The Lord protects those residing outside their native land; he lifts up the fatherless and the widow, ¹  but he opposes the wicked. ² 

On its ruins all the birds of the sky will live, and all the wild animals ¹  will walk ²  on its branches.

I made Jerusalem ¹  and the cities of Judah, its kings and its officials drink it. ²  I did it so Judah would become a ruin. I did it so Judah, its kings, and its officials would become an object ³  of horror and of hissing scorn, an example used in curses. ⁴  Such is already becoming the case! ⁵ 

Enemies seek to destroy my life, ¹  but they will descend into the depths of the earth. ² 

The way of the Lord ¹  is like ²  a stronghold for the upright, ³  but it is destruction ⁴  to evildoers. ⁵ 

Discipline your child, for ¹  there is hope, but do not set your heart ²  on causing his death. ³ 

Just as there is futility in many dreams, so also in many words. ¹  Therefore, fear God!

Do not listen to them. Be subject to the king of Babylon. Then you ¹  will continue to live. Why should this city be made a pile of rubble?’” ² 

I will strike you brutally ¹  and destroy you because of your sin.

Your schemes will bring shame to your house. Because you destroyed many nations, you will self-destruct. ¹ 

But the person who hears and does not put my words into practice ¹  is like a man who built a house on the ground without a foundation. When ²  the river burst against that house, ³  it collapsed immediately, and was utterly destroyed!” ⁴ 

You must gather all of its plunder into the middle of the plaza ¹  and burn the city and all its plunder as a whole burnt offering to the Lord your God. It will be an abandoned ruin ²  forever – it must never be rebuilt again.

מ (Mem) With what can I equate ¹  you? To what can I compare you, O Daughter Jerusalem? To what can I liken you ²  so that ³  I might comfort you, O Virgin Daughter Zion? Your wound is as deep ⁴  as the sea. ⁵  Who can heal you? ⁶ 

Your wealth, products, and merchandise, your sailors and captains, your ship’s carpenters, ¹  your merchants, and all your fighting men within you, along with all your crew who are in you, will fall into the heart of the seas on the day of your downfall.

I will not punish your daughters when they commit prostitution, nor your daughters-in-law when they commit adultery. For the men consort with harlots, they sacrifice with temple prostitutes. It is true: ¹  “A people that lacks understanding will come to ruin!”

You should not ¹  have gloated ²  when your relatives ³  suffered calamity. ⁴  You should not have rejoiced over the people of Judah when they were destroyed. ⁵  You should not have boasted ⁶  when they suffered adversity. ⁷ 

For if your brother or sister ¹  is distressed because of what you eat, ²  you are no longer walking in love. ³  Do not destroy by your food someone for whom Christ died.

Many foreign rulers ¹  will ruin the land where I planted my people. ²  They will trample all over my chosen land. ³  They will turn my beautiful land into a desolate wasteland.

This whole area ¹  will become a desolate wasteland. These nations will be subject to the king of Babylon for seventy years.’ ² 

Pack your bags for exile, you inhabitants of poor dear Egypt. ¹  For Memphis will be laid waste. It will lie in ruins ²  and be uninhabited.