3. “They use their tongues like a bow; lies fly from their mouths like arrows. Lies, not truth, have grown strong in this land. They go from one sin to another. They don’t know me.” This is what the Lord said.
4. “Watch your neighbors! Don’t trust your own brothers, because every brother is a cheat. Every neighbor talks behind your back.
5. Everyone lies to their neighbor. No one speaks the truth. The people of Judah have taught their tongues to lie. They sinned until they were too tired to come back.
6. One bad thing followed another, and lies followed lies. The people refused to know me.” This is what the Lord said.
7. So the Lord All-Powerful says, “A worker heats metal in a fire to test it and see if it is pure. I will test the people of Judah like that. I have no other choice. My people have sinned.
8. The people of Judah have tongues as sharp as arrows. Their mouths speak lies. They all speak kindly to their neighbors, but they are secretly planning ways to attack them.
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. I, Jeremiah, will cry for the mountains. I will sing a funeral song for the empty fields, because all the animals were taken away. No one travels there now. The sounds of cattle cannot be heard. The birds have flown away, and the animals are gone.
11. The Lord says, “I will make the city of Jerusalem a pile of garbage. It will be a home for jackals. I will destroy the cities in the land of Judah, so no one will live there.”
12. Is there a man who is wise enough to understand these things? Is there someone who has been taught by the Lord? Can anyone explain his message? Why was the land ruined? Why was it made like an empty desert where no one goes?
13. The Lord answered, “It is because the people of Judah stopped following my teachings. I gave them my teachings, but they refused to listen to me. They did not follow my teachings.
14. The people of Judah lived their own way. They were stubborn. They followed the false god Baal. Their fathers taught them to follow those false gods.”
15. So the Lord All-Powerful, the God of Israel, says, “I will soon make the people of Judah eat bitter food and drink poisoned water.
16. I will scatter the people of Judah throughout other nations. They will live in strange nations that they and their fathers never knew about. I will send men with swords. They will kill the people of Judah. They will kill them until all the people are gone.”
17. This is what the Lord All-Powerful says: “Now think about these things! Call for the women who get paid to cry at funerals. Send for the people who are good at that job.