You are awe-inspiring, O God, as you emerge from your holy temple! ¹  It is the God of Israel ²  who gives the people power and strength. God deserves praise! ³ 

You will say, ¹  “They have struck me, but I am not harmed! They beat me, but I did not know it! ²  When will I awake? I will look for another drink.” ³ 

The Adjuration Refrain The Beloved to the Maidens: ¹ I admonish you, O maidens of Jerusalem, by the gazelles and by the young does of the open fields: “Do not awake or arouse love until it pleases!”

The people will treat each other harshly; men will oppose each other; neighbors will fight. ¹  Youths will proudly defy the elderly and riffraff will challenge those who were once respected. ² 

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 

Then the lame will leap like a deer, the mute tongue will shout for joy; for water will flow ¹  in the desert, streams in the wilderness. ² 

The dry soil will become a pool of water, the parched ground springs of water. Where jackals once lived and sprawled out, grass, reeds, and papyrus will grow.

those whom the Lord has ransomed will return that way. ¹  They will enter Zion with a happy shout. Unending joy will crown them, ²  happiness and joy will overwhelm ³  them; grief and suffering will disappear. ⁴ 

you say, ‘I have not done anything wrong, so the Lord cannot really be angry with me any more.’ But, watch out! ¹  I will bring down judgment on you because you say, ‘I have not committed any sin.’

Before two years are over, I will bring back to this place everything that King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon took from it and carried away to Babylon.

I will also bring back to this place Jehoiakim’s son King Jeconiah of Judah and all the exiles who were taken to Babylon.’ Indeed, the Lord affirms, ¹  ‘I will break the yoke of servitude to the king of Babylon.’”

So if a prophet prophesied ¹  peace and prosperity, it was only known that the Lord truly sent him when what he prophesied came true.”

So the Lord says, ‘I will most assuredly remove ¹  you from the face of the earth. You will die this very year because you have counseled rebellion against the Lord.’” ² 

“Go to the Rechabite community. ¹  Invite them to come into one of the side rooms ²  of the Lord’s temple and offer them some wine to drink.”

But they answered, “We do not drink wine because our ancestor Jonadab son of Rechab commanded us not to. He told us, ‘You and your children must never drink wine.

We and our wives and our sons and daughters have obeyed everything our ancestor Jonadab commanded us. We have never drunk wine. ¹ 

But when King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon invaded the land we said, ‘Let’s get up and go to Jerusalem ¹  to get away from the Babylonian ²  and Aramean armies.’ That is why we are staying here in Jerusalem.”

The Lord God of Israel who rules over all ¹  told him, “Go and speak to the people of Judah and the citizens of Jerusalem. Tell them, ²  ‘I, the Lord, say: ³  “You must learn a lesson from this ⁴  about obeying what I say! ⁵ 

Then Jeremiah spoke to the Rechabite community, “The Lord God of Israel who rules over all ¹  says, ‘You have obeyed the orders of your ancestor Jonadab. You have followed all his instructions. You have done exactly as he commanded you.’

“Therefore this is what the sovereign Lord says: Because you have forgotten me and completely disregarded me, ¹  you must bear now the punishment ²  for your obscene conduct and prostitution.”