Look, they are like straw, which the fire burns up; they cannot rescue themselves from the heat ¹  of the flames. There are no coals to warm them, no firelight to enjoy. ² 

Pay attention to me, my people! Listen to me, my people! For ¹  I will issue a decree, ²  I will make my justice a light to the nations. ³ 

Listen! News is coming even now. ¹  The rumble of a great army is heard approaching ²  from a land in the north. ³  It is coming to turn the towns of Judah into rubble, places where only jackals live.

This is in spite of the fact that ¹  the people of Judah have as many gods as they have towns ²  and the citizens of Jerusalem have set up as many altars to sacrifice to that disgusting god, Baal, as they have streets in the city!’ ³ 

You have been the object of Israel’s hopes. You have saved them when they were in trouble. Why have you become like a resident foreigner ¹  in the land? Why have you become like a traveler who only stops in to spend the night?

Here is what the Lord says concerning the false prophets: ²  My heart and my mind are deeply disturbed. I tremble all over. ³  I am like a drunk person, like a person who has had too much wine, ⁴  because of the way the Lord and his holy word are being mistreated. ⁵ 

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 

Marry and have sons and daughters. Find wives for your sons and allow your daughters get married so that they too can have sons and daughters. Grow in number; do not dwindle away.

So my anger and my wrath were poured out and burned like a fire through the towns of Judah and the streets of Jerusalem. That is why they have become the desolate ruins that they are today.’

Do not lose your courage or become afraid because of the reports that are heard in the land. For a report will come in one year. Another report will follow it in the next. There will be violence in the land with ruler fighting against ruler.”

Then say, ‘In the same way Babylon will sink and never rise again because of the judgments ¹  I am ready to bring upon her; they will grow faint.’” The prophecies of Jeremiah end here. ² 

As for your sisters, Sodom and her daughters will be restored to their former status, Samaria and her daughters will be restored to their former status, and you and your daughters will be restored to your former status.

I will turn the land into a desolate ruin; her confident pride will come to an end. The mountains of Israel will be so desolate no one will pass through them.

I will lead people, my people Israel, across you; they will possess you and you will become their inheritance. No longer will you bereave them of their children.

Then he said to me, “Son of man, these bones are all the house of Israel. Look, they are saying, ‘Our bones are dry, our hope has perished; we are cut off.’

His power will be great, but it will not be by his strength alone. He will cause terrible destruction. ¹  He will be successful in what he undertakes. ²  He will destroy powerful people and the people of the holy ones. ³ 

(14:1) ¹  Samaria will be held guilty, ²  because she rebelled against her God. They will fall by the sword, their infants will be dashed to the ground – their ³  pregnant women will be ripped open.

Do not seek Bethel! ¹  Do not visit Gilgal! Do not journey down ²  to Beer Sheba! For the people of Gilgal ³  will certainly be carried into exile; ⁴  and Bethel will become a place where disaster abounds.” ⁵ 

I am depressed! ¹  Indeed, ²  it is as if the summer fruit has been gathered, and the grapes have been harvested. ³  There is no grape cluster to eat, no fresh figs that I crave so much. ⁴ 

The Lord who rules over all will guard them, and they will prevail and overcome with sling stones. Then they will drink, and will become noisy like drunkards, ¹  full like the sacrificial basin or like the corners of the altar. ²