I will give them a single-minded purpose to live in a way that always shows respect for me. They will want to do that for ¹  their own good and the good of the children who descend from them.

Perhaps when the people of Judah hear about all the disaster I intend to bring on them, they will all stop doing the evil things they have been doing. ¹  If they do, I will forgive their sins and the wicked things they have done.” ² 

Perhaps then they will ask the Lord for mercy and will all stop doing the evil things they have been doing. ¹  For the Lord has threatened to bring great anger and wrath against these people.” ² 

When King Zedekiah of Judah and all his soldiers saw them, they tried to escape. They departed from the city during the night. They took a path through the king’s garden and passed out through the gate between the two walls. ¹  Then they headed for the Jordan Valley. ² 

Turn and flee! Take up refuge in remote places, ¹  you people who live in Dedan. ²  For I will bring disaster on the descendants of Esau. I have decided it is time for me to punish them. ³ 

The earth will tremble and writhe in agony. ¹  For the Lord will carry out his plan. He plans to make the land of Babylonia ²  a wasteland where no one lives. ³ 

The person who lives in Zion says, “May Babylon pay for the violence done to me and to my relatives.” Jerusalem says, “May those living in Babylonia pay for the bloodshed of my people.” ¹ 

כ (Kaf) All her people groaned as they searched for a morsel of bread. ¹  They exchanged ²  their valuables ³  for ⁴  just enough food to stay alive. ⁵ “Look, O Lord! Consider ⁶  that I have become worthless!”

Even if these three men were in it, as surely as I live, declares the sovereign Lord, they could not save their own sons or daughters; they would save only their own lives, and the land would become desolate.

Even if these three men were in it, as surely as I live, declares the sovereign Lord, they could not save their own sons or daughters – they would save only their own lives.

They will console you when you see their behavior and their deeds, because you will know that it was not without reason that I have done everything which I have done in it, declares the sovereign Lord.”

refrains from wrongdoing, ¹  does not engage in usury or charge interest, carries out my regulations and follows my statutes. He will not die for his father’s iniquity; ²  he will surely live.

“Therefore say to the house of Israel, ‘This is what the sovereign Lord says: Will you defile yourselves like your fathers ¹  and engage in prostitution with detestable idols?

Then you will know that I am the Lord, when I deal with you for the sake of my reputation and not according to your wicked conduct and corrupt deeds, O house of Israel, declares the sovereign Lord.’”

Then you will remember your evil behavior ¹  and your deeds which were not good; you will loathe yourselves on account of your sins and your abominable deeds.

I will make a covenant of peace with them; it will be a perpetual covenant with them. ¹  I will establish them, ²  increase their numbers, and place my sanctuary among them forever.

“As for you, son of man, describe the temple to the house of Israel, so that they will be ashamed of their sins and measure the pattern.

“Now, O Lord our God, who brought your people out of the land of Egypt with great power ¹  and made a name for yourself that is remembered to this day – we have sinned and behaved wickedly.

Therefore the land will mourn, and all its inhabitants will perish. ¹  The wild animals, ²  the birds of the sky, and even the fish in the sea will perish.

Because of this the earth ¹  will quake, ²  and all who live in it will mourn. The whole earth ³  will rise like the River Nile, ⁴  it will surge upward ⁵  and then grow calm, ⁶  like the Nile in Egypt. ⁷