some evil people ¹  have departed from among you to entice the inhabitants of their cities, ²  saying, “Let’s go and serve other gods” (whom you have not known before). ³ 

As for the produce of your land and all your labor, a people you do not know will consume it, and you will be nothing but oppressed and crushed for the rest of your lives.

The Lord will scatter you among all nations, from one end of the earth to the other. There you will worship other gods that neither you nor your ancestors have known, gods of wood and stone.

Now don’t let my blood fall to the ground away from the Lord’s presence, for the king of Israel has gone out to look for a flea the way one looks for a partridge ¹  in the hill country.”

When they first moved in, ¹  they did not worship ²  the Lord. So the Lord sent lions among them and the lions were killing them.

Hear, O our God, for we are despised! Return their reproach on their own head! Reduce them to plunder in a land of exile!

He sent letters throughout all the royal provinces, to each province according to its own script and to each people according to its own language, ¹  that every man should be ruling his family ²  and should be speaking the language of his own people. ³ 

Indeed, ¹  it is not an enemy who insults me, or else I could bear it; it is not one who hates me who arrogantly taunts me, ²  or else I could hide from him.

Your land is devastated, your cities burned with fire. Right before your eyes your crops are being destroyed by foreign invaders. ¹  They leave behind devastation and destruction. ² 

Like a frightened gazelle ¹  or a sheep with no shepherd, each will turn toward home, ²  each will run to his homeland.

For you ignore ¹  the God who rescues you; you pay no attention to your strong protector. ²  So this is what happens: You cultivate beautiful plants and plant exotic vines. ³ 

like heat ¹  in a dry land, you humble the boasting foreigners. ²  Just as the shadow of a cloud causes the heat to subside, ³  so he causes the song of tyrants to cease. ⁴ 

You take olive oil as tribute ¹  to your king, ²  along with many perfumes. ³  You send your messengers to a distant place; you go all the way to Sheol. ⁴ 

Their descendants will be known among the nations, their offspring among the peoples. All who see them will recognize that the Lord has blessed them.” ¹ 

Nations will see your vindication, and all kings your splendor. You will be called by a new name that the Lord himself will give you. ¹ 

I will make you serve your enemies ¹  in a land that you know nothing about. For my anger is like a fire that will burn against you.”

So I will throw you out of this land into a land that neither you nor your ancestors have ever known. There you must worship other gods day and night, for I will show you no mercy.’”

You will lose your hold on the land ¹  which I gave to you as a permanent possession. I will make you serve your enemies in a land that you know nothing about. For you have made my anger burn like a fire that will never be put out.” ² 

This man, Jeconiah, will be like a broken pot someone threw away. He will be like a clay vessel ¹  that no one wants. ²  Why will he and his children be forced into exile? Why will they be thrown out into a country they know nothing about? ³ 

When the time for them to be rescued comes,” ¹  says the Lord who rules over all, ²  “I will rescue you from foreign subjugation. ³  I will deliver you from captivity. ⁴  Foreigners will then no longer subjugate them.