² Neither he nor his attendants nor the people of the land paid any attention^(A) to the words the Lord had spoken through Jeremiah the prophet.

⁸ Therefore, anyone who rejects this instruction does not reject a human being but God, the very God who gives you his Holy Spirit.^(A)

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)

¹⁹ He did evil^(A) in the eyes of the Lord, just as Jehoiakim had done. ²⁰ It was because of the Lord’s anger that all this happened to Jerusalem and Judah, and in the end he thrust^(B) them from his presence.^(C)

The Fall of Jerusalem^(D)(E)(F)

Now Zedekiah rebelled against the king of Babylon.

²⁵ “‘You profane and wicked prince of Israel, whose day has come,^(A) whose time of punishment has reached its climax,^(B)

⁷ Moreover, the word of the Lord came^(A) through the prophet Jehu^(B) son of Hanani to Baasha and his house, because of all the evil he had done in the eyes of the Lord, arousing his anger by the things he did, becoming like the house of Jeroboam—and also because he destroyed it.