¹The Lord spoke his word to Jeremiah about all the people of Judah when Jehoiakim, son of Josiah, was in his fourth year as king. (This was the first year that Nebuchadnezzar was king of Babylon.) ²The prophet Jeremiah spoke to all the people of Judah and to everyone who lived in Jerusalem. He said, ³“For 23 years, from the time that Josiah, son of Amon, was in his thirteenth year as king of Judah until today, the Lord continued to speak his word to me. So I have spoken to you again and again, but you have not listened.

⁴“Even though the Lord has sent all his servants the prophets to you, you haven’t listened or paid attention to them. ⁵The prophets said, ‘Turn from your evil ways and the evil you have done, and live in the land that the Lord permanently gave to you and your ancestors. ⁶Don’t follow other gods to serve and worship them. Don’t make me furious about the idols your hands have shaped. Then I won’t harm you. ⁷But you haven’t listened to me, declares the Lord. You have made me furious about the idols your hands have shaped and ⸤have brought⸥ harm upon yourselves.’

⁸“This is what the Lord of Armies says: You did not listen to my words, ⁹so I’m going to send for all the families from the north. I will also send for my servant King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon, declares the Lord. I will bring the families from the north to attack this land, its people, and all these surrounding nations. I’m going to destroy them and turn them into something terrible, something ridiculed, and something permanently ruined.

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