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This is what the Lord of Heaven's Armies, the God of Israel, says: "When I bring them back from captivity, the people of Judah and its towns will again say, ‘The Lord bless you, O righteous home, O holy mountain!'

"But this is the new covenant I will make with the people of Israel after those days," says the Lord . "I will put my instructions deep within them, and I will write them on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people.

"This is what the Lord of Heaven's Armies, the God of Israel, says: ‘Take both this sealed deed and the unsealed copy, and put them into a pottery jar to preserve them for a long time.'

For this is what the Lord of Heaven's Armies, the God of Israel, says: ‘Someday people will again own property here in this land and will buy and sell houses and vineyards and fields.'"

You show unfailing love to thousands, but you also bring the consequences of one generation's sin upon the next. You are the great and powerful God, the Lord of Heaven's Armies.

"I am the Lord , the God of all the peoples of the world. Is anything too hard for me?

"Now I want to say something more about this city. You have been saying, ‘It will fall to the king of Babylon through war, famine, and disease.' But this is what the Lord , the God of Israel, says:

They will be my people, and I will be their God.

For this is what the Lord , the God of Israel, says: You have torn down the houses of this city and even the king's palace to get materials to strengthen the walls against the siege ramps and swords of the enemy.

"Go to King Zedekiah of Judah, and tell him, ‘This is what the Lord , the God of Israel, says: I am about to hand this city over to the king of Babylon, and he will burn it down.

"This is what the Lord , the God of Israel, says: I made a covenant with your ancestors long ago when I rescued them from their slavery in Egypt.

I took them to the Temple, and we went into the room assigned to the sons of Hanan son of Igdaliah, a man of God. This room was located next to the one used by the Temple officials, directly above the room of Maaseiah son of Shallum, the Temple gatekeeper.

"This is what the Lord of Heaven's Armies, the God of Israel, says: Go and say to the people in Judah and Jerusalem, ‘Come and learn a lesson about how to obey me.

"Therefore, this is what the Lord God of Heaven's Armies, the God of Israel, says: ‘Because you refuse to listen or answer when I call, I will send upon Judah and Jerusalem all the disasters I have threatened.'"

Then Jeremiah turned to the Recabites and said, "This is what the Lord of Heaven's Armies, the God of Israel, says: ‘You have obeyed your ancestor Jehonadab in every respect, following all his instructions.'

Therefore, this is what the Lord of Heaven's Armies, the God of Israel, says: ‘Jehonadab son of Recab will always have descendants who serve me.'"

Nevertheless, King Zedekiah sent Jehucal son of Shelemiah, and Zephaniah the priest, son of Maaseiah, to ask Jeremiah, "Please pray to the Lord our God for us."

"This is what the Lord , the God of Israel, says: The king of Judah sent you to ask me what is going to happen. Tell him, ‘Pharaoh's army is about to return to Egypt, though he came here to help you.

Then Jeremiah said to Zedekiah, "This is what the Lord God of Heaven's Armies, the God of Israel, says: ‘If you surrender to the Babylonian officers, you and your family will live, and the city will not be burned down.

"Say to Ebed-melech the Ethiopian, ‘This is what the Lord of Heaven's Armies, the God of Israel, says: I will do to this city everything I have threatened. I will send disaster, not prosperity. You will see its destruction,