16 Our Lord, you chose meto care for your people,and that's what I have done.You know everything I have said,and I have never onceasked you to punish them.
17 I trust you for protectionin times of trouble,so don't frighten me.
18 Keep me from failureand disgrace,but make my enemies failand be disgraced.Send destruction to maketheir worst fears come true.
19-20 The Lord said:Jeremiah, stand at each city gate in Jerusalem, including the one the king uses, and speak to him and everyone else. Tell them I have said:I am the Lord, so pay attention.
21-24 If you value your lives, don't do any work on the Sabbath. Don't carry anything through the city gates or through the door of your house, or anywhere else. Keep the Sabbath day sacred!I gave this command to your ancestors, but they were stubborn and refused to obey or to be corrected. But if you obey,
25 then Judah and Jerusalem will always be ruled by kings from David's family. The king and his officials will ride through these gates on horses or in chariots, and the people of Judah and Jerusalem will be with them. There will always be people living in Jerusalem,
26 and others will come here from the nearby villages, from the towns of Judah and Benjamin, from the hill country and the foothills to the west, and from the Southern Desert. They will bring sacrifices to please me and to give me thanks, as well as offerings of grain and incense.