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"Please consult Adonai for us, because N'vukhadretzar king of Bavel is making war on us. Maybe Adonai will perform a miracle for us and cause him to withdraw."

For I have determined absolutely that this city will have evil, not good," says Adonai . "It is going to be handed over to the king of Bavel, and he will burn it to the ground."'

"For here is what Adonai says concerning the palace of the king of Y'hudah: ‘You are like Gil‘ad to me, like the peak of the L'vanon; yet I will turn you into a desert, uninhabited cities.

Do not weep for [the king] who has died, do not mourn for him [Yoshiyahu]. But weep for him who departs [to Egypt], for he will never return or see his native land again.

For this is what Adonai says about Shalum the son of Yoshiyahu, king of Y'hudah, who succeeded Yoshiyahu his father as king: "He has left this place, never to return;

"Woe to him who builds his palace unfairly, its upper rooms by injustice; who makes his neighbor work for free and will not give him his wages;

"In contrast, your eyes and heart are controlled entirely by your greed, your desire for shedding innocent blood, oppressing and extorting."

Therefore here is what Adonai says concerning Y'hoyakim the son of Yoshiyahu, king of Y'hudah: "There will be no one to mourn for him, ‘Oh! My brother!' or ‘Oh! My sister!' There will be no one to mourn for him, ‘Oh! My master!' or ‘Oh! His glory!'

Climb up to the L'vanon and cry out, raise your voice in Bashan, cry out from ‘Avarim, for all your lovers are broken.

The wind will shepherd all your shepherds away, and your lovers will go into captivity. Then you will be ashamed and disgraced for all your wicked deeds.

"The days are coming," says Adonai when I will raise a righteous Branch for David. He will reign as king and succeed, he will do what is just and right in the land.

For the land is full of adulterers; because of a curse the land is in mourning — the desert pastures have dried up. Their course is evil, their power misused.

"Therefore their way will be slippery for them; they will be driven into darkness and fall there. For I will bring disaster upon them, their year of punishment," says Adonai .

But in the prophets of Yerushalayim I have seen a horrible thing — they commit adultery, live in lies, so encouraging evildoers that none returns from his sin. For me they have all become like S'dom, its inhabitants like ‘Amora."

Therefore, this is what Adonai -Tzva'ot says concerning the prophets: "I will feed them bitter wormwood and make them drink poisonous water, for ungodliness has spread through all the land from the prophets of Yerushalayim."

As for a prophet, cohen or [someone else from] this people who speaks about ‘the burden of Adonai ,' I will punish him and his household."

Don't use the expression, "burden of Adonai " any more; for every person's own word will be his burden. Must you twist the words of the living God, of Adonai -Tzva'ot, our God?

"‘I will look after them for their good, I will bring them back to this land; I will build them up and not tear them down, plant them and not pull them up.

I will give them a heart to know me that I am Adonai . They will be my people, and I will be their God; for they will return to me with all their heart.'

"For twenty-three years, since the thirteenth year of Yoshiyahu the son of Amon, king of Y'hudah, until today, the word of Adonai has come to me; and I have proclaimed it to you on numerous occasions; but you haven't listened.