Judgment will come from the Lord who commands armies, ¹  accompanied by thunder, earthquake, and a loud noise, by a strong gale, a windstorm, and a consuming flame of fire.

Raise a signal flag that tells people to go to Zion. ¹  Run for safety! Do not delay! For I am about to bring disaster out of the north. It will bring great destruction. ² 

“That is because, from the least important to the most important of them, all of them are greedy for dishonest gain. Prophets and priests alike, all of them practice deceit.

“This is what the Lord says: ‘Beware! An army ¹  is coming from a land in the north. A mighty nation is stirring into action in faraway parts of the earth.

Listen! News is coming even now. ¹  The rumble of a great army is heard approaching ²  from a land in the north. ³  It is coming to turn the towns of Judah into rubble, places where only jackals live.

I, the Lord, once called ¹  you a thriving olive tree, one that produced beautiful fruit. But I will set you ²  on fire, fire that will blaze with a mighty roar. ³  Then all your branches will be good for nothing. ⁴ 

Rich and poor alike will die in this land. They will not be buried or mourned. People will not cut their bodies or shave off their hair to show their grief for them. ¹ 

“‘People from other nations will pass by this city. They will ask one another, “Why has the Lord done such a thing to this great city?”

For many nations and great kings will make slaves of the king of Babylon and his nation ¹  too. I will repay them for all they have done!’” ² 

The Lord who rules over all ¹  says, ‘Disaster will soon come on one nation after another. ²  A mighty storm of military destruction ³  is rising up from the distant parts of the earth.’

From earliest times, the prophets who preceded you and me invariably ¹  prophesied war, disaster, ²  and plagues against many countries and great kingdoms.

Alas, what a terrible time of trouble it is! ¹  There has never been any like it. It is a time of trouble for the descendants of Jacob, but some of them will be rescued out of it. ² 

Then I will reply, ¹  ‘I will bring them back from the land of the north. I will gather them in from the distant parts of the earth. Blind and lame people will come with them, so will pregnant women and women about to give birth. A vast throng of people will come back here.

You show unfailing love to thousands. ¹  But you also punish children for the sins of their parents. ²  You are the great and powerful God who is known as the Lord who rules over all. ³ 

You plan great things and you do mighty deeds. ¹  You see everything people do. ²  You reward each of them for the way they live and for the things they do. ³ 

You used your mighty power and your great strength to perform miracles and amazing deeds and to bring great terror on the Egyptians. By this means you brought your people Israel out of the land of Egypt. ¹ 

‘I will certainly regather my people from all the countries where I will have exiled ¹  them in my anger, fury, and great wrath. I will bring them back to this place and allow them to live here in safety.

Then all the army officers, including Johanan son of Kareah and Jezaniah son of Hoshaiah ¹  and all the people of every class, ²  went to the prophet Jeremiah.

So Jeremiah summoned Johanan son of Kareah and all the army officers who were with him and all the people of every class. ¹ 

“Take some large stones ¹  and bury them in the mortar of the clay pavement ²  at the entrance of Pharaoh’s residence ³  here in Tahpanhes. Do it while the people of Judah present there are watching. ⁴