The Lord made a reliable promise to David; ¹  he will not go back on his word. ²  He said, ³  “I will place one of your descendants ⁴  on your throne.

Then they will call to me, but I will not answer; they will diligently seek ¹  me, but they will not find me.

for he is ¹  like someone calculating the cost ²  in his mind. ³  “Eat and drink,” he says to you, but his heart is not with you;

Whoever obeys his ¹  command will not experience harm, and a wise person ²  knows the proper time ³  and procedure.

Banish ¹  emotional stress ²  from your mind. ³  and put away pain ⁴  from your body; ⁵  for youth ⁶  and the prime of life ⁷  are fleeting. ⁸ 

He said, “Go and tell these people: ‘Listen continually, but don’t understand! Look continually, but don’t perceive!’

Wild dogs will yip in her ruined fortresses, jackals will yelp in the once-splendid palaces. ¹  Her time is almost up, ²  her days will not be prolonged. ³ 

In the past he said to them, ¹  “This is where security can be found. Provide security for the one who is exhausted! This is where rest can be found.” ²  But they refused to listen.

When you will look for your opponents, ¹  you will not find them; your enemies ²  will be reduced to absolutely nothing.

Now they come into being, ¹  not in the past; before today you did not hear about them, so you could not say, ‘Yes, ²  I know about them.’

“Indeed, the Lord will call you back like a wife who has been abandoned and suffers from depression, ¹  like a young wife when she has been rejected,” says your God.

You will be reestablished when I vindicate you. ¹  You will not experience oppression; ²  indeed, you will not be afraid. You will not be terrified, ³  for nothing frightening ⁴  will come near you.

They will attack you but they will not be able to overcome you, for I will be with you to rescue you,” says the Lord.

You can try to wash away your guilt with a strong detergent. You can use as much soap as you want. But the stain of your guilt is still there for me to see,” ¹  says the Lord God. ² 

You will not always be angry with me, will you? You will not be mad at me forever, will you?’ ¹  That is what you say, but you continually do all the evil that you can.” ² 

“These people have denied what the Lord says. ¹  They have said, ‘That is not so! ²  No harm will come to us. We will not experience war and famine. ³ 

The Lord said, ¹  “I appointed prophets as watchmen to warn you, ²  saying: ‘Pay attention to the warning sound of the trumpet!’” ³  But they said, “We will not pay attention!”

The Lord says, “Watch out! ¹  The time is soon coming when I will punish all those who are circumcised only in the flesh. ² 

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 

There is no reason why you and your people should die in war ¹  or from starvation or disease! ²  That’s what the Lord says will happen to any nation ³  that will not be subject to the king of Babylon.