So now, do not mock, or your chains will become heavier! For I have heard a message about decreed destruction, from the sovereign master, the Lord who commands armies, against the entire land. ¹ 

Tell those who panic, ¹  “Be strong! Do not fear! Look, your God comes to avenge! With divine retribution he comes to deliver you.” ² 

Don’t let Hezekiah talk you into trusting in the Lord by saying, “The Lord will certainly rescue us; this city will not be handed over to the king of Assyria.”

Don’t be afraid, despised insignificant Jacob, ¹  men of ²  Israel. I am helping you,” says the Lord, your protector, ³  the Holy One of Israel. ⁴ 

Now, this is what the Lord says, the one who created you, O Jacob, and formed you, O Israel: “Don’t be afraid, for I will protect ¹  you. I call you by name, you are mine.

This is what the Lord, the one who made you, says – the one who formed you in the womb and helps you: “Don’t be afraid, my servant Jacob, Jeshurun, ¹  whom I have chosen!

Leave! Leave! Get out of there! Don’t touch anything unclean! Get out of it! Stay pure, you who carry the Lord’s holy items! ¹ 

“Shout loudly! Don’t be quiet! Yell as loud as a trumpet! Confront my people with their rebellious deeds; ¹  confront Jacob’s family with their sin! ² 

I ¹  post watchmen on your walls, O Jerusalem; they should keep praying all day and all night. ²  You who pray to ³  the Lord, don’t be silent!

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.

The Lord said to me, “Do not say, ‘I am too young.’ But go ¹  to whomever I send you and say whatever I tell you.

“But you, Jeremiah, ¹  get yourself ready! ²  Go and tell these people everything I instruct you to say. Do not be terrified of them, or I will give you good reason to be terrified of them. ³ 

Yes, ¹  the Lord has this to say to the people of Judah and Jerusalem: “Like a farmer breaking up hard unplowed ground, you must break your rebellious will and make a new beginning; just as a farmer must clear away thorns lest the seed is wasted, you must get rid of the sin that is ruining your lives. ² 

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 

Stop putting your confidence in the false belief that says, ¹  “We are safe! ²  The temple of the Lord is here! The temple of the Lord is here! The temple of the Lord is here!” ³ 

Stop oppressing foreigners who live in your land, children who have lost their fathers, and women who have lost their husbands. ¹  Stop killing innocent people ²  in this land. Stop paying allegiance to ³  other gods. That will only bring about your ruin. ⁴ 

Everyone must be on his guard around his friends. He must not even trust any of his relatives. ¹  For every one of them will find some way to cheat him. ²  And all of his friends will tell lies about him.

Why should you be like someone who is helpless, ¹  like a champion ²  who cannot save anyone? You are indeed with us, ³  and we belong to you. ⁴  Do not abandon us!”

I said, ¹  “Lord, you know how I suffer. ²  Take thought of me and care for me. Pay back for me those who have been persecuting me. Do not be so patient with them that you allow them to kill me. Be mindful of how I have put up with their insults for your sake.

The Lord says, ‘Be very careful if you value your lives! ¹  Do not carry any loads ²  in through ³  the gates of Jerusalem on the Sabbath day.