The Lover to His Beloved: If you do not know, O most beautiful of women, simply follow the tracks of my flock, and pasture your little lambs beside the tents of the shepherds.

At that time ¹  the brother will shout, ²  ‘I am no doctor, ³  I have no food or coat in my house; don’t make me a leader of the people!’”

Oppressors treat my ¹  people cruelly; creditors rule over them. ²  My people’s leaders mislead them; they give you confusing directions. ³ 

Those who try to hide their plans from the Lord are as good as dead, ¹  who do their work in secret and boast, ²  “Who sees us? Who knows what we’re doing?” ³ 

Predict how future events will turn out, ¹  so we might know you are gods. Yes, do something good or bad, so we might be frightened and in awe. ² 

I announced them to you beforehand; before they happened, I predicted them for you, so you could never say, ‘My image did these things, my idol, my cast image, decreed them.’

They say, ‘Keep to yourself! Don’t get near me, for I am holier than you!’ These people are like smoke in my nostrils, like a fire that keeps burning all day long.

Lord, you have always been fair whenever I have complained to you. ¹  However, I would like to speak with you about the disposition of justice. ²  Why are wicked people successful? ³  Why do all dishonest people have such easy lives?

“I, the Lord, say: ¹  ‘O nation of Israel, can I not deal with you as this potter deals with the clay? ²  In my hands, you, O nation of Israel, are just like the clay in this potter’s hand.’

The Lord said to me, “What do you see, Jeremiah?” I answered, “I see figs. The good ones look very good. But the bad ones look very bad, so bad that they cannot be eaten.”

Then the Lord said to me, ¹  “Tell them that the Lord God of Israel who rules over all ²  says, ³  ‘Drink this cup ⁴  until you get drunk and vomit. Drink until you fall down and can’t get up. ⁵  For I will send wars sweeping through you.’ ⁶ 

‘Oh, Lord God, ¹  you did indeed ²  make heaven and earth by your mighty power and great strength. ³  Nothing is too hard for you!

This will happen because ¹  the people of this city have aroused my anger and my wrath since the time they built it until now. ²  They have made me so angry that I am determined to remove ³  it from my sight.

Foreigners living there will say, ¹  ‘We tried to heal her, but she could not be healed. Let’s leave Babylonia ²  and each go back to his own country. For judgment on her will be vast in its proportions. It will be like it is piled up to heaven, stacked up into the clouds.’ ³ 

ס (Samek) All who passed by on the road clapped their hands to mock you. ¹  They sneered and shook their heads at Daughter Jerusalem. “Ha! Is this the city they called ²  ‘The perfection of beauty, ³  the source of joy of the whole earth!’?” ⁴ 

Look here, I will tie you up with ropes, so you cannot turn from one side to the other until you complete the days of your siege. ¹ 

“‘Therefore this is what the sovereign Lord says: Woe to the city of bloodshed, the pot whose rot ¹  is in it, whose rot has not been removed ²  from it! Empty it piece by piece. No lot has fallen on it. ³ 

Will you still say, “I am a god,” before the one who kills you – though you are a man and not a god – when you are in the power of those who wound you?

They consult their wooden idols, and their diviner’s staff answers with an oracle. The wind of prostitution blows them astray; they commit spiritual adultery ¹  against their God.

How can I give you up, ¹  O Ephraim? How can I surrender you, O Israel? How can I treat you like Admah? How can I make you like Zeboiim? I have had a change of heart! ²  All my tender compassions are aroused! ³