Jeremiah 25:3-9

English Standard Version

³ “For twenty-three years, ^(A)from the thirteenth year of Josiah the son of Amon, king of Judah, to this day, the word of the Lord has come to me, and I have spoken ^(B)persistently to you, ^(C)but you have not listened. ^4 (D)You have neither listened nor inclined your ears to hear, although the Lord ^(E)persistently sent to you all his servants the prophets, ⁵ saying, ^(F)‘Turn now, every one of you, ^(G)from his evil way and evil deeds, and ^(H)dwell upon the land that the Lord has given to you and your fathers from of old and forever. ^6 (I)Do not go after other gods to serve and worship them, ^(J)or provoke me to anger ^(K)with the work of your hands. Then I will do you no harm.’ ^7 (L)Yet you have not listened to me, declares the Lord, ^(M)that you might provoke me to anger ^(N)with the work of your hands to your own harm.

⁸ “Therefore thus says the Lord of hosts: Because you have not obeyed my words, ^9 (O)behold, I will send for all the tribes of the north, declares the Lord, and for Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, ^(P)my servant, and I will bring them against this land and its inhabitants, and against all these surrounding nations. I will devote them to destruction, ^(Q)and make them a horror, a hissing, and an everlasting desolation.