9. Should I punish the people of Judah for doing these things?” This message is from the Lord. “You know I should punish a nation such as this. I should give it the punishment it deserves.
10. “Go along the rows of Judah’s grapevines. Cut down the vines. (But don’t completely destroy them.) Cut off all their branches, because they don’t belong to the Lord.
11. The family of Israel and the family of Judah have been unfaithful to me in every way.” This message is from the Lord.
12. “Those people lied about the Lord. They said, ‘He will not do anything to us. Nothing bad will happen to us. We will never see an army attack us. We will never starve.’
13. The prophets are only empty wind. The word of God is not in them. Bad things will happen to them.”
14. The Lord God All-Powerful said these things: “The people said I would not punish them. So, Jeremiah, the words I give you will be like fire, and these people will be like wood. That fire will burn them up completely.”
15. Family of Israel, this message is from the Lord. “I will soon bring a nation from far away to attack you. It is an old nation; it is an ancient nation. The people of that nation speak a language that you do not know. You cannot understand what they say.