1 Then said the LORD unto me,
2 And it shall come to pass, if they say unto you, Where shall we go forth? then you shall tell them, Thus says the LORD; Such as are for death, to death; and such as are for the sword, to the sword; and such as are for the famine, to the famine; and such as are for the captivity, to the captivity.
3 And I will appoint over them four kinds,
4 And I will cause them to be removed into all kingdoms of the earth, because of Manasseh the son of Hezekiah king of Judah, for that which he did in Jerusalem.
5 For who shall have pity upon you, O Jerusalem? or who shall bemoan you? or who shall go aside to ask how you do?
6 You have forsaken me,
7 And I will fan them with a fan in the gates of the land; I will bereave them of children, I will destroy my people, since they return not from their ways.
8 Their widows are increased to me above the sand of the seas: I have brought upon them against the mother of the young men a destroyer at noonday: I have caused him to fall upon it suddenly, and terrors upon the city.
9 She that has borne seven languishes: she has breathed her last; her sun has gone down while it was yet day: she has been ashamed and confounded: and the rest of them will I deliver to the sword before their enemies,
10 Woe is me, my mother, that you have borne me a man of strife and a man of contention to the whole earth! I have neither lent for interest, nor men have lent to me for interest; yet everyone of them does curse me.
11 The LORD said,
12 Can anyone break iron, the northern iron and the bronze?
13 Your wealth and your treasures will I give as plunder without price, and that for all your sins, even in all your borders.
14 And I will make you to pass with your enemies into a land which you know not: for a fire is kindled in my anger, which shall burn upon you.
15 O LORD, you know: remember me, and visit me, and avenge me of my persecutors; take me not away in your longsuffering: know that for your sake I have suffered rebuke.
16 Your words were found, and I did eat them; and your word was unto me the joy and rejoicing of my heart: for I am called by your name, O LORD God of hosts.
17 I sat not in the assembly of the mockers, nor rejoiced; I sat alone because of your hand: for you have filled me with indignation.
18 Why is my pain perpetual, and my wound incurable, which refuses to be healed? will you be altogether unto me as a deceitful brook, and as waters that fail?
19 Therefore thus says the LORD,
20 And I will make you unto this people a fortified bronze wall: and they shall fight against you, but they shall not prevail against you: for I am with you to save you and to deliver you,
21 And I will deliver you out of the hand of the wicked, and I will redeem you out of the hand of the terrible.