Jeremiah 15:5-21

YAHWEH says, “Who will feel sorry for you, people of Jerusalem? Who will mourn for you? Who will even bother to ask about your welfare? I, YAHWEH, say to you: You left me, turned your back on me, and walked out. So, I have stretched out my hand to punish you. I am weary of feeling sorry for you. I threw you to the wind like straw, scattering you throughout the cities of the earth. I made my people childless and killed them, since they would not repent from their ways. Their widows became more numerous than the sands of the seas. In broad daylight, I have brought against them an unexpected destroyer to kill young men and mothers alike. Suddenly, I brought upon them terror and panic. She who was honored to have seven children grows faint; robbed of her children, she wasted away. Her sun has set while it is still day. She is shamed and disgraced. Any who are left alive, I will hand them over to the sword of their enemies,” declares YAHWEH. YAHWEH My mother, how terrible that you ever bore me— a man doomed to conflict and strife with everyone against me! I have never cheated anyone, yet everyone curses me. YAHWEH answered me: “I will surely deliver you for a good reason. Have I not stood beside you in times of difficulty and in times of distress against the enemy? “Will a man break the hardest iron or bronze? I will turn over your wealth and your treasures as spoil for your enemies. This is the price you will pay because of all the sins you’ve committed throughout the land. And I will make you serve your enemies in a foreign land, for my anger has caught fire, and I am furious against you.” Then I said, “YAHWEH, you understand everything perfectly. Remember me and act on my behalf. Pay back all those who persecute me. Do not be so patient with my enemies; take revenge on them before they kill me. It is for your sake that I suffer insult after insult. When you speak to me, I devour every word. Your word brings me such boundless joy. The endless delight of my heart is in knowing that your beautiful name is attached to me, O  YAHWEH, Commander of Angel Armies. I haven’t joined the crowd at their merry celebrations just to have a good time. I’ve kept to myself because your strong hand upon my life sets me apart. And your anger over what they have done fills me. Why must my pain be endless? Why are my wounds incurable? Why won’t they heal? You’ve been to me like a deceitful spring that stops flowing, like a brook that goes dry.” Here is what YAHWEH said to me: “If you give up your hopeless tone of despair and return to me, I will restore you as my spokesman, and you will stand before me and enjoy my favor. If you separate the precious from the worthless, you will be my mouthpiece. They will turn to you, but you are not to turn to them. They will fight and attack you, but I will make you as strong and secure as a fortified wall of bronze. They will not conquer you, for I already have! I am with you to deliver and rescue you,” declares YAHWEH. “I will save you from the power of the wicked and rescue you from the clutches of ruthless men.”