Nevertheless they shall be his servants, that they may distinguish between My service and the service of the kingdoms of the earth.

For they have not served You in their kingdom, nor in the great goodness that You gave them, nor in the large and rich land which You set before them; nor did they turn from their evil works.

And it yields much increase to the kings You have set over us, because of our sins; also they have dominion over our bodies and our cattle at their pleasure; and we are in great distress.

And it will be when you shall say, Why does Jehovah our God do all these things to us? then you shall answer them, Just as you have forsaken Me and served foreign gods in your land, so you shall serve strangers in a land that is not yours.

And you, even yourself, have let go of the inheritance which I gave you; and I will cause you to serve your enemies in a land which you do not know. For you have kindled a fire in My anger, which shall burn forever.

and say, Thus says the Lord Jehovah: A great eagle with large wings and long pinions, full of feathers of various colors, came to Lebanon and took the highest branch from the cedar.

There was another great eagle with large wings and many feathers; and behold, this vine bent its roots toward him, and stretched its branches toward him, away from the garden terrace where it had been planted, that he might water it.

Say now to the rebellious house: Do you not know what these things mean? Tell them, Behold, the king of Babylon has come to Jerusalem and has taken its king and rulers, and led them with him to Babylon.

But we will prepare and do whatever goes forth out of our own mouth, to burn incense to the Queen of Heaven, and to pour out drink offerings to her, as we have done, we, