1Then the LORD said to me, "Even if Moses and Samuel stood before me, my heart would not turn toward this people. Send them away from my sight, and let them go."
2"And if they say to you, 'Where shall we go?' then you shall tell them, This is what the LORD says: Those marked for death, to death; those marked for the sword, to the sword; those marked for famine, to famine; and those marked for captivity, to captivity."
3"And I will appoint four kinds of destroyers over them, says the LORD: the sword to kill, and the dogs to drag away, and the birds of the sky and the beasts of the earth to eat and to destroy."
4"And I will make them a horror to all the kingdoms of the earth, because of Manasseh the son of Hezekiah king of Judah, for what he did in Jerusalem."
5"For who will pity you, Jerusalem? Who will mourn for you? Who will turn aside to ask how you are?"
6"You have forsaken me, says the LORD. You have gone backward. So I will stretch out my hand against you and destroy you. I am weary of holding back."
7"I will winnow them with a fan at the gates of the land. I will take away their children. I will destroy my people, since they will not turn from their ways."
8"Their widows are more to me than the sand of the seas. At noonday I have brought a destroyer against the mothers of the young men. I have made him fall on them suddenly, and terrors on the city."
9"She who has borne seven grows faint. She has given up her life. Her sun has gone down while it was still day. She has been shamed and disgraced. And the rest of them I will give to the sword before their enemies, says the LORD."
10Grief is mine, my mother, that you gave birth to me, a man of strife and a man of quarrelling to the whole earth. I have not lent money for interest, and no one has lent to me for interest. Yet every one of them curses me.
11The LORD said, "Truly it shall go well with those of you who are left. Truly I will make the enemy plead with you in the time of trouble and in the time of distress."
12"Can iron break iron from the north, or bronze?"
13"Your wealth and your treasures I will give away as plunder, without any price, because of all your sins, throughout all your borders."
14"And I will make you go with your enemies into a land you do not know. For a fire is kindled in my anger, and it will burn against you."
15LORD, you know. Remember me, and come to me, and take revenge for me on those who hunt me down. In your patience, do not take me away. Know that for your sake I have suffered insults.
16Your words were found, and I ate them. Your word was the joy and delight of my heart, for I am called by your name, LORD God of hosts.
17I did not sit with those who mock, nor did I celebrate. I sat alone because your hand was on me, for you had filled me with anger.
18Why is my pain never ending, and my wound beyond cure, refusing to be healed? Will you be to me like a stream that lies, like waters that dry up?
19So this is what the LORD says: "If you return, then I will bring you back, and you shall stand before me. And if you separate what is precious from what is worthless, you shall be as my mouth. Let them turn to you, but do not you turn to them."
20"And I will make you to this people a strong wall of bronze. They will fight against you, but they will not overcome you. For I am with you to save you and to rescue you, says the LORD."
21"And I will rescue you out of the hand of the wicked, and I will redeem you out of the hand of the cruel."