will try to find which way to go. He will ask his <i>idols</i>. He will ask his <i>priests</i> to throw down sticks. Then they will look at the insides of animals. But this <i>sword</i> will destroy all arms that people have made from wood. 


text:
The <i>priests</i> will say that he should go to Jerusalem. There he will build hills round the city, to attack it. He will make his men shout while they attack it. They will hit the gates with very heavy long sticks. They will climb up its walls. 


text:
The people in Jerusalem may think that the king of Babylon is their friend. He should be their friend because of the promises that they made to each other. They think that he will not attack them. But he will attack because the people in Jerusalem have done many wrong things. That is what I say. He will make them his <i>prisoners</i>.


text:
This then is what the <i>Lord</i>, your King says: “People see that you have not obeyed me. You do <i>evil</i> things all the time and in all the places where you go. You are not ashamed of your <i>sin</i>. So your enemies will make you their <i>prisoners</i>.


text:
King of Israel, you are <i>evil</i>. I told you what you should do. But you have not done those things. The day has come when I will <i>punish</i> you.” 


text:
This is what the <i>Lord</i>, your King says: “Take off the special hat that you wear. Remove your <i>crown</i>. I will change things. Some people think that other people have no value. But those same people will become important. Other people thought that they themselves were important. Then they will learn that they are not important. 


text:
I will break down your city. This will not happen until my chosen man comes. I will give the city to him. It belongs to him.”


text:
You, son of man, must <i>prophesy</i> about the people in Ammon. They have said bad things about you. This is what the <i>Lord</i>, your King says: <n>“A <i>sword</i>, a <i>sword</i>, it is ready to kill. <n>It shines like the light that moves quickly from the sky.


text:
Your <i>prophets</i> have said nothing that is true. <n>They have told you about pictures that I have not given them. <n>They say that things will happen. But I did not tell them that they should say those things. <n>The <i>sword</i> will cut through the necks of people who are <i>evil</i>. <n>The time has come when I will <i>punish</i> them.


text:
Put your <i>sword</i> back in its place. <n>I will be your <i>judge</i> in the place where I made you. <n>In the country that I gave to your fathers, I will <i>punish</i> you.


text:
You will see that I am angry with you. <n>I will give you to men who are not kind. <n>They are men who like to kill.


text:
You will be like wood in the fire. <n>They will pour your blood on the land. <n>Nobody will remember you. <n>I, the <i>Lord</i>, have spoken.” ’


text:
‘Son of man, you must tell the people in this city that I am going to be their <i>judge</i>. They have killed many people. Make them see how many wrong things they have done. 


text:
I will <i>punish</i> you because you poured blood over your streets. You have made <i>idols</i> for yourselves and you are no longer <i>pure</i>. I will cause your days to end. I have finished your years as a city. <i>Nations</i> will not give you any <i>honour</i>. Men from all countries will laugh because I have <i>punished</i> you. 


text:
Those who live near and those far away will laugh. You are a city full of <i>evil</i> things. And all the people in you are always fighting.


text:
In you they have not given any <i>honour</i> to father or mother. In you they have not been kind to <i>foreigners</i>, <i>widows</i> or children with no parents. 


text:
In you, are men who say wrong things. They say what is not true. They say it in order to kill other people. In you, there are men who have sex with other men’s wives. They do the bad things that they did in Egypt. The people there give food to <i>idols</i>. And then those people eat it. In you, there are men who do the same thing. And they do other bad things. Some men have sex with women who are not <i>pure</i>. 


text:
There are men who have sex with other men’s wives. There are those who have sex with their daughters or their son’s wives. Some have sex with their sisters, the daughters of their own fathers. 


text:
In you, men pay money for one man to kill another. They lend money to people. But they make those men give them a lot more money back. In you, men make people give them money in ways that are not fair. And you have forgotten me’, says the <i>Lord</i>.


text:
‘I am very angry because you have killed people. You have not been fair. You have taken more money than was right. 


text:
I will <i>punish</i> you and that will make you feel weak. I am the <i>Lord</i>. I have said what I will do. And I will do it. 


text:
All <i>nations</i> will think that you have no value. Then you will know that I am the <i>Lord</i>.’ ” ’


text:
‘Son of man, Israel's people are like dirt to me. Men burn metals in a fire so that they can take out the <i>silver</i>. My people are like the metal that remains in the pot. 


text:
So this is what the <i>Lord</i>, your King says: “I will bring you all into Jerusalem because you are like dirt. 


text:
Men bring metals into a hot fire to make them soft. I will do the same thing to you. I will bring you into the city and I will make you soft. I will do this because I am so angry. 


text:
They make <i>silver</i> soft in a hot fire. In the same way I will make you soft with my hot <i>anger</i>. Then you will know that I am the <i>Lord</i>. And you will know that I have burnt you with my hot <i>anger</i>.” ’


text:
Your leaders agree to hurt people. They take valuable things from the people and they kill many women’s husbands. They are like wild animals that tear up their meat. 


text:
The <i>priests</i> do not obey my rules. They do not use my <i>holy</i> things as they should. They think that <i>holy</i> things are not special. They teach men that <i>pure</i> things and things that are not <i>pure</i> are the same. They do not teach men to keep my <i>Sabbath holy</i>. Because of this, men do not give me any <i>honour</i>. 


text:
Their officers are like wild animals that tear their meat. They do not <i>judge</i> in a fair way. And they kill people to get their money. 


text:
Their <i>prophets</i> say that they are not doing any wrong thing. But those <i>prophets</i> see false dreams and they tell false stories. They say, “This is what the <i>Lord</i>, your King says.” But I have not spoken to them. 


text:
The people in this country make people afraid and take their money. They are not kind to poor people or to those people who are weak. They hurt <i>foreigners</i> and they do not <i>judge</i> them in a fair way.


text:
I tried to find a man who would help me to save the land. Then I would not have to destroy it. But I could not find a man to help me. 


text:
So I will burn the people up with my great <i>anger</i>. I will <i>punish</i> them because of the wrong things that they have done’, says the <i>Lord</i>, your King. <n><i>Holy</i> things are <i>clean</i> in a special way. People must give them <i>honour</i> because they belong to the <i>Lord</i>. If people use them in the same way as other things, they are no longer <i>pure</i>. This means that nobody can use them for the <i>Lord</i>’s work. 


text:
Men in Egypt paid to have sex with them. They sold themselves to men from the time that they were young. Men touched their young breasts and made love to them. 


text:
The older sister was called Oholah. The younger one was Oholibah. They belonged to me, and they gave birth to sons and daughters. Oholah is Samaria and Oholibah is Jerusalem.


text:
Oholah sold herself to other men while she was still mine. She wanted to have sex with the people who live in Assyria, her <i>lovers</i>. 


text:
Their soldiers wore red and blue clothes. They were officers and rulers and they were all very beautiful. They rode on horses. 


text:
Oholah had sex with all the important people who live in Assyria. And she <i>worshipped</i> their <i>idols</i>. 


text:
She continued to sell her body as she had done in Egypt. She had sex with men. She was quite as bad as when she was young.


text:
I gave her to her <i>lovers</i>, the people who live in Assyria. That was because she had not been <i>faithful</i> to me. 


text:
They took off all her clothes and they took all her sons and daughters. Then they killed her. Her story made women afraid because I <i>punished</i> her.


text:
She, too, wanted to have sex with the people who live in Assyria. She wanted the beautiful young officers and the rulers on horses to love her. 


text:
But she did more bad things than her sister. She saw pictures on the walls. They were pictures of men from Babylon They wore red clothes. 


text:
They had belts round their bodies and cloths round their heads. They looked like officers who drove <i>chariots</i>. 


text:
Then they came to her from Babylon. And they had sex with her. They made her not <i>clean</i>. After they had done this to her, she did not want them any longer. She turned away from them. 


text:
But she wanted more and more men to love her. She had had sex when she was young. She remembered about that. At that time she had sex with men in Egypt. 


text:
So this is what the <i>Lord</i>, your King says to you, Oholibah: “The men that you had sex with will turn against you. I will make them do this. You turned away from them. But I will bring them all round you. 


text:
Men from Babylon and Chaldea will come. And men from Pekod, Shoa and Koa will come. All the people who live in Assyria will come with them. They will be beautiful young men, officers, rulers and important men. They will all ride on horses. 


text:
They will fight you with arms and <i>chariots</i> and with many soldiers. They will come to attack you from every side. They will have <i>shields</i> (flat metal or leather plates to save them from sharp knives and stones) and they will wear strong hats on their heads. I will let them <i>punish</i> you as they think best. 


text:
I am very angry with you. And they are angry with you. They will cut off your noses and ears. They will kill any men that remain. They will take away your sons and daughters. And they will burn the rest of your people with fire. 


text:
You will no longer do the wrong things that you began to do in Egypt. I will stop you. You will never want to think about them or remember Egypt any longer.”


text:
So this is what the <i>Lord</i>, your King says: “I will give people power over you. I will give that power to people that you <i>hate</i>. You turned away from them because they did bad things to you. 


text:
They will show you how much they <i>hate</i> you. They will take away everything for which you have worked. You will have no clothes or food. You will be ashamed of the things that you did. Everyone will know what you did. 


text:
I am <i>punishing</i> you because you did those things. I am <i>punishing</i> you because you wanted to be like other <i>nations</i>. And because you <i>worshipped</i> their <i>idols</i>. 


text:
You have done the same bad things that your sister did. So I will <i>punish</i> you as I <i>punished</i> her.”


text:
This is what the <i>Lord</i>, your King says: <n>“I will give you the same <i>punishment</i> that I gave to your sister. <n>It will be a strong <i>punishment</i>. <n>It will make people laugh. And they will think that you have no value.


text:
You will all be sad and you will get drunk. <n>They will break down your cities and your country will be empty. <n>It will be like your sister Samaria.


text:
Your <i>punishment</i> will be <i>complete</i> and you will be very sad. <n>That is what I have said”, says the <i>Lord</i>, your King.


text:
“So this is what I say to you”, says the <i>Lord</i>, your King. “You have forgotten me and men have paid to have sex with you. You were not ashamed. You thought that I could not see. But now I will <i>punish</i> you because of the bad things that you have done.” ’


text:
The <i>Lord</i> spoke to me. ‘Son of man, you must <i>judge</i> Oholah and Oholibah. Make them see that they have done wrong things. 


text:
They have not been <i>faithful</i> to me and they have caused men to die. They <i>worshipped idols</i> and they even offered their children to the <i>idols</i> as food. 


text:
At the same time, they did not keep <i>holy</i> the place where they should have <i>worshipped</i> me. They did not keep the <i>Sabbaths</i> as my special days. 


text:
The same day that they gave their children to <i>idols</i> they made my house not <i>clean</i>. That is what they did to my house.


text:
The sisters sent messages to men in a far country. When the men came to visit them they made themselves beautiful with paint and pretty stones. 


text:
They sat on a soft seat and they put a table in front of it. On the table they put oils with sweet smells. But those oils belonged to me.


text:
Men from the <i>desert</i> (Sabeans) came with a crowd who were making a noise. Some of them put pretty things on the women’s arms and <i>crowns</i> (special hats that rulers wear) on their heads. 


text:
I said: “Let them have sex with the woman. She has had so much sex that she is tired. That is now the only way that anyone can use her.” 


text:
But men who do good things will <i>punish</i> them. They will <i>punish</i> them because they were not <i>faithful</i> to me. And because they caused men to die.


text:
This is what the <i>Lord</i>, your King says: “You good men must take a crowd to attack them. You will make them afraid and you will take their things. 


text:
The crowd will throw stones at them and cut them with <i>swords</i>. They will kill their sons and daughters and they will burn down their houses.


text:
So I will stop people from using their bodies in a wrong way. I will make women want to do what is good and right. 


text:
I will <i>punish</i> you because of the bad things that you have done. And I will <i>punish</i> you because you have <i>worshipped idols</i>. Then you will know that I am the <i>Lord</i>, your King.” ’ <n>The two sisters, Oholah and Oholibah are God’s pictures of Israel (Samaria) and Judah (Jerusalem). He is saying that their people are not <i>faithful</i> to him. Israel and Judah are like wives who are not <i>faithful</i> to their husbands. That is because they <i>worship</i> false gods. 


text:
The <i>Lord</i> spoke to me on the tenth (10th) day. That was in the tenth (10th) month of the ninth (9th) year. 


text:
Tell a story to this people who do not obey me. Say, “This is what the <i>Lord</i> says: <n>‘Put the pot on the fire. Fill it with water.


text:
Take them from sheep that are the best to eat. <n>Put wood under the pot and boil it to cook the meat and the bones.’


text:
This is what the <i>Lord</i>, your King says. <n>‘I will make sorry the city where they killed men. <n>This city is like a pot that nobody has cleaned. They have taken out every piece of meat. They have not left one piece. 


text:
So this is what the <i>Lord</i>, your King says. <n>‘I will make the city that poured out this blood very sad. <n>And I will put wood on the fire.


text:
So make the fire burn and cook the meat well. <n>Put in more things that will make it taste good. Let the bones burn.


text:
Put the empty pot on the fire so that it becomes red and hot. <n>The fire should burn away all its dirt.


text:
The bad things that you do are like your dirt. I tried to make you <i>clean</i>, but you would not let me. You will not become <i>clean</i> until I am no longer angry with you.


text:
I, the <i>Lord</i> have spoken. Now I am beginning to do the things that I promised. <n>I will not stop. I will not be kind or make the <i>punishment</i> less. I will <i>judge</i> you because of the many bad things that you have done’, says the <i>Lord</i>, your King.” ’ <n>Ezekiel’s wife dies</n>


text:
‘Son of man I will take away the one person who gives you great pleasure. I will do it quickly. But you must not look sad or cry. 


text:
You must not make a lot of noise. You must not show people how sad you are. Keep your head covered and your feet. Do not cover part of your face. People eat special food when someone dies. But you must not do this.’


text:
That morning I spoke to the people. In the evening my wife died. The next morning I did what the <i>Lord</i> had said.


text:
“Say this to Israel's people: ‘This is what the <i>Lord</i>, your King says: “I will make my <i>holy</i> place not <i>clean</i>. You think that it is a beautiful place. And you love it. I will take away the things that you love. And they will kill your sons and daughters that you left in Jerusalem. 


text:
Then you will do the same things that I have done. You will not cover part of your face. You will not eat special food. People eat special food when someone dies. But you will not do that. 


text:
You will not cry or look sad. You will wear your hats and shoes. You will be sorry. You will become thin because of the bad things that you have done. 


text:
I have made Ezekiel show you what I will do to you. Then you will know that I am the <i>Lord</i>.” ’ 


text:
On that day, son of man, I will destroy all the things that they love. I will destroy their beautiful buildings and I will take away their sons and daughters. 


text:
A man will run away from Jerusalem. He will bring you the bad news on the day that I cause these things to happen. 


text:
At that time you will become able to speak. You will talk with him. You will no longer be quiet. This will show the people that I am the <i>Lord</i>.” ’


text:
‘Son of man’, he said. ‘Turn your face towards the people in Ammon. You must <i>prophesy</i> against them. 


text:
Say to them, “Listen to the message from the <i>Lord</i>, the King. This is what he says: ‘You were happy when enemies made my <i>holy</i> place not <i>clean</i>. And you were not sorry when I destroyed the land in Israel. Nor were you sad when I took the people in Judah away to a foreign country. 


text:
So I will give you to the people in the East as a gift. Their armies will come and they will put <i>tents</i> all round you. They will eat your fruit and they will drink your milk. 


text:
I will make Rabbah a place where <i>camels</i> (animals that carry men and their things over <i>deserts</i>) feed. I will make Ammon a place where sheep rest. Then you will know that I am the <i>Lord</i>.’ 


text:
So this is what the <i>Lord</i>, the King says: ‘You hit your hands together and you jumped about. You were happy when I <i>punished</i> Israel. 


text:
Because of this I will attack you. <i>Nations</i> will come and I will give them all your good things. You will not be a <i>nation</i> any longer. I will destroy you and you will not have your own country. And you will know that I am the <i>Lord</i>.’ <n>The <i>Lord</i> speaks against Moab</n>


text:
The <i>Lord</i>, the King says this to the people in Moab and Seir. ‘You said that the people in Judah have become like all the other <i>nations</i>. 


text:
Because of this, I will make the towns at the edge of Moab weak. These are Beth Jeshimoth, Baal Meon and Kiriathaim. They are the best towns in the country. 


text:
I will give Moab with the <i>Ammonites</i> as a gift to the people in the East. Nobody will remember that Ammon was a <i>nation</i>. 


text:
And I will <i>punish</i> Moab. Then they will know that I am the <i>Lord</i>.’ ” <n>The <i>Lord</i> speaks against Edom</n>


text:
“This is what the <i>Lord</i>, the King says: ‘Edom was angry with the people in Judah. So they attacked them. They caused me to become very angry.’ 


text:
‘Because they did this’, the <i>Lord</i> says, ‘I will attack Edom. Enemies will kill its men and its animals. I will make Edom into a <i>desert</i>. Israel will take their <i>swords</i>. And they will kill the people from Teman to Dedan. 


text:
I will use Israel's people to <i>punish</i> Edom. They will make Edom know that I am very angry with them. They will know that I am <i>punishing</i> them’, says the <i>Lord</i>, the King.” <n>The <i>Lord</i> speaks against the Philistines</n>


text:
“This is what the <i>Lord</i>, the King says. ‘The Philistines <i>hated</i> Judah. They sent armies to kill and to hurt them. They tried to destroy Judah.’ 


text:
So this is what the <i>Lord</i>, the King says. ‘I will <i>punish</i> the Philistines. I will kill their people who remain by the edge of the sea. 


text:
I am very angry with them and I will <i>punish</i> them strongly. I will do this. Then they will know that I am the <i>Lord</i>.’ ” ’ <n>The Philistines were sailors who lived between Judah and the sea. 


text:
‘Tyre's people have said: “Good! Now we have broken down the walls of Jerusalem. Its doors are open to us. Tyre will become a rich city because we have destroyed Jerusalem.” 


text:
So this is what the <i>Lord</i>, the King says: “I am against you, Tyre, I will bring many <i>nations</i> to attack you. They will be as strong as the <i>waves</i> of the sea. 


text:
They will destroy the walls of Tyre and they will pull down its strong buildings. I will pull away all the stones that they used to build it. 


text:
There, men will dry the things that they use to catch fish. They will dry them on the rock where Tyre was before. That is what I say”, says the <i>Lord</i>, the King. 


text:
“Armies with <i>swords</i> will destroy all the towns near the city. Then they will know that I am the <i>Lord</i>.” ’


text:
Now this is what the <i>Lord</i>, your King says: ‘I will bring Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon against Tyre. He will come from the north. He is a great king with men on horses, <i>chariots</i> (war cars) and a great army. 


text:
He will attack and destroy all your towns and villages on the land near the sea. He will build hills to attack your walls. 


text:
He will have many horses. Their feet will cause dirt to cover you. He will break through your walls and he will bring in his horses and <i>chariots</i> (war cars). The noise that they make will cause your walls to <i>shake</i>. 


text:
While his horses go along your streets, his soldiers will kill people. They will kill them with their <i>swords</i>. They will break down all your tall buildings. 


text:
They will take away all your food and the things that you sell. They will break down your beautiful buildings. They will throw into the sea all the wood and stone that made them. 


text:
I will cause you to become just a rock in the sea. Men will dry there the things that they use to catch fish. They will never build you again. That is what I say’, says the <i>Lord</i>, the King.


text:
This is what the <i>Lord</i>, the King says to Tyre. ‘All the people who live by the sea will hear. They will hear that I have made you fall. Then they will be very afraid. They will hear the cries of people who are hurting. 


text:
Then the <i>princes</i> of those towns will take off their beautiful clothes. They will sit in the dirt and they will be sad and afraid. Their bodies will <i>shake</i> because they are so afraid. 


text:
Then they will make a sad song about you: <n>“Great city of men of the sea, I have completely destroyed you. <n>You and your people were the strong men of the sea. <n>You made everyone else afraid of you.


text:
Now people on the land are afraid on the day that you fall. <n>The islands in the sea are afraid because I have made you fall.” ’


text:
This is what the <i>Lord</i>, your King says. ‘I will make you like an empty city. And the sea will cover you with its great waters. 


text:
Then I will make you fall into the earth. You will go to be with men who have died. You will not return. Nobody will ever live in you again. 


text:
I will completely destroy you. People will look for you but they will never find you”, says the <i>Lord</i>, your King.’


text:
‘Son of man, you must sing this sad song for Tyre. Tyre is like a gate to the sea. From there, men go to sell things to many peoples. 


text:
Say to Tyre's people, “This is what the <i>Lord</i>, the King says: <n>‘You say that the <i>beauty</i> of Tyre is <i>complete</i>.


text:
They used wood from the <i>pine</i> trees of Senir. <n>They took the <i>trunk</i> of a <i>cedar</i> of Lebanon. From it they made a tall round stick to stand in the centre of the boat.


text:
They made flat sticks (oars) from <i>oaks</i> of Bashan. They used them to push you through the water. <n>They made your deck with <i>ivory</i> and wood from the coasts of Cyprus.


text:
They made your <i>sail</i> out of the best white cloth from Egypt. They made it pretty with many colours. <n>The beautiful <i>sail</i> told people who you were. <n>Over your deck they put <i>tents</i> of blue and <i>purple</i> cloth. <n>It came from Elishah’s country by the sea.


text:
Men from Sidon and Arvad pushed you through the water. <n>Your men from Tyre told them how to do this. And they told them where to go.


text:
Men from Gebal went with you. They had made boats for many years. <n>Sailors from many ships bought and sold things in your shops.


text:
You had men from Persia, Lydia and Put (Libya) in your army. <n>They hung their arms in the houses where your soldiers lived. <n>They fought and won your fights for you. <n>They brought you <i>honour</i>.


text:
Men from Arvad and Helech stood on your walls. <n>And men from Gammad kept your tall buildings safe. <n>They hung their arms on your walls. They made you beautiful.


text:
You had many different things to sell. So men from Tarshish came to buy from you. They brought <i>silver</i> and other metals to pay for those things.


text:
Men from Rhodes and other countries by the sea came to you. They paid you with <i>ivory</i> and hard black wood.


text:
People from Aram came because you had so many things to sell. They brought you coloured stones of great value. And they brought the best cloth with pretty colours on it.


text:
People from Judah and Israel came to buy things from you. They paid you with food <i>grains</i> from Minnith and sweet cakes.


text:
Men from Damascus came to buy your things. They came because you had many different things to sell. They sold you <i>wine</i> from Helbon and white <i>wool</i>.


text:
Men from Dan and <i>Greeks</i> from Uzal came and they bought your things. They paid you with iron and plants to make food taste good (spices).


text:
Men from Arabia and the leaders of Kedar all came to buy your things. They bought and sold young sheep, male sheep and goats.


text:
Men from Sheba and Raamah came to buy and to sell many valuable things. These were pretty stones, gold and things to make food taste good (spices).


text:
Men from many towns came to you to buy and sell things. They came from Haran, Canneh and Eden. Other men came from Sheba, Asshur and Kilmad. 


text:
They came to the centre of your town. There they bought and sold beautiful clothes, good blue cotton cloth and strong carpets.


text:
You were like a ship from Tarshish. <n>You carried the things that you wanted to buy and sell. <n>You sailed on the sea. You were full of heavy things.


text:
Men took sticks that they had made from wood (oars). With them they pushed your boats. The boats went over the deep sea. <n>But the east wind there will break you into small pieces.


text:
All your valuable things and all the people in the boat <n>will fall into the deep sea. <n>The men who buy and sell will fall. <n>The soldiers and the sailors in the ship will all fall. <n>They will fall into the sea when the boat breaks.


text:
The men who push the boat will jump out of the ship. They push the boat with sticks that they made from wood (oars). <n>Sailors and people by the sea 


text:
will stand there and cry. They will make a loud noise. <n>They will put dirt on their heads and on their clothes.


text:
They will cut the hair from their heads and they will wear old clothes. <n>They will do this because God is <i>punishing</i> you. <n>They will be very sorry and they will cry about you.


text:
They will sing a sad song about you while they walk up and down. <n>“Nobody ever destroyed a city as God has destroyed Tyre. <n>Tyre was a city with sea all round it.”


text:
You gave good things to many <i>nations</i>. <n>You had valuable things and you sold them to kings. <n>You made all the kings in the world become rich men.


text:
Now the sea has broken you up. <n>You are under its waters. <n>All your things and your people are under the sea.


text:
The people who live by the sea are afraid. <n>They are afraid because they have seen you fall. <n>Their kings <i>shake</i> because they are afraid. <n>Their faces have become long and sad.


text:
Men from other <i>nations</i> who buy and sell are afraid. <n>They are afraid that they too will fall. <n>God has destroyed your city. You will never return.’ ” ’


text:
‘Son of man, say this to the ruler of Tyre. “This is what the <i>Lord</i>, your King says: <n>‘You thought that you were very great. <n>You said to yourself, “I am a god. <n>I am sitting on a <i>throne</i>. I am like a god with seas all round me.” <n>But you are a man and not a god. <n>You think that you are as <i>wise</i> as a god.


text:
You have been clever enough to get many valuable things. <n>You have stored much gold and <i>silver</i> in a safe place.


text:
You buy and sell in a clever way, so you have many valuable things. <n>You think that you are great. You think that because you are so rich. <n>So this is what the <i>Lord</i>, your King, says:


text:
So I am bringing foreign soldiers to fight you. <n>They will be less kind than people from any <i>nation</i>. <n>Their <i>swords</i> will destroy your beautiful city. <n>It will no longer be beautiful.


text:
They will kill you in the same way as they kill other people. They will kill you like people who do not belong to God. <n>That is what I say”, says the <i>Lord</i>, your King.’ ” ’


text:
‘Son of man, you must make a sad song about the king of Tyre. Speak to him. Say, “This is what the <i>Lord</i>, the King, says: <n>‘I did not see anything bad in you. <n>You were completely beautiful. You were <i>wise</i> in every way.


text:
You lived in the garden of God (Eden). <n>I had covered your body with beautiful stones of every kind. <n>They were of different colours, red, blue, green, yellow and other colours too. <n>Gold held the stones together. <n>I made them for you on the day that I made you.


text:
I chose you to keep my garden safe. <n>I gave you that work to do for me. <n>You lived on my <i>holy</i> mountain. <n>You walked among the burning fires.


text:
You were not bad in any way. <n>You were completely <i>pure</i> on the day that I made you. <n>But later, I saw that you had become bad.


text:
You bought and sold things. You fought for the things that you wanted. <n>That was your <i>sin</i>. <n>So I sent you out of my mountain to make you ashamed. <n>You no longer walked among the fires.


text:
But you still thought that you were very great. <n>You liked to think that you were very beautiful. <n>You used your <i>wisdom</i> to do things that were wrong. <n>Because of this, I threw you down to the earth. <n>Their kings saw how you had fallen.


text:
You bought and sold things. But you did it in a way that was not fair. <n>That is how your <i>temples</i> became no longer <i>pure</i>. <n>So I made a fire come out of you to burn you up. <n>Everyone saw you become ashes on the ground.


text:
The <i>nations</i> who knew you are very afraid. They were not happy at all. <n>They saw that your life had such a bad end. So they were not happy. <n>You will not be alive again.’ ” ’ <n>A <i>prophecy</i> against Sidon</n>


text:
“This is what the <i>Lord</i>, your King says: <n>‘I am against you, Sidon. <n>But the people in you will give me <i>honour</i>. <n>I will <i>punish</i> their city. <n>Then they will know that I am the <i>Lord</i>. <n>Then they will know that I am <i>holy</i>.


text:
I will cause them to become ill. <n>I will make blood run through its streets. <n>They will kill the men in the city. <n>Enemies will attack Sidon from every side. <n>Then its people will know that I am the <i>Lord</i>.


text:
I will kill the people in the countries round Israel. <n>They will no longer be like sharp points on plants that cause Israel's people pain. <n>Then they will know that I am the <i>Lord</i>, their King.’


text:
This is what the <i>Lord</i>, the King, says: ‘I will bring back Israel's people from the countries where I sent them. Then all the <i>nations</i> will see that I am <i>holy</i>. My people will live in their own country. I gave that country to my servant, their father Jacob. 


text:
I will make them safe while they live there. They will build houses and they will plant <i>vines</i> in their fields. I will <i>punish</i> all those <i>nations</i> round them. I will <i>punish</i> them because they said bad things about my people. Then my people will be safe. And they will know that I am the <i>Lord</i> their God.’ ” ’


text:
The <i>Lord</i> spoke to me. It was the twelfth (12th) day of the tenth (10th) month of the tenth (10th) year. 


text:
‘Son of man’, he said. ‘Turn against Pharaoh, the king of Egypt. You must <i>prophesy</i> against him and against all Egypt. 


text:
Speak to him and say, “The <i>Lord</i> says this: <n>‘I am against you, Pharaoh, king of Egypt. <n>You are like the great wild animal that lies in your streams. <n>You say, “The River Nile is mine; I made it for myself.”


text:
But I will catch you like a fish. <n>I will catch your mouth with a piece of bent metal. <n>I will pull you out of your streams. <n>Little fish will hang on the points of your skin.


text:
I will leave you and your little fish in the <i>desert</i>. <n>You will lie on the ground. <n>And nobody will pick you up. <n>I will give you as food to the wild animals and birds.


text:
Then all the people in Egypt will know that I am the <i>Lord</i>. <n>Israel's people thought that you would help them. 


text:
But your help was like a thin stick. It broke. And it tore their shoulders when they held it. And it hurt their backs when they put weight on it.’


text:
So this is what the <i>Lord</i> God of Israel says, ‘I will bring men with <i>swords</i> to kill your men and their animals. 


text:
I will make Egypt become a <i>desert</i> where nobody lives. Then they will know that I am the <i>Lord</i>. <n>I am against you because you said, “The River Nile is mine. I made it.” 


text:
I am against you and your streams. I will destroy the country called Egypt. I will destroy it from Migdol to Aswan, as far as Cush. I will make it a <i>desert</i> where nobody lives. 


text:
It will become a <i>desert</i> among <i>desert</i> lands. Its broken cities will be empty for forty (40) years. I will push the <i>Egyptians</i> out to other lands. They will go to many other countries.’


text:
But this is what the <i>Lord</i>, the King says, ‘I will bring back the <i>Egyptians</i> from the lands where I sent them. I will do this after the forty (40) years. 


text:
I will bring them back from their prisons. I will bring them to Pathros, the country of their fathers. There they will not be important. 


text:
Their king will be the least important of all kings. People will never again think that Egypt is important. I will make it so weak that it can never rule over other <i>nations</i>. 


text:
Egypt's people will no longer be able to help Israel. But they will make Israel's people remember their <i>sin</i>. Their <i>sin</i> was to ask Egypt for help.’ Then they will know that I am the <i>Lord</i>, their King.” ’


text:
The <i>Lord</i> spoke to me in the twenty-seventh (27th) year. It was the first day of the first month. 


text:
‘Son of man’, he said. ‘Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon fought to win the city called Tyre. His soldiers carried such great weights that their skin broke. And it bled. But they did not find there any things of value to pay for their work.’ 


text:
So this is what the <i>Lord</i>, the King, says: ‘I will give Egypt to the king of Babylon. He will take away all its valuable things. He will go through the country to find things to give to his soldiers. 


text:
I will do this to pay him. He and his army did what I wanted. So I will pay him’, says the <i>Lord</i>, your King.


text:
‘When that happens, I will make Israel's people strong. Then I will open your mouth to speak to them. Then they will know that I am the <i>Lord</i>.’


text:
‘Son of man’, he said. ‘<i>Prophesy</i> to the people. Tell them what I, the <i>Lord</i>, your King, say. You must shout these words, <n>“A day is coming that will frighten you all!”


text:
That day will be very soon. It is the day when the<i>Lord</i> will do this. <n>He will bring clouds and trouble to the <i>nations</i>.


text:
Enemies will come to fight with Egypt. <n>The people in Cush will be sad. <n>Many men in Egypt will die <n>and enemies will carry away their valuable things. <n>They will break its cities into pieces.


text:
Soldiers who fight for Egypt will die, too. They came from Cush, Lydia, Libya, Put and the <i>Arab nations</i>. Some men even came from my own people.


text:
The <i>Lord</i> says, “Enemies will kill all the people who fight for Egypt. All the people will die. They will die from the north to the south. They will die from Migdol to Aswan. Enemies will destroy all the army of Egypt.” I, the <i>Lord</i> your God, say this. 


text:
“Egypt will have more <i>desert</i> than any other country. Enemies will break all its cities into pieces. 


text:
I will cause them to burn Egypt and those who fight for Egypt. Then they will know that I am the <i>Lord</i>.


text:
On the day that I destroy Egypt, I will send <i>messengers</i> to Cush. I will send them on ships. The people there think that they are safe. The news from Egypt will make them very afraid. That day is coming soon!


text:
I will use King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon to kill all the people in Egypt. He and his army will take away all Egypt’s good things. 


text:
They will come to destroy the country. They will attack Egypt’s people with <i>swords</i>. They will fill the country with dead bodies. 


text:
I will cause the river Nile to become dry. <i>Evil</i> men will rule Egypt. Foreign men will destroy the whole country.” This is what I, the <i>Lord</i>, say.


text:
The <i>Lord</i>, your King says, “I will destroy the <i>idols</i> and false gods in Memphis. Egypt will no longer have its own ruler. Everyone will be very afraid.


text:
I will make Pathros a <i>desert</i> and I will burn Zoan with fire. <n>I will <i>punish</i> the great city called Thebes.


text:
Pelusium is the strongest city in Egypt. <n>I will show it that I am very angry. <n>Enemies will take away all the valuable things from Thebes.


text:
I will make fire burn the country of Egypt. <n>The pain of Pelusium will be very great. <n>Enemies will come like a storm and they will take Thebes. <n>The people in Memphis will always have trouble.


text:
Soldiers will kill the young men in Heliopolis and Bubastis. <n>They will make all the other people their <i>prisoners</i>.


text:
I will take away Egypt’s power. <n>Then the people in Tahpanhes will feel that they are in a dark place. <n>A cloud will cover Egypt. <n>Enemies will take away the people from the villages.


text:
The <i>Lord</i> spoke to me on the seventh (7th) day. It was the first month of the eleventh (11th) year. 


text:
‘Son of man’, he said. ‘I have broken the arm of Pharaoh king of Egypt. He will never again have great power. He will always be weak. 


text:
So this is what the <i>Lord</i>, your King says, “Pharaoh king of Egypt is my enemy. But I will make him like a man with two broken arms. He will drop his <i>sword</i>. He will not be able to fight again. 


text:
I will make the king of Babylon strong. I will give him power over Pharaoh. The king of Egypt will cry out like a man who is dying. 


text:
I will make the king of Babylon strong. But the king of Egypt will have no power. Then they will know that I am the <i>Lord</i>. They will see that I gave Babylon the power to win the fight. 


text:
I will send the people in Egypt to many different countries. They will live among the <i>nations</i>. Then they will know that I am the <i>Lord</i>.” ’


text:
The <i>Lord</i> spoke to me on the first day of the third (3rd) month. That was in the eleventh (11th) year. 


text:
‘Son of man’, he said, ‘Speak to Pharaoh king of Egypt and his soldiers: <n>“Nobody is as great or powerful as you are.


text:
Think about Assyria. It was like a great <i>cedar</i> tree before. <n>It had beautiful branches that covered other trees. <n>It was very tall and it had many leaves.


text:
Waters fed the tree and streams made it grow tall. <n>The streams went round it. And they sent some water to all the other trees.


text:
So it became taller than any of the trees in the field. <n>Many long branches grew from it. <n>They grew because it had so much water.


text:
All kinds of birds lived in its branches. <n>Under its branches, the wild animals gave birth to their young animals. <n>It kept safe all the great <i>nations</i>.


text:
It was more beautiful than the <i>cedars</i> in God’s garden. <n>The <i>pine</i> trees were not as tall. <n>Other trees had fewer branches. <n>No other tree in God’s garden was nearly as beautiful.


text:
I made the tree beautiful and I gave it its branches. <n>All the trees in Eden (God’s garden) wanted to be as beautiful as the <i>cedar</i>.


text:
So this is what the <i>Lord</i>, your King says: <n>‘Assyria was like that tree. It knew that it was very tall. And it thought that it was more important than any other tree. These thoughts were bad thoughts. 


text:
Cruel <i>foreigners</i> cut it down and they went away. They broke all its branches. Its branches fell on the mountains and in the valleys. The <i>nations</i> that it had kept safe all went away from it. 


text:
I will never again let a tree become so tall. No tree that grows by the waters will grow as big. It grew taller than other trees. Its top was in the clouds. So it thought that it was more important than the other trees. All the trees will die, like men. They will die even when they have much water. They will never grow so high again. They will die like men. And other men will bury them in the ground.’


text:
This is what the <i>Lord</i>, your King says: ‘They buried the tree. Then I made the deep streams cover it. But I will stop the rivers from sending streams of water to the earth. I will make the mountains of Lebanon dark. All the trees in the forest will become dry and they will die. 


text:
The <i>nations</i> will <i>shake</i> when they hear the tree fall. They will bury the tree with all those in the earth below. After I have done this, the other trees in the earth will become happy. They were the trees from God’s garden (Eden) and from Lebanon. 


text:
Some trees are already in the earth. Men will bury the <i>cedar</i> tree with those trees. I will send the people who lived under the tree to live in other <i>nations</i>.


text:
The king of Egypt and all his people are also like a tree. You are great and powerful. But I will cut you down like the trees of Eden (God’s garden). Men will bury you with your dead soldiers. You will lie with those that men have killed with <i>swords</i>. <n>This is what I will do to Pharaoh and all his armies’ ”, says the <i>Lord</i>, your King.’


text:
The <i>Lord</i> spoke to me in the twelfth (12th) year. It was the first day of the twelfth (12th) month. 


text:
‘Son of man’, he said. ‘Make this sad song about Pharaoh, king of Egypt. And say to him, <n>“You are the strongest among the <i>nations</i>. <n>You are like the greatest of animals in the seas. <n>You move about in the rivers <n>and you hit the water with your feet. <n>You mix dirt with the clean water.” ’


text:
This is what the <i>Lord</i>, the King says: <n>‘I will send a great crowd of people <n>and they will catch you in their <i>net</i>.


text:
I will pull you out of the water <n>and I will throw you on dry ground. <n>I will let the birds land on you in the field. <n>I will give your meat to the wild animals. I will fill their stomachs.


text:
I will cover the ground with your blood. It will run up to the mountains. <n>And your meat will fill the deep valleys.


text:
I will hide the stars and I will make the sky dark. <n>I will do this when I make you nothing. <n>I will cover the sun with a cloud <n>and you will not see the moon.


text:
I will make the lights in the sky become dark. <n>Your whole country will become dark. <n>I will make it dark’, says the <i>Lord</i>.


text:
‘I will destroy your <i>nation</i>. <n>Then many <i>nations</i> that you do not know will become afraid.


text:
They will think that I will give them trouble. <n>And their kings will be afraid because I destroyed you. <n>They will see me <i>shake</i> my <i>sword</i> in front of them. <n>They will think that I will kill them. <n>So each of them will be afraid and they will <i>shake</i>.’


text:
His great army will fight against you. <n>I will give his strong men power to kill your soldiers. <n>His people are the most cruel of all <i>nations</i>. <n>They will change Egypt into a poor weak <i>nation</i>. <n>They will destroy all its armies.


text:
Egypt's people have many cows near its great rivers, <n>but I will destroy them. <n>No men’s feet will mix dirt with the water any longer. <n>No animal’s feet will remain to make the water dirty.


text:
‘I will destroy Egypt. <n>I will take away all that you have. <n>I will kill all the people who live there. <n>Then they will know that I am the <i>Lord</i>.


text:
They will sing this sad song for Egypt. Women in all <i>nations</i> will sing it. They will sing it for the land of Egypt and its many people.’ This is what the <i>Lord</i>, your King says.


text:
‘Son of man’, he said. ‘Be sad and make a loud noise for the many people in Egypt. Send them down to the place of dead people. Send them there with the dead bodies of all the strong <i>nations</i>’ men. 


text:
Tell them that they are no better than any other people. They will all go to that place. They will be with those who are not <i>circumcised</i>. 


text:
The people in Egypt will die with the other soldiers who die. A <i>sword</i> is ready to kill them all. 


text:
Great leaders lie in the home of dead people. They will speak about Egypt and its friends. They will say: “Many men died in the fight. They have come down to lie with all of them. They are with those who are not <i>circumcised</i>.”


text:
Assyria is there with its whole army. All its men who died in the fight lie there. They lie round it in the home of dead people. 


text:
Their dead bodies are in the deepest parts of that place. Its dead soldiers are all round it. Many armies made people afraid. All their men are now in the country of dead people. Their enemies have killed them.


text:
Elam is there with all its dead soldiers round it. Its enemy’s <i>swords</i> have killed them all. All the men who made people afraid are down there. They are there with those who are not <i>circumcised</i>. They are ashamed. They are in the place of dead people. 


text:
Elam lies on a bed with all its soldiers round it. Not one of them is <i>circumcised</i>. <i>Swords</i> have killed them all. They will be ashamed because they made people afraid. They did that when they were alive. So I will make their bodies lie among the men who died.


text:
Meshech and Tubal are there in the home of dead people. The dead bodies of their soldiers are round them. They are all in the home of dead people. Not one of them is <i>circumcised</i>. They made people afraid when they were alive. So men killed them with <i>swords</i>. 


text:
Now they lie with other dead soldiers who were not <i>circumcised</i>. They are in the home of dead people with their arms and their <i>swords</i> under their heads. Their armies made all people very afraid when they marched through the country. But I have <i>punished</i> them because of their <i>sins</i>.


text:
I will kill you too, Pharaoh. And your dead body will lie with those men. You will lie with men who are not <i>circumcised</i>. You will lie with men whose enemies killed them with <i>swords</i>.


text:
Edom is there. Its kings and leaders are there. Soldiers killed many of their men with <i>swords</i>. The kings and leaders are with those men. They had great power. But now they lie in the home of dead people. They lie with men who are not <i>circumcised</i>.


text:
The kings of the north and from Sidon are there. They had great power but they are ashamed. They made men very afraid. But now they lie in the home of dead people. <n>They are with those that men killed with <i>swords</i>. They are with those dead men who are not <i>circumcised</i>.


text:
Pharaoh felt sad because men had killed all his soldiers. When he and his army see those other dead men, they will feel better’, says the <i>Lord</i>, your King. 


text:
‘Pharaoh and his armies will lie among men who are not <i>circumcised</i>. They made men very afraid. <n>But their dead bodies will lie with other men’s bodies. They will lie with men that enemies’<i>swords</i> had killed.’


text:
‘Son of man’, he said. ‘Speak to the people in your <i>nation</i>. Tell them that they may choose a man to watch over my people. I may send men with <i>swords</i> to attack you. Then you must do this. 


text:
The man must blow a <i>trumpet</i> to tell them if he sees an enemy. The enemy may come to attack them with <i>swords</i>. 


text:
The people will hear the <i>trumpet</i> and they will prepare to fight. If they do not prepare, then they may die. They will die because they did not listen. 


text:
A man may hear the <i>trumpet</i> but he may not prepare to fight. Then the enemy may kill him with a <i>sword</i>. He will die because he did not obey the noise of the <i>trumpet</i>. He would not have died if he had listened to the <i>trumpet</i>’s noise. He did not save himself. 


text:
But the man who is watching may see the enemy. He may see them when they come with <i>swords</i>. But then he may not blow his <i>trumpet</i>. The men in the city will not hear anything. Then soldiers will come and kill them. The people may have done bad things. They will die because they did not obey me. But they did not know that the enemy was coming to attack them. They could not prepare to fight the enemy. Then I will <i>punish</i> the man who saw the soldiers. I will <i>punish</i> him because he did not blow the <i>trumpet</i>. He did not tell the people that an enemy was attacking them.


text:
Son of man, I have made you like the man with the <i>trumpet</i>. You must watch Israel's people. You must tell them when they do wrong things. 


text:
I may say to a bad man, “You are doing something that is wrong. You will die.” Then you must tell him that I am angry. Tell him that I will kill him. If you do not tell him this, he will surely die because of his <i>sin</i>. But I will <i>punish</i> you because you have caused his death. 


text:
That man is doing something that is wrong. You must tell him that. He may not listen to your words. He may not stop doing those things. Then he will die because of his <i>sins</i>. But you will not have caused his death. I will not <i>punish</i> you.


text:
Son of man, speak to Israel's people. “You say: ‘We have done many wrong things and we are dying. We want to stay alive!’ ” 


text:
Tell them, “It does not give me pleasure to kill men that do bad things. I want them to stop doing those wrong things and to stay alive. Stop doing things that are wrong, Israel's people. I do not want you to die!”


text:
So you must speak to the people in your country, son of man. Say, “If a good man starts to do bad things, I will <i>punish</i> him. The good things that he did will not save him. They will not save him if he does not obey me. But I will not <i>punish</i> a bad man who stops doing wrong things. <n>A good man may stop doing good things. He may start to do bad things. Then he will die. The good things that he had done will not save him.” 


text:
He may think about the good things that he has done. He may think that they will save him. But I will not remember those good things if he then does bad things. I will cause him to die because of the wrong things that he has done.


text:
I may say to a bad man: “You must die.” But then he may stop doing wrong things and do good things. 


text:
He might give back to a man something that he had taken (something that would make sure that the man would return his money). Or he might return things that were not his. He might start to obey me. If he then does only good things he will stay alive. 


text:
I will not remember any of the wrong things that he has done. <n>He has done what is good and right. So he will surely stay alive.


text:
Israel's people are saying: “The <i>Lord</i>’s rules are not fair!” But you people are those who are not fair. 


text:
And a bad man may stop doing bad things. Then he might start to do things that are good and right. Because he has done these good things, he will stay alive. 


text:
But Israel's people say: “The <i>Lord</i> is not fair!” But I will <i>judge</i> each man because of the things that he has done.’ <n>The <i>Lord</i> tells Ezekiel why enemies have taken Jerusalem</n>


text:
A man ran away from Jerusalem. He came to me when we had been in Babylon for twelve (12) years. He came on the fifth (5th) day of the tenth (10th) month. He said, ‘Enemies have taken the city.’ 


text:
The <i>Lord</i> had touched me in the night. That was the night before the man came to me. He had opened my mouth so that I was able to speak again.


text:
‘Son of man’, he said, ‘People live in the broken cities of Israel. This is what they are saying. They say, “Abraham was only one man, but God gave him the country called Israel. But we are many men. Now God has given the country called Israel to us.” 


text:
So speak to them. Say, “This is what the <i>Lord</i>, your King says. ‘You eat meat with the blood still in it. You <i>worship</i> your <i>idols</i> and you kill people. The country is too good for you. 


text:
You fight to get the things that you want. You do bad things. You have sex with each other’s wives. I cannot give the country to you.’ ”


text:
Say this to them. “This is what the <i>Lord</i>, your King says: ‘I will make a promise. Enemies will kill the people in the destroyed city with <i>swords</i>. Wild animals will kill and eat people in the country. Some of these people will hide in strong buildings. Or they might hide in holes in the sides of mountains. They will become ill and die. 


text:
I will make the country empty, like a <i>desert</i>. Israel will no longer be strong or powerful. I will make its mountains wild and empty. No people will walk across them. 


text:
Then they will know that I am the <i>Lord</i>. I have made the country a <i>desert</i> because they have done such <i>evil</i> things.’ ”


text:
Son of man, your people are talking about you in the streets. They are saying, “Come and hear the message that has come from the <i>Lord</i>.” 


text:
My people will come and sit in front of you. They often do that. They will listen to your words. But they will not obey them. They say that they love me. But they really want to become rich people. They take things from other people. They are not fair. 


text:
They do not believe your words. You are like a man who sings beautiful love songs. They listen to your words but they do not obey them.


text:
‘Son of man’, he said. ‘You must <i>prophesy</i> against the <i>shepherds</i> of Israel. Say to them, “This is what the <i>Lord</i>, your King says, ‘I am angry with the <i>shepherds</i> of Israel. They only think about themselves. But <i>shepherds</i> should keep the sheep safe and well. 


text:
You eat their milk and you make warm clothes from their <i>wool</i>. You kill the best animals to eat. But you have not kept my sheep well and safe. 


text:
You have not helped the weak sheep to grow strong. You have not made the sick ones well. Nor have you tied up those who were hurting. You have not found the lost sheep and brought them back. You have not ruled them in a kind way. You have been cruel to them. 


text:
So my sheep went away to many places because they did not have a <i>shepherd</i>. Then the wild animals ate them. 


text:
My sheep went over the mountains and the high hills. They were all over the land. Nobody went to find them.’ ” ’


text:
‘My sheep do not have any <i>shepherds</i>. You <i>shepherds</i> have not kept my sheep safe and wild animals have eaten the sheep. You did not look for those that were lost. You only wanted good things for yourselves. 


text:
The <i>Lord</i>, your King says this, “You can be sure that I am against the <i>shepherds</i>. They should have kept my sheep safe. Because they did not do this they will no longer be <i>shepherds</i>. They will no longer keep my sheep. Then they will not have any food to eat. I will take away my sheep so that no <i>shepherds</i> can eat them.” ’


text:
So this is what the <i>Lord</i>, your King says, ‘I myself will look for my sheep and I will keep them safe. 


text:
I will be like a <i>shepherd</i> who looks everywhere to find his lost sheep. I will be with them and I will keep them safe. I will bring them back from places that are far away. They went away on a dark day when I let bad things happen. 


text:
I will bring them back from other countries to their own land. They will eat grass on the mountains of Israel. They will eat it in its valleys and villages. 


text:
I will keep them on good land. And they will eat grass on Israel’s high places. They will lie down in the good land. They will eat good food on Israel’s mountains. 


text:
I will keep them safe myself. I will make them lie down and rest’, says the <i>Lord</i>, your King. 


text:
‘I will find the lost sheep and I will bring them back. I will tie up the ones that are hurting. I will help the weak ones to become strong. But I will kill the fat sheep in a way that is fair.


text:
This is what the <i>Lord</i>, your King says to his sheep, “I will decide how to <i>judge</i> between my sheep. I will decide how to <i>judge</i> between male sheep and goats. 


text:
You have much good food, so you must not destroy other grass. You have clean water to drink. So you must not make dirty that which remains. 


text:
I do not want my sheep to eat grass that you have made too dirty to eat. I do not want them to drink water that you have made dirty with your feet.” ’


text:
So this is what the <i>Lord</i>, your King says to them, ‘I myself will <i>judge</i> between the fat sheep and the thin sheep. 


text:
You attack them with the sharp points (horns) on your heads. Then you push them away with your shoulders. Because you do this, 


text:
I will save my sheep. No longer will anyone take them away. I will <i>judge</i> between one sheep and another sheep. 


text:
I will make my servant David one <i>shepherd</i> over them all. He will keep them safe. He will be their <i>shepherd</i>. 


text:
I, the <i>Lord</i> will be their God and David will rule them. He will be their king. I the <i>Lord</i> have spoken.


text:
I will make a promise to them. I will give them <i>peace</i>. I will take away the wild animals. Then they can live in the <i>desert</i>. Then they can sleep in the forests. They will be safe there. 


text:
I will <i>bless</i> them (give them many good things). I will <i>bless</i> all the places round my hill. I will send them rain at the right seasons. The rain will be a picture of how kind I will be to them. 


text:
The trees will give them their fruit. Seeds that they plant in the ground will give plenty of food to eat. The people will be safe in their country. I will make them free from the men who made them their servants. They will no longer be slaves. Then they will know that I am the <i>Lord</i>. 


text:
Other <i>nations</i> will no longer take their things. And no longer will wild animals eat them. They will be safe and nobody will make them afraid. 


text:
I will give them a country that gives much good food. So then they will always have enough to eat. They will never be hungry. Other <i>nations</i> will not say bad things about them any longer. 


text:
Then they will know that I, the <i>Lord</i> their God, am with them. They will know that they are my people’, says the <i>Lord</i>, the King. 


text:
‘And you are like my sheep, the sheep of my grass-lands. You are men and I am your God’, says God, the Lord.


text:
Say, “This is what the <i>Lord</i>, your King says: ‘I am against you, <i>Mount</i> Seir. I will attack you and I will make you a <i>desert</i>. 


text:
I will destroy your towns and nobody will live there. Then you will know that I am the <i>Lord</i>. <n><i>Mount</i> Seir is another name for Edom. The people in Edom were the children of Esau. He was Jacob’s brother. They were their cousins but they were enemies of Israel. 


text:
You continued to <i>hate</i> Israel's people for many years. Before, I <i>punished</i> them and they had no friends. But you let people attack them with <i>swords</i>. 


text:
So I make this promise to you. I will surely do this. Your blood will fall to the ground. You will run away from your enemies but you will still die. You were not afraid to kill people, so I will not be afraid to kill you. 


text:
Dead bodies will cover your mountains. Men that enemies’ <i>swords</i> have killed will lie on your hills. And their bodies will lie in your valleys. 


text:
I will make you into a <i>desert</i> for all time. Nobody will live in your towns. Then you will know that I am the <i>Lord</i>.


text:
You say, “We will take these two <i>nations</i> (Israel and Judah) and then they will become ours. We will take them, even if the <i>Lord</i> is there.” 


text:
So I will surely <i>punish</i> you’, says the <i>Lord</i>, the King. ‘You hurt them because you were angry. You hated them. I will hurt you in the same way that you hurt them. My people will know me when I <i>judge</i> you. 


text:
Then you will know this. I, the <i>Lord</i> have heard all the bad things that you have said. You spoke about the mountains of Israel “Men have made them into a <i>desert</i>. We can take them for ourselves.” 


text:
You said bad things about me. You said that I had only a little power. And you said that I could not help my people. And I heard you say it.’ 


text:
So this is what the <i>Lord</i>, the King says: ‘I will make you a <i>desert</i>. All the <i>nations</i> will see this and they will be very happy. 


text:
You were happy when you saw me <i>punish</i> Israel. You were happy when Israel became a <i>desert</i>. Because you were happy, I will make your country a <i>desert</i>. <i>Mount</i> Seir and all the country of Edom will become an empty <i>desert</i>. Then they will know that I am the <i>Lord</i>.’ ” ’


text:
‘Son of man, <i>prophesy</i> to the mountains of Israel. Say to them, “Listen to the word of the <i>Lord</i>, you mountains of Israel. 


text:
So <i>prophesy</i> to them. Say, “This is what the <i>Lord</i>, the King says: ‘Enemies attacked you from every side. Many <i>nations</i> took parts of you to keep for themselves. People said many bad things about you.’ ” ’ 


text:
I am speaking to you, mountains of Israel, because they did this. This is what I say to the mountains and hills and to the valleys. This is what I say to the empty, broken towns. Enemies took away all their good things and they laughed at their people. 


text:
‘I am very angry’, says the <i>Lord</i>, the King. ‘I have <i>judged</i> against Edom and the other <i>nations</i>. This is because they took my land. They wanted it for their cows and sheep. And they hated my people. They hurt them. They were happy to hurt them.’ 


text:
So <i>prophesy</i> about the country of Israel to the mountains, hills and valleys. Say, ‘This is what the <i>Lord</i>, the King says, “I am angry because other <i>nations</i> have laughed at you. They thought that you had no value.” 


text:
So this is what I say: “I promise that people will laugh at the <i>nations</i> round you. That is my true word.


text:
But you mountains of Israel will give much food for Israel’s people. I promise that my people will soon come home. 


text:
I love you and I want to give you good things. Men will dig your ground and they will plant seeds in it. 


text:
The number of people who live there will grow. They will live in the towns and they will repair the broken buildings. 


text:
I will make more men and animals live on you, and they will have many children. People will live on you as they did many years ago. I will give them many good things. They had food before I sent them away. But they will have more. Then you will know that I am the <i>Lord</i>. 


text:
I will cause my people, Israel's people, to walk upon you. You will be their land, and you will belong to them and to their children. You will never again lose them.”


text:
This is what the <i>Lord</i>, your King says. “People say that you destroy men. They say that you kill the <i>nation</i>’s children. So I am making a promise to you. 


text:
People from other <i>nations</i> will no longer laugh at you. You will no longer feel sad or cause your <i>nation</i> to fall’, says the <i>Lord</i>, your King.” ’


text:
‘Son of man, Israel’s people made their own country not <i>clean</i> when they lived there. They did many wrong things. I saw that they were an <i>evil</i> people. 


text:
So I became angry and I <i>punished</i> them. I <i>punished</i> them because they had killed people there. And they had made the country not <i>clean</i> with <i>idols</i>. 


text:
I sent them to many different <i>nations</i>. They went to many countries. I <i>judged</i> them because of the bad things that they had done. 


text:
But they still did the things that took away my <i>honour</i>. Men said bad things about my name. “These are the <i>Lord</i>’s people, but they had to leave their country”, they said. 


text:
I wanted them to give <i>honour</i> to my <i>holy</i> name. But Israel’s people who lived in other <i>nations</i> had given me no <i>honour</i>. 


text:
So you must speak to Israel's people. Say, “This is what the <i>Lord</i>, the King says, ‘I will not do this for you, Israel's people. But I will do it so that men will give <i>honour</i> to my <i>holy</i> name. You took away my <i>honour</i> from the <i>nations</i> where you live. 


text:
I will show them that my name is great and <i>holy</i>. You made them think that it was not <i>clean</i>. Then the <i>nations</i> will know that I am the<i>Lord</i>’, says the <i>Lord</i>, your King. ‘I will do this for you. Then they will see that I am <i>holy</i>.


text:
So I will take you out from the <i>nations</i>. I will bring you back to your own country. You will return from all the places where I sent you. 


text:
You will become <i>pure</i>. You will be like a man whom I have washed with clean water. You will no longer be not <i>clean</i>, but you will be <i>clean</i>. You will turn away from your <i>idols</i>. 


text:
I will make you new inside. I will give you a new <i>spirit</i>. You will no longer turn away from me. I will make you want to do the things that give me pleasure. 


text:
And I will put my <i>Spirit</i> in you, and you will want to obey my rules. You will want to obey me. 


text:
You will live in the country that I gave to your fathers. You will be my people and I will be your God. 


text:
I save you from the bad things that made you not <i>clean</i>. I will make seeds grow to give plenty of food. You will always have enough to eat. 


text:
I will make the trees give much fruit. And plants will grow well in the fields. Then you will not feel ashamed because you have no food. Other <i>nations</i> will no longer think that you have no value. 


text:
Then you will remember the <i>evil</i> things that you did. And you will be sorry and ashamed that you did those wrong things. 


text:
I want you to know that I am not doing this for your <i>honour</i>, says the <i>Lord</i>, your King. ‘You must feel very sorry and ashamed because of the bad things that you did, Israel's people!’


text:
This is what the <i>Lord</i>, the King says: ‘I will make you <i>clean</i> from the <i>evil</i> things that you did. On that same day, I will send you back to your towns. You will build them up again. 


text:
You will again make food grow on the empty land. No longer will people who pass it think that it is a <i>desert</i>. 


text:
They will say, “This land was like a <i>desert</i>, but now it is like the Garden of Eden (Genesis 2: 8-9). People now live in the cities that were broken and empty. But now they have built them with strong walls.” 


text:
Then the <i>nations</i> who still live round you will see this. They will know that I have built up the broken cities. They will know that I have planted them again. I will plant what enemies destroyed. I, the <i>Lord</i>, have spoken and I will do it.’ <n>


text:
This is what the <i>Lord</i>, the King says: ‘Israel’s people ask for my help. I will listen to them again. Men bring many sheep to Jerusalem to offer to the <i>Lord</i>. They bring them on a <i>feast</i> day. I will make them as many as those sheep. So I will fill the broken cities with people. Then they will know that I am the <i>Lord</i>.’ ” ’ <n>People may have wrong thoughts. Then they do and say bad things. So Ezekiel says that they are not <i>pure</i>. When the <i>Lord</i> makes people <i>pure</i>, he makes them clean inside. He sends his <i>Spirit</i> to help them to think good thoughts. And his <i>Spirit</i> helps them to do things that give God pleasure. 


text:
The <i>Lord</i> showed me a picture in my mind. His Spirit took me and put me in the middle of a dry valley. It was full of bones. 


text:
He made me walk up and down among them. There, on the ground in the valley, I saw many very dry bones. 


text:
‘Son of man’, he asked me. ‘Can these dry bones become alive?’ ‘<i>Lord</i> my King’, I said. ‘Only you know the answer.’


text:
‘<i>Prophesy</i> to these bones’, he said. ‘Say to them, “Dry bones, listen to the <i>Lord</i>’s word.” 


text:
I will make your bones join together and I will put meat on your bones. I will cover you with skin. I will blow air into your bodies. You will become alive. Then you will know that I am the <i>Lord</i>.” ’


text:
So I <i>prophesied</i> as he had said. While I did this, I heard noises. The bones hit each other when they came together. 


text:
Then I looked. And I saw meat and skin cover the bones. But the bodies were not alive. They did not move or take in air.


text:
Then the <i>Lord</i> spoke to me. ‘<i>Prophesy</i> to the air’, he said. ‘Say that the four (4) winds must come. And they must blow air into these dead bodies. Then they can become alive.’ 


text:
So I <i>prophesied</i> and air blew into them. They became alive and they stood on their feet. They were a great army. 


text:
Then the <i>Lord</i> said, ‘Son of man, these bones are all Israel's people. They say, “Our bones are dry and we cannot hope for anything. We are lost.” 


text:
So <i>prophesy</i> and say to them, “This is what the <i>Lord</i>, the King says: ‘My people, I am going to open the places where men bury your bodies. I will take you out of them and I will bring you back to the country called Israel. 


text:
I will open the places where they buried you. I will bring you out. Then you, my people, will know that I am the <i>Lord</i>. 


text:
I will put my <i>Spirit</i> in you and you will become alive. And you will stay in your own country. Then you will know that I, the <i>Lord</i> have spoken. You will know that I have done this’, says the <i>Lord</i>.” ’ <n>Israel’s people believe that they cannot hope for anything. God gives Ezekiel a picture of dry human bones. The bones are like Israel’s life as slaves in foreign countries. They had been there for more than ten (10) years. So the bones are very dry! But the <i>Lord</i> is showing them that he will bring them back to their own country. He wants them to hope that he will save them. He wants them to believe the things that he tells them. <n>The <i>Hebrew</i> word for the air is the same word as for his <i>Spirit</i>. So when the <i>Lord</i> puts air into a man he is also putting his <i>Spirit</i> into that man. 


text:
‘Son of man’, he said. ‘Take a <i>wooden</i> stick and write on it. Write, “This stick belongs to Judah and all the people with him.” Then take another stick and write on it, “Ephraim’s stick belongs to Joseph and all Israel’s people that are with him.” 


