16
Then after I had given the papers to Baruch, I prayed to the Lord :
17
“O Sovereign Lord ! You made the heavens and earth by your strong hand and powerful arm. Nothing is too hard for you!
18
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.
19
You have all wisdom and do great and mighty miracles. You see the conduct of all people, and you give them what they deserve.
20
You performed miraculous signs and wonders in the land of Egypt - things still remembered to this day! And you have continued to do great miracles in Israel and all around the world. You have made your name famous to this day.
21
“You brought Israel out of Egypt with mighty signs and wonders, with a strong hand and powerful arm, and with overwhelming terror.
22
You gave the people of Israel this land that you had promised their ancestors long before - a land flowing with milk and honey.
23
Our ancestors came and conquered it and lived in it, but they refused to obey you or follow your word. They have not done anything you commanded. That is why you have sent this terrible disaster upon them.
24
“See how the siege ramps have been built against the city walls! Through war, famine, and disease, the city will be handed over to the Babylonians, who will conquer it. Everything has happened just as you said.
25
And yet, O Sovereign Lord , you have told me to buy the field - paying good money for it before these witnesses - even though the city will soon be handed over to the Babylonians.”
26 Then this message came to Jeremiah from the Lord : 27 “I am the Lord , the God of all the peoples of the world. Is anything too hard for me? 28 Therefore, this is what the Lord says: I will hand this city over to the Babylonians and to Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, and he will capture it. 29 The Babylonians outside the walls will come in and set fire to the city. They will burn down all these houses where the people provoked my anger by burning incense to Baal on the rooftops and by pouring out liquid offerings to other gods. 30 Israel and Judah have done nothing but wrong since their earliest days. They have infuriated me with all their evil deeds,” says the Lord . 31 “From the time this city was built until now, it has done nothing but anger me, so I am determined to get rid of it. 32 “The sins of Israel and Judah - the sins of the people of Jerusalem, the kings, the officials, the priests, and the prophets - have stirred up my anger. 33 My people have turned their backs on me and have refused to return. Even though I diligently taught them, they would not receive instruction or obey. 34 They have set up their abominable idols right in my own Temple, defiling it. 35 They have built pagan shrines to Baal in the valley of Ben-Hinnom, and there they sacrifice their sons and daughters to Molech. I have never commanded such a horrible deed; it never even crossed my mind to command such a thing. What an incredible evil, causing Judah to sin so greatly!