²⁶ They went off and worshiped other gods and bowed down to them, gods they did not know, gods he had not given them.

² “This is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says: You saw the great disaster^(A) I brought on Jerusalem and on all the towns of Judah.^(B) Today they lie deserted and in ruins^{(C) 3} because of the evil^(D) they have done. They aroused my anger^(E) by burning incense^(F) to and worshiping other gods^(G) that neither they nor you nor your ancestors^(H) ever knew. ⁴ Again and again^(I) I sent my servants the prophets,^(J) who said, ‘Do not do this detestable^(K) thing that I hate!’ ⁵ But they did not listen or pay attention;^(L) they did not turn from their wickedness^(M) or stop burning incense^(N) to other gods.^{(O) 6} Therefore, my fierce anger was poured out;^(P) it raged against the towns of Judah and the streets of Jerusalem and made them the desolate ruins^(Q) they are today.

³ and say, ‘Hear the word of the Lord, you kings^(A) of Judah and people of Jerusalem. This is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says: Listen! I am going to bring a disaster^(B) on this place that will make the ears of everyone who hears of it tingle.^{(C) 4} For they have forsaken^(D) me and made this a place of foreign gods^(E); they have burned incense^(F) in it to gods that neither they nor their ancestors nor the kings of Judah ever knew, and they have filled this place with the blood of the innocent.^{(G) 5} They have built the high places of Baal to burn their children^(H) in the fire as offerings to Baal—something I did not command or mention, nor did it enter my mind.^{(I) 6} So beware, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when people will no longer call this place Topheth^(J) or the Valley of Ben Hinnom,^(K) but the Valley of Slaughter.^(L)

⁷ “‘In this place I will ruin^[a] the plans^(M) of Judah and Jerusalem. I will make them fall by the sword before their enemies,^(N) at the hands of those who want to kill them, and I will give their carcasses^(O) as food^(P) to the birds and the wild animals. ⁸ I will devastate this city and make it an object of horror and scorn;^(Q) all who pass by will be appalled^(R) and will scoff because of all its wounds.^{(S) 9} I will make them eat^(T) the flesh of their sons and daughters, and they will eat one another’s flesh because their enemies^(U) will press the siege so hard against them to destroy them.’

¹⁰ “Then break the jar^(V) while those who go with you are watching, ¹¹ and say to them, ‘This is what the Lord Almighty says: I will smash^(W) this nation and this city just as this potter’s jar is smashed and cannot be repaired. They will bury^(X) the dead in Topheth until there is no more room. ¹² This is what I will do to this place and to those who live here, declares the Lord. I will make this city like Topheth. ¹³ The houses^(Y) in Jerusalem and those of the kings of Judah will be defiled^(Z) like this place, Topheth—all the houses where they burned incense on the roofs^(AA) to all the starry hosts^(AB) and poured out drink offerings^(AC) to other gods.’”

¹² He did evil in the eyes of the Lord^(A) his God and did not humble^(B) himself before Jeremiah the prophet, who spoke the word of the Lord. ¹³ He also rebelled against King Nebuchadnezzar, who had made him take an oath^(C) in God’s name. He became stiff-necked^(D) and hardened his heart and would not turn to the Lord, the God of Israel. ¹⁴ Furthermore, all the leaders of the priests and the people became more and more unfaithful,^(E) following all the detestable practices of the nations and defiling the temple of the Lord, which he had consecrated in Jerusalem.

The Fall of Jerusalem^(F)(G)

¹⁵ The Lord, the God of their ancestors, sent word to them through his messengers^(H) again and again,^(I) because he had pity on his people and on his dwelling place. ¹⁶ But they mocked God’s messengers, despised his words and scoffed^(J) at his prophets until the wrath^(K) of the Lord was aroused against his people and there was no remedy.^{(L) 17} He brought up against them the king of the Babylonians,^[a](M) who killed their young men with the sword in the sanctuary, and did not spare young men^(N) or young women, the elderly or the infirm.^(O) God gave them all into the hands of Nebuchadnezzar.^(P)

Israel Exiled Because of Sin

⁷ All this took place because the Israelites had sinned^(A) against the Lord their God, who had brought them up out of Egypt^(B) from under the power of Pharaoh king of Egypt. They worshiped other gods ⁸ and followed the practices of the nations^(C) the Lord had driven out before them, as well as the practices that the kings of Israel had introduced. ⁹ The Israelites secretly did things against the Lord their God that were not right. From watchtower to fortified city^(D) they built themselves high places in all their towns. ¹⁰ They set up sacred stones^(E) and Asherah poles^(F) on every high hill and under every spreading tree.^{(G) 11} At every high place they burned incense, as the nations whom the Lord had driven out before them had done. They did wicked things that aroused the Lord’s anger. ¹² They worshiped idols,^(H) though the Lord had said, “You shall not do this.”^{[a] 13} The Lord warned^(I) Israel and Judah through all his prophets and seers:^(J) “Turn from your evil ways.^(K) Observe my commands and decrees, in accordance with the entire Law that I commanded your ancestors to obey and that I delivered to you through my servants the prophets.”^(L)

¹⁴ But they would not listen and were as stiff-necked^(M) as their ancestors, who did not trust in the Lord their God. ¹⁵ They rejected his decrees and the covenant^(N) he had made with their ancestors and the statutes he had warned them to keep. They followed worthless idols^(O) and themselves became worthless.^(P) They imitated the nations^(Q) around them although the Lord had ordered them, “Do not do as they do.”

¹⁶ They forsook all the commands of the Lord their God and made for themselves two idols cast in the shape of calves,^(R) and an Asherah^(S) pole. They bowed down to all the starry hosts,^(T) and they worshiped Baal.^{(U) 17} They sacrificed^(V) their sons and daughters in the fire. They practiced divination and sought omens^(W) and sold^(X) themselves to do evil in the eyes of the Lord, arousing his anger.

¹⁸ So the Lord was very angry with Israel and removed them from his presence.^(Y) Only the tribe of Judah was left,

¹² They forsook the Lord, the God of their ancestors, who had brought them out of Egypt. They followed and worshiped various gods^(A) of the peoples around them.^(B) They aroused^(C) the Lord’s anger^{(D) 13} because they forsook^(E) him and served Baal and the Ashtoreths.^(F)

⁶⁴ Then the Lord will scatter^(A) you among all nations,^(B) from one end of the earth to the other.^(C) There you will worship other gods—gods of wood and stone, which neither you nor your ancestors have known.^(D)