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then I will give them one heart and one way, that they may fear Me forever, for the good of them and their children after them.

"So they shall surrender all your wives and children to the Chaldeans. You shall not escape from their hand, but shall be taken by the hand of the king of Babylon. And you shall cause this city to be burned with fire."'

And when all the captains of the armies who were in the fields, they and their men, heard that the king of Babylon had made Gedaliah the son of Ahikam governor in the land, and had committed to him men, women, children, and the poorest of the land who had not been carried away captive to Babylon,

Then Johanan the son of Kareah, and all the captains of the forces that were with him, took from Mizpah all the rest of the people whom he had recovered from Ishmael the son of Nethaniah after he had murdered Gedaliah the son of Ahikam--the mighty men of war and the women and the children and the eunuchs, whom he had brought back from Gibeon.

men, women, children, the king's daughters, and every person whom Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard had left with Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan, and Jeremiah the prophet and Baruch the son of Neriah.

At the noise of the stamping hooves of his strong horses, At the rushing of his chariots, At the rumbling of his wheels, The fathers will not look back for their children, Lacking courage,

Leave your fatherless children, I will preserve them alive; And let your widows trust in Me."

"In those days and in that time," says the LORD, "The children of Israel shall come, They and the children of Judah together; With continual weeping they shall come, And seek the LORD their God.

Thus says the LORD of hosts: "The children of Israel were oppressed, Along with the children of Judah; All who took them captive have held them fast; They have refused to let them go.

Her adversaries have become the master, Her enemies prosper; For the LORD has afflicted her Because of the multitude of her transgressions. Her children have gone into captivity before the enemy.

"For these things I weep; My eye, my eye overflows with water; Because the comforter, who should restore my life, Is far from me. My children are desolate Because the enemy prevailed."

My eyes fail with tears, My heart is troubled; My bile is poured on the ground Because of the destruction of the daughter of my people, Because the children and the infants Faint in the streets of the city.

"Arise, cry out in the night, At the beginning of the watches; Pour out your heart like water before the face of the Lord. Lift your hands toward Him For the life of your young children, Who faint from hunger at the head of every street."

"See, O Lord, and consider!To whom have You done this?Should the women eat their offspring,The children they have cuddled? [fn] Should the priest and prophet be slainIn the sanctuary of the Lord?

For He does not afflict willingly, Nor grieve the children of men.

The tongue of the infant clings To the roof of its mouth for thirst; The young children ask for bread, But no one breaks it for them.

The hands of the compassionate women Have cooked their own children; They became food for them In the destruction of the daughter of my people.

And He said to me: "Son of man, I am sending you to the children of Israel, to a rebellious nation that has rebelled against Me; they and their fathers have transgressed against Me to this very day.

For they are impudent and stubborn children. I am sending you to them, and you shall say to them, "Thus says the Lord GOD.'

And go, get to the captives, to the children of your people, and speak to them and tell them, "Thus says the Lord GOD,' whether they hear, or whether they refuse."