And I will announce judgment against my people, because they are evil and have turned away from me. They offered sacrifices to other gods and worshiped idols they made with their own hands.

Has any nation ever stopped worshiping their old gods so that they could worship new gods? No! And their gods are not really gods at all! But my people stopped worshiping their glorious God and started worshiping idols that are worth nothing.

“My people have done two evil things. They turned away from me, and they dug their own water cisterns. I am the source of living water; those cisterns are broken and cannot hold water.

People of this generation, pay attention to the Lord’s message! “Have I been like a desert to the people of Israel? Have I been like a dark and dangerous land to them? My people say, ‘We are free to go our own way. We will not come back to you!’ Why do they say these things?

A young woman does not forget her jewelry. A bride does not forget to wear her wedding dress. But my people have forgotten me too many times to count.

At that time this message will be given to the people of Judah and Jerusalem: “A hot wind blows from the bare hills. It comes from the desert to my people. It is not like the gentle wind that is used to separate the grain from the chaff.

The Lord said, “My people are foolish. They don’t know me. They are stupid children. They don’t understand. They are skillful at doing evil, but they don’t know how to do good.”

There are evil men among my people. They are like men who make nets for catching birds. They set their traps, but they catch people instead of birds.

The prophets tell lies. The priests will not do what they were chosen to do, and my people love it this way! But what will you people do when your punishment comes?

They should bandage the wounds my people have suffered, but they treat their wounds like small scratches. They say, ‘It’s all right, everything is all right.’ But it is not all right!

My people, put on sackcloth and roll in the ashes. Cry loudly for the dead. Cry as if you lost an only son. Do this because the destroyer will come against us very quickly.

“Jeremiah, I want you to be like a worker who tests metals. You will test my people and watch how they live.

My people have turned against me, and they are very stubborn. They say bad things about people. They are like bronze and iron that are covered with rust and tarnish.

They are like a worker who tried to make silver pure. The bellows blew strongly, and the fire became hotter, but only lead came from the fire. The worker wasted his time trying to make that silver pure. In the same way the evil was not removed from my people.

My people will be called ‘Rejected Silver.’ They will be given that name because the Lord did not accept them.”

I only gave them this command: ‘Obey me and I will be your God, and you will be my people. Do all that I command, and good things will happen to you.’

Even the birds in the sky know the right time to do things. The storks, doves, swifts, and thrushes know when it is time to fly to a new home. But my people don’t know what the Lord wants them to do.

They should bandage the wounds my people have suffered, but they treat their wounds like small scratches. They say, “It’s all right, everything is all right.” But it is not all right!

Listen to my people. Everywhere in this country, people are crying for help. They say, “Is the Lord still at Zion? Is Zion’s King still there?” But God says, “The people of Judah worshiped their worthless foreign idols. That made me very angry! Why did they do that?”

My people are hurt, so I am hurt. I am too sad to speak.

Surely there is some medicine in Gilead. Surely there is a doctor in Gilead. So why are the wounds of my people not healed?

If my head were filled with water, and if my eyes were a fountain of tears, I would cry day and night for my people who have been destroyed.

If only I had a place in the desert— a house where travelers spend the night— so I could leave my people. I could go away from them, because they are all unfaithful to God. They have all turned against him.

So the Lord All-Powerful says, “A worker heats metal in a fire to test it and see if it is pure. I will test the people of Judah like that. I have no other choice. My people have sinned.

I am talking about the agreement I made with your ancestors when I brought them out of that furnace called Egypt.’ At that time I told them, ‘Listen to me and obey all the commands I give you. Then you will be my people and I will be your God.’