text:
Your people, Israel’s people, will ask you why you did this. They will ask, “Please tell us what this means.” 


text:
Say to them, “This is what the <i>Lord</i>, the King says: ‘Joseph’s stick is the land of Ephraim and all the <i>Israelite tribes</i> who are with him. I will cause it to join Judah’s stick and I will make them one stick in my hand.’ ” 


text:
Say to them “This is what the <i>Lord</i>, the King says: ‘I will take Israel’s people out from the <i>nations</i> where they have gone. I will fetch them back from all the places round them. I will bring them into their own country. 


text:
I will make them become one <i>nation</i>. They will be in the country. They will live on Israel’s mountains. They will have one king over them all. They will never become two <i>nations</i> or two <i>kingdoms</i> again. 


text:
They will no longer <i>worship idols</i> and make themselves not <i>clean</i>. They will no longer do those things that make me angry. I will save them from all the wrong things that they did. I will make them <i>clean</i>. They will be my people and I will be their God.


text:
My servant David will be their king and he will be their <i>shepherd</i>. They will all have one ruler. And they will obey all my rules. 


text:
They will live in the country that I gave to my servant Jacob and his sons. It is the country where your fathers lived. My people and their children and grandchildren will live there. They will live there until the end of time. And David my servant will always be their king. 


text:
I will make a promise with them to give them <i>peace</i>. It is a promise that will never change. They will remain there and I will keep them safe. Their numbers will grow greater. 


text:
I will put my <i>temple</i> there and it will always remain there. I will live among them. I will be their God and they will be my people. 


text:
I have put my <i>temple</i> among them. It will remain until the end of time. Then the <i>nations</i> will know that I, the <i>Lord</i> make Israel <i>holy</i>.’ ” ’


text:
‘Gog rules the country of Magog. Son of man, turn your face against him’, he said. ‘Gog is the most important <i>prince</i> of Meshech and Tubal. <i>Prophesy</i> against him 


text:
and say, “This is what the <i>Lord</i>, the King says. ‘I am against you, Gog, important <i>prince</i> of Meshech and Tubal. 


text:
And I will turn you round. I will catch your mouth with a sharp piece of metal like a fish. I will catch you and your great army with its men on horses. I will take you and all your soldiers. They have small <i>shields</i>. They hold their <i>swords</i> high. 


text:
Gomer will be there with its armies. And Beth Togarmah and its armies from the north will be with them. I will catch all these many <i>nations</i> with you.


text:
After many days you will fight. In a future year, you will attack a country. That country's people will not have fought for a long time. The people there came back to Israel’s mountains from many <i>nations</i>. I had brought them out from the <i>nations</i> and they were safe there. 


text:
You, your armies and all the <i>nations</i> with you will go to attack them. You will be like a storm cloud that is moving over the country.’


text:
This is what the <i>Lord</i>, the King says, ‘On that day you will have bad thoughts. You will decide to do an <i>evil</i> thing. 


text:
You will say: “We will attack a country whose villages have no walls. The people have <i>peace</i>. So they do not think that anyone will attack them. They have no walls or gates to keep them safe. 


text:
I will turn against the people who have returned to build up their broken cities. I will take their good things and their many animals. Now they are in the middle of the land.” 


text:
The men in Sheba and Dedan will ask you questions. So will those from Tarshish and its villages. Their people buy and sell things. They will say, “Have you come to take away their good things? Have you and your armies come to carry away their <i>silver</i> and gold? Will you take their animals and other things?” ’ ”


text:
So, son of man, you must <i>prophesy</i> to Gog. Say, “This is what the <i>Lord</i>, the King says: ‘Now you see my people Israel. They are living in <i>peace</i>. 


text:
So you will come from your country far in the north. You will come with your great armies. All the soldiers will ride on horses. They will be very many men. 


text:
Your armies will be like a cloud that covers the land. I will make you, Gog, attack my country on a future day. I will use you to show the <i>nations</i> that I am <i>holy</i>. Then they will know me.’


text:
This is what the <i>Lord</i>, the King says: ‘I spoke to you in days long ago. I spoke by my servants, the <i>prophets</i> of Israel. For many years they have said that I would bring you against my people. 


text:
When that day comes, I will become very angry. Gog will attack Israel’, says the <i>Lord</i>, the King. 


text:
The fish in the sea, and the birds in the air will be very afraid. And all the animals on the land will be afraid. Everything that moves and all the people on the earth will be afraid. They will all <i>shake</i> when they see that I am so angry. I will make the mountains fall and break into pieces. All the walls will fall down. 


text:
I will call the men on the mountains to show their <i>swords</i>’, the <i>Lord</i>, the King says. ‘Every man of yours will fight his brothers. 


text:
I will <i>judge</i> Gog. I will make his men ill and they will die. I will send rain and fire and stones from the sky on him and his armies. 


text:
I will show the <i>nations</i> how great and <i>holy</i> I am. Then they will all know that I am the <i>Lord</i>.’ ” ’


text:
‘Son of man, you must <i>prophesy</i> against the <i>nations</i>. Say to them, “This is what the <i>Lord</i>, the King says: ‘I am against you, Gog, <i>prince</i> of Meshech and Tubal. 


text:
I will turn you round and I will pull you along. I will bring you from the far north to attack the mountains of Israel. 


text:
You will fall on Israel’s mountains. You and your soldiers and the <i>nations</i> with you will all fall there. Birds of many kinds and wild animals will feed on your dead bodies. 


text:
‘I will send fire to burn Magog and the people who live in safe towns by the sea. Then they will know that I am the <i>Lord</i>.


text:
My people, Israel will know that my name is <i>holy</i>. No longer will I let them say bad things about me. And the <i>nations</i> round you will know that I, the <i>Lord</i> am <i>holy</i>. 


text:
I promise that I will cause this to happen. You can be sure that this day will come’, says the <i>Lord</i>, the King. ‘I told you that this day would come.


text:
Then those who live in Israel’s towns will go out. They will pick up the arms and they will burn them. They will burn the small and large <i>shields</i>, the heavy sticks, the throwing sticks and the sharp pointed sticks (<i>swords</i>). They will use them to make their fires. They will have enough wood for seven (7) years of fires. 


text:
They will not have to go into the fields or forests to find wood. They will take away the things from those who took their things’, says the <i>Lord</i>, the King.


text:
‘They will bury Gog in the valley east of the sea. They will bury Gog and all his armies there. So men will not be able to walk through this valley. They will call it the valley of Hamon Gog (Gog’s army).


text:
Israel’s people will need seven (7) months to bury all the dead bodies. Then the land will be <i>clean</i>. 


text:
All the people in the country will bury the dead bodies. They will always remember that day, the day that I won the fight. They will give me <i>glory</i>’, says the <i>Lord</i>, the King.


text:
‘They will choose some men to clean the land. They will travel through all the country. Other men will bury the dead bodies that remain on the ground. They will begin to do this at the end of the seven (7) months. 


text:
The men who walk through the country will find dead men’s bones. They will put a sign by each one. Then the men who bury the bodies will bury them in the valley of Hamon Gog. 


text:
Son of man, this is what the <i>Lord</i>, the King says: “Shout to all kinds of birds and wild animals, ‘Come here from all the country to eat the meal that I have prepared for you. It is a great <i>sacrifice</i> on Israel’s mountains. There you will eat meat and you will drink blood. 


text:
You will eat the meat of great men and you will drink the blood of kings. You will eat them like the fat sheep, cows and animals from Bashan that you eat. 


text:
At this <i>sacrifice</i>, you will eat so much fat that you cannot eat any more. You will drink so much blood that you become drunk. 


text:
I will give you horses and their riders to eat. I will give you great men and many kinds of soldiers to eat’, says the <i>Lord</i>, the King.


text:
‘I will show my <i>glory</i> to all the <i>nations</i>. They will see that I can <i>punish</i> people. And they will know that I decide how and when to <i>punish</i> them. 


text:
From that time and for all the time after that, Israel's people will know that I am the <i>Lord</i> their God. 


text:
And the <i>nations</i> will know that I sent Israel’s people away from their country. They will know that I <i>punished</i> my people because of their <i>sin</i>. They had not been <i>faithful</i> to me so I turned away from them. I let their enemies take them and kill them with <i>swords</i>. 


text:
I <i>punished</i> them because they had not kept themselves <i>clean</i> from <i>sin</i>. I hid myself from them because they had done so many <i>evil</i> things.’ ” ’


text:
So this is what the <i>Lord</i>, your King says. ‘Now I will bring back Jacob (Israel) from the countries where his people are <i>prisoners</i>. I will be kind to all Israel's people. And I will make them see that I am <i>holy</i>. 


text:
They will forget that they were ashamed. They will forget that they failed to <i>keep their promises</i> to me. That was when they lived in a safe country. In that country, nobody made them afraid. 


text:
I will bring them back from the lands where their enemies took them. The <i>nations</i> will see what I have done. So all the <i>nations</i> will know that I am <i>holy</i>. 


text:
Then Israel will know that I am the <i>Lord</i> their God. I sent my people away to far countries. But I will bring them all back to their own country. I will not leave any behind. 


text:
No longer will I turn away from them. I will pour my <i>Spirit</i> over Israel's people’, says the <i>Lord</i>, the King.


text:
The <i>Lord</i> touched me on the tenth (10th) day of the year. It was our twenty-fifth (25th) year in a foreign country. He took me to our city (Jerusalem). Enemies had taken the city fourteen (14) years earlier. 


text:
He showed me a picture of the country of Israel. I was standing on a very high mountain. Some buildings that looked like a city were there on its south side. 


text:
The <i>Lord</i> took me there. And I saw a man that looked like <i>bronze</i>. He was standing in the gate. The man had a thin <i>rope</i> and a stick in his hand to measure the ground and walls. 


text:
The man spoke to me. ‘Son of man’, he said, ‘Look and listen carefully to me. Remember everything that I show to you. That is why God has brought you here. Tell Israel's people everything that you see.’ <n>The east gate to the yard</n>


text:
I saw a wall all the way round the place where the <i>temple</i> was. The stick in the man’s hand was three (3) metres long. He measured the wall with this stick. It was three (3) metres wide and three (3) metres high.


text:
Then he went to the gate on the east side. He climbed its steps and he measured the size of the <i>entrance</i>. It was three (3) metres deep. 


text:
Beyond this was a <i>passage</i> with three (3) rooms on each side. They were rooms for the <i>guards</i>. Each of these rooms was three (3) metres long and 3 (three) metres wide. The walls between the rooms were two and a half metres thick. Beyond them was a <i>passage</i> that was three (3) metres long. This went to a room towards the <i>temple</i>. 


text:
This room was four (4) metres wide. It was the nearest part of the gate to the <i>temple</i>. Its walls were one metre wide at the far end. 


