<p class="poetry">My blessing is on those people who trust in me,p> <p class="poetry">who put their confidence in me.<n id="1" />p>

Because she took her prostitution so lightly, she defiled the land<n id="1" /> through her adulterous worship of gods made of wood and stone.<n id="2" />

But after I have uprooted the people of those nations, I will relent<n id="1" /> and have pity on them. I will restore the people of each of those nations to their own lands<n id="2" /> and to their own country.

<t /><p class="bodytext">The following events also occurred<n id="1" /> while the Babylonian forces<n id="2" /> had temporarily withdrawn from Jerusalem<n id="3" /> because the army of Pharaoh was coming.

<p class="poetry">&#8220;Moab has vaunted itself against me.p> <p class="poetry">So make him drunk with the wine of my wrath<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">until he splashes<n id="2" /> around in his own vomit,p> <p class="poetry">until others treat him as a laughingstock.p>

<p class="poetry">&#8220;Yet in days to comep> <p class="poetry">I will reverse Elam&#8217;s ill fortune.&#8221;<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">says the <sc>Lordsc>.<n id="2" />p>

<p class="poetry">They will be like a tree planted near a streamp> <p class="poetry">whose roots spread out toward the water.p> <p class="poetry">It has nothing to fear when the heat comes.p> <p class="poetry">Its leaves are always green.p> <p class="poetry">It has no need to be concerned in a year of drought.p> <p class="poetry">It does not stop bearing fruit.p>

<p class="poetry">&#8220;When this happens,&#8221;<n id="1" /> says the <sc>Lordsc>,p> <p class="poetry">&#8220;the king and his officials will lose their courage.p> <p class="poetry">The priests will be struck with horror,p> <p class="poetry">and the prophets will be speechless in astonishment.&#8221;p>

<p class="poetry">They will be like a shrub<n id="1" /> in the desert.p> <p class="poetry">They will not experience good things even when they happen.p> <p class="poetry">It will be as though they were growing in the desert,p> <p class="poetry">in a salt land where no one can live.p>

<p class="poetry">Sometimes I think, &#8220;I will make no mention of his message.p> <p class="poetry">I will not speak as his messenger<n id="1" /> any more.&#8221;p> <p class="poetry">But then<n id="2" /> his message becomes like a firep> <p class="poetry">locked up inside of me, burning in my heart and soul.<n id="3" />p> <p class="poetry">I grow weary of trying to hold it in;p> <p class="poetry">I cannot contain it.p>

<p class="poetry">May that man be like the cities<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">that the <sc>Lordsc> destroyed without showing any mercy.p> <p class="poetry">May he hear a cry of distress in the morningp> <p class="poetry">and a battle cry at noon.p>

If they refuse to take the cup from your hand and drink it, tell them that the <sc>Lordsc> who rules over all says<n id="1" /> &#8216;You most certainly must drink it!<n id="2" />

<p class="poetry">When the time for them to be rescued comes,&#8221;<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">says the <sc>Lordsc> who rules over all,<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">&#8220;I will rescue you from foreign subjugation.<n id="3" />p> <p class="poetry">I will deliver you from captivity.<n id="4" />p> <p class="poetry">Foreigners will then no longer subjugate them.p>

In the past I saw to it that they were uprooted and torn down, that they were destroyed and demolished. But now I will see to it that they are built up and firmly planted.<n id="1" /> I, the <sc>Lordsc>, affirm it!&#8221;<n id="2" />p>

So Jeremiah remained confined<n id="1" /> in the courtyard of the guardhouse until the day Jerusalem<n id="2" /> was captured.p><t /><p class="bodytext">The following events occurred when Jerusalem<n id="3" /> was captured.<n id="4" />p>

Now he has brought it about. The <sc>Lordsc> has done just as he threatened to do. This disaster has happened because you people sinned against the <sc>Lordsc> and did not obey him.<n id="1" />

<p class="poetry">Oh, how shattered Moab will be!p> <p class="poetry">Oh, how her people will wail!p> <p class="poetry">Oh, how she will turn away<n id="1" /> in shame!p> <p class="poetry">Moab will become an object of ridicule,p> <p class="poetry">a terrifying sight to all the nations that surround her.&#8221;p>

<p class="poetry">Her towns<n id="1" /> will be captured.p> <p class="poetry">Her fortresses will be taken.p> <p class="poetry">At that time the soldiers of Moab will be frightenedp> <p class="poetry">like a woman in labor.<n id="2" />p>

<p class="poetry">Look! Like an eagle with outspread wings,p> <p class="poetry">a nation will soar up and swoop down on Bozrah.p> <p class="poetry">At that time the soldiers of Edom will be as fearfulp> <p class="poetry">as a woman in labor.&#8221;<n id="1" />p>

When you finish reading this scroll aloud, tie a stone to it and throw it into the middle of the Euphrates River.<n id="1" />