The word of the Lord came to me a second time, saying, “What do you see?” And I said, “I see a boiling pot, tilted away from the north.”

who say to a tree, “You are my father,” and to a stone, “You gave me birth.” For they have turned their backs to me and not their faces. But in the time of their trouble they say, “Come and save us!”

But where are your gods that you made for yourself? Let them come, if they can save you, in your time of trouble, for you have as many gods as you have towns, O Judah.

At that time Jerusalem shall be called the throne of the Lord, and all nations shall gather to it, to the presence of the Lord in Jerusalem, and they shall no longer stubbornly follow their own evil will.

At that time it will be said to this people and to Jerusalem: A hot wind comes from me out of the bare heights in the desert toward the daughter of my people, not to winnow or cleanse,

They acted shamefully; they committed abomination, yet they were not ashamed; they did not know how to blush. Therefore they shall fall among those who fall; at the time that I punish them, they shall be overthrown, says the Lord.

At that time, says the Lord, the bones of the kings of Judah, the bones of its officials, the bones of the priests, the bones of the prophets, and the bones of the inhabitants of Jerusalem shall be brought out of their tombs,

Even the stork in the heavens knows its times, and the turtledove, swallow, and crane observe the time of their coming, but my people do not know the ordinance of the Lord.

They acted shamefully; they committed abomination, yet they were not at all ashamed; they did not know how to blush. Therefore they shall fall among those who fall; at the time when I punish them, they shall be overthrown, says the Lord.

We look for peace but find no good, for a time of healing, but there is terror instead.

They are worthless, a work of delusion; at the time of their punishment they shall perish.

For thus says the Lord: I am going to sling out the inhabitants of the land at this time, and I will bring distress on them, so that they shall feel it.

Then the cities of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem will go and cry out to the gods to whom they make offerings, but they will never save them in the time of their trouble.

As for you, do not pray for this people or lift up a cry or prayer on their behalf, for I will not listen when they call to me in the time of their trouble.

And the word of the Lord came to me a second time, saying,

O hope of Israel, its savior in time of trouble, why should you be like a stranger in the land, like a traveler turning aside for the night?

The People Plead for Mercy

Have you completely rejected Judah? Does your heart loathe Zion? Why have you struck us down so that there is no healing for us? We look for peace but find no good, for a time of healing, but there is terror instead.

The Lord said: Surely I have intervened in your life for good; surely I have brought enemies upon you in a time of trouble and in a time of distress.

“Therefore I am surely going to teach them, this time I am going to teach them my power and my might, and they shall know that my name is the Lord.”

All the nations shall serve him and his son and his grandson, until the time of his own land comes; then many nations and great kings shall make him their slave.

The prophets who preceded you and me from ancient times prophesied war, famine, and pestilence against many countries and great kingdoms.

For he has actually sent to us in Babylon, saying, “It will be a long time; build houses and live in them, and plant gardens and eat what they produce.”

Alas! that day is so great there is none like it; it is a time of distress for Jacob, yet he shall be rescued from it.

The Joyful Return of the Exiles

At that time, says the Lord, I will be the God of all the families of Israel, and they shall be my people.

At that time the army of the king of Babylon was besieging Jerusalem, and the prophet Jeremiah was confined in the court of the guard that was in the palace of the king of Judah,