After Adonai has washed away the filth of the Daughters of Zion and has purged the blood of Jerusalem from her midst by the spirit of judgment and by the spirit of burning,
They have turned back to the iniquities of their forefathers who refused to hear My words. They have gone after other gods to serve them. “The house of Israel and the house of Judah have broken My covenant which I made with their fathers.”
But I was like a gentle lamb led to slaughter. I did not know they had devised plots against me: “Let us destroy the tree with its fruit. Let us cut him off from the land of the living, so that his name will be no more remembered.”
This wicked people, who refuse to hear My words, who walk in the stubbornness of their own heart, and go after other gods to serve them and worship them, will be just like this waistband—worth nothing at all.
Then they said: “Come, let us devise plans against Jeremiah. Surely Torah from the kohen will not be lost, nor will counsel from the wise, nor will the word from the prophet. Come, let’s strike at him with the tongue, and pay no attention to any of his words.”
For I heard the whispering of many: “‘Terror on every side?’ Denounce him! Let’s denounce him!” Even all my close friends are watching for my fall: “Perhaps he may be deceived, so we’ll get the better of him, and we’ll get our revenge on him.”
“How can I give you up, Ephraim? How can I surrender you, Israel? How can I make you like Admah? How can I set you as Zeboim? My heart is turning over within Me. My compassions are kindled.
My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge. Since you rejected knowledge, I will also reject you from being My kohen. Since you forgot the Torah of your God, just so I will forget your children.
This third I will bring through the fire. I will refine them as silver is refined, and will test them as gold is tested. They will call on My Name and I will answer them. I will say, ‘They are My people,’ and they will answer, ‘Adonai is my God.’