text:
The rooms on each side of the <i>passage</i> were all the same size. So were all the walls between them.


text:
Then the man measured across the <i>passage</i> through the gate. It was six and a half (6½) metres wide. The space between the two open gates was five (5) metres. 


text:
A wall half a metre high and half a metre wide was in front of each of the rooms. (The rooms were three (3) metres square.) 


text:
He measured the space between the back wall of one room and the back wall of the room opposite. It was twelve and a half (12½) metres long. 


text:
All the rooms had windows in their outside walls. And they had windows on the walls between the rooms. Men had cut shapes of <i>palm</i> trees inside the <i>passage</i> walls. <n>The yard outside the <i>temple</i></n>


text:
The man took me through the gate into the yard. They had built thirty (30) rooms against the outside wall. Flat stones covered the space in front of them. 


text:
There was a gate to the inside yard. The man measured fifty (50) metres between the two gates. <n>The north gate</n>


text:
He measured the <i>entrance</i> room. Then he measured the three rooms on each side of the <i>passage</i> and the walls between them. They measured the same as those in the east gate. The whole gate was twenty-five (25) metres long and it was twelve and a half (12½) metres wide. 


text:
The <i>entrance</i> room, the windows and the <i>palm</i> trees were the same as those in the east gate. Seven (7) steps went up to the gate. And there was a room at the end by the yard. 


text:
From this gate across the yard was the gate to the inside yard. It was the same as on the east side. The man measured fifty (50) metres between the two gates. <n>The south gate</n>


text:
Next, the man took me to the south side, and we saw another gate there. The man measured its walls and the <i>entrance</i> room and they measured the same as the other walls. 


text:
The rooms in this gate had windows that were the same as those in the other gates. The whole gate was twenty-five (25) metres long and twelve and a half (12½) metres wide. 


text:
Seven (7) steps went up to it. The way in was also at the end by the yard. They had cut the shapes of <i>palm</i> trees on the inside walls of the <i>passage</i>. 


text:
Here too, was a gate into the inside yard. The man measured fifty (50) metres between the two gates. <n>The south gate of the inside yard</n>


text:
The man took me through the south gate into the inside yard. He measured the gate. It was the same size as the gates in the outside wall. 


text:
The <i>guards</i>’ rooms, <i>entrance</i> and inside walls were the same as those of the other gates. And its rooms had windows. It was twenty-five (25) metres long and twelve and a half (12½) metres wide. 


text:
Its <i>entrance</i> room opened towards the outside yard. Men had cut shapes of <i>palm</i> trees. They were along the walls inside the <i>passage</i>. <n>The east gate of the inside yard</n>


text:
The man took me through the east gate into the inside yard. He measured the gate. He found that it was the same size as the other gates. 


text:
The <i>guards</i>’ rooms, <i>entrance</i> and inside walls all measured the same as those in the other gates. They had made windows all round and in the <i>entrance</i> room. The whole gate was twenty-five (25) metres long and twelve and a half (12½) metres wide. 


text:
The <i>entrance</i> room's door opened towards the outside yard. They had cut shapes of <i>palm</i> trees along the walls. They were inside the <i>passage</i>. Eight (8) steps went up to this gate. <n>The north gate of the inside yard</n>


text:
The man took me to the north gate. He measured it. He found that it was the same size as the other gates. 


text:
Like them, it had rooms for the <i>guards</i> and pictures on the inside walls. It had an <i>entrance</i> room with windows all round. It was twenty-five (25) metres long and twelve and a half (12½) metres wide. 


text:
The <i>entrance</i> room's door opened towards the outside yard. Men had cut <i>palm</i> tree shapes on the walls of the <i>passage</i>. Eight (8) steps went up to this gate. <n>Buildings near the north gate</n>


text:
They had put a small building in the outside yard. It was next to the north side of the inside gate. Its door opened from the <i>entrance</i> room by the yard. There the <i>priests</i> washed the dead bodies of animals that they burnt whole as <i>sacrifices</i>. 


text:
In the <i>entrance</i> room they had put four (4) tables, two on each side of the room. They killed the animals for <i>sacrifice</i> on these tables. They burnt some of these animals whole. But they burnt other animals for <i>sin offerings</i>. They killed other animals as <i>sacrifices</i> when people had done wrong things.


text:
They had put four (4) more tables outside the room by the north gate’s <i>entrance</i>. They put two on each side of the north gate. 


text:
I counted eight (8) tables on which they killed animals for <i>sacrifices</i>. Four (4) tables were in the room and four (4) were in the yard. 


text:
Someone had made the tables in the room out of stone. They put the animals on them. There they would kill the animals that they burnt whole. These tables were fifty (50) centimetres high and their tops were seventy-five (75) centimetres square. They kept all the things that they used to kill the animals on these tables. 


text:
They had raised the edges all round each table by seven and a half (7½) centimetres. They put all the meat that they would <i>sacrifice</i> on these tables.


text:
Then the man brought me into the inside yard. Two rooms had doors to the inside yard. One was by the north gate and its door opened towards the south. The other room was by the south gate and its door opened towards the north. 


text:
The other room's door opened to the north. The <i>priests</i> who worked for God at the <i>altar</i> used that room. All the <i>priests</i> belong to Zadok’s family. They are the only people that the <i>Lord</i> lets near to work for him in his <i>temple</i>. All Zadok’s family come from Levi’s <i>tribe</i>. <n>The inside yard and the <i>temple</i> building</n>


text:
The man measured the inside yard. It was square, fifty (50) metres long and fifty (50) metres wide. The <i>temple</i> was on the west side of the yard. An <i>altar</i> was there in front of the <i>temple</i>. 


text:
Then he took me into the <i>entrance</i> room of the <i>temple</i>. He measured the <i>entrance</i>. It was two and a half metres long and seven (7) metres wide. The walls were one and a half metres thick on each side. 


text:
Steps went up to the <i>entrance</i> room. This room was ten (10) metres wide and six (6) metres long. Two <i>pillars</i> were there, one on each side of the <i>entrance</i>.


text:
Then the man took me into the room in the centre, the <i>Holy</i> Place. He measured the <i>entrance</i> to it. It was three (3) metres deep 


text:
and five (5) metres wide. The walls on either side were two and a half (2½) metres thick. The room itself measured twenty (20) metres long and ten (10) metres wide.


text:
Then he measured the <i>passage</i> that went to the inside room. He went in. It was one metre long and three (3) metres wide. The walls on either side were three and a half (3½) metres thick. 


text:
The room measured ten (10) metres square. It was behind the <i>Holy</i> Place. ‘This is the Most <i>Holy</i> Place’, he said to me.


text:
Then the man measured the wall of the <i>temple</i>. It was three (3) metres thick. They had built rooms two metres wide all round the <i>temple</i>. They were against the wall. 


text:
Three (3) rooms were on top of each other. They were all round the <i>temple</i>. I counted thirty (30) rooms at the top, thirty (30) rooms below them and thirty (30) rooms below them. The wall of the <i>temple</i> in each group of 30 rooms was thinner than the wall below. So the floor of the room at the top could rest on the wall’s edge. They did not have to fix it to the <i>temple</i> wall. 


text:
The walls at the top of the <i>temple</i> were thinner than the walls below them. So the rooms at the top were wider than the rooms below them. <n>Against the <i>temple</i> walls, they had built two wide sets of stairs. People could walk up these stairs to the rooms above. 


text:
The outside wall of these rooms was two and a half (2½) metres thick. One door opened into the north side rooms of the <i>temple</i>. And one door opened into the south side of the <i>temple</i>. I saw a path two and a half (2½) metres wide all round the <i>temple</i>. It was three (3) metres above the yard. It was as high as the lowest rooms against the <i>temple</i> wall. The yard was between this path and the buildings for the <i>priests</i>. It was ten (10) metres wide and it went along the sides of the <i>temple</i>. 


text:
A building was at the west side of the <i>temple</i>. It was at the far end of the yard. It measured forty-five (45) metres long and thirty-five (35) metres wide. Its walls were two and a half (2½) metres thick.


text:
Then the man measured the outside of the <i>temple</i>. It was fifty (50) metres long. He measured from the back of the <i>temple</i> to the building’s west side. It measured fifty (50) metres. 


text:
He measured the space across the front of the <i>temple</i>. Then he measured the yard on each side. Each of these measured fifty (50) metres. 


text:
They had covered the inside walls of the <i>entrance</i> room of the <i>temple</i>, the <i>Holy</i> Place and the Most <i>Holy</i> Place with wood. The wood covered the walls from the floor to the windows. They could also cover the windows. 


text:
Men had cut shapes above the doors and all over the walls. They were shapes of <i>palm</i> trees and animals with <i>wings</i>. They covered all the inside walls of the <i>temple</i>. First they cut a <i>palm</i> tree then an animal, then another <i>palm</i> tree, and so on, all round the room. Each animal had two faces. 


text:
On one side, a human face looked at the <i>palm</i> tree. A <i>lion</i>’s face looked at the tree on the other side. The walls were like this all round the room. 


text:
The <i>bases</i> of the <i>pillars</i> that were holding the doors were square. And the front of the <i>Holy</i> Place seemed the same. <n>The <i>altar</i></n>


text:
There was an <i>altar</i> in front of the <i>Holy</i> Place’s <i>entrance</i>. They had made it out of wood. It was one and a half metres high and one metre wide. Its corners, sides and part below the top were all <i>wooden</i>. ‘This is the table that is in front of the <i>Lord</i>’, the man said to me. <n>The doors</n>


text:
A door opened into the <i>passage</i> to the <i>Holy</i> Place. Another door went to the Most <i>Holy</i> Place. 


text:
Men had made pictures on the doors. They were pictures of <i>palm</i> trees and animals with <i>wings</i>. They were like the shapes that they had cut on the walls. Men had put a cover over the door to the <i>entrance</i> room. 


text:
This room had thin windows in its sides. Men had cut shapes of <i>palm</i> trees on its walls. They had also made covers over the side rooms.


text:
Then the man took me into the outside yard. We went to a building near the <i>temple</i>. It was on the north side of the<i>temple</i>. It was not far from the other building (that was on the west side of the <i>temple</i>). 


text:
This building was fifty (50) metres long and twenty-five (25) metres wide. There was a ten (10) metre space between it and the <i>temple</i>. The building’s other side was by the yard that they had covered with flat stones. 


text:
It had three (3) sets of rooms. They were on top of each other. Each was a little way behind the one below it. 


text:
A path went along inside its north side. It was fifty (50) metres long and five (5) metres wide. The <i>entrances</i> to the building were on the same side. 


text:
The rooms at the top were not as wide as the rooms below them. And they were not as wide as the rooms below them. 


