³ therefore prophesy, and say, Thus says the Lord God: Precisely because ^(A)they made you desolate and crushed you from all sides, so that you became the possession of the rest of the nations, and ^(B)you became the talk and evil gossip of the people,

¹⁸ Then they said, ^(A)“Come, let us make plots against Jeremiah, ^(B)for the law shall not perish from the priest, nor counsel from the wise, nor the word from the prophet. ^(C)Come, let us strike him with the tongue, and let us not pay attention to any of his words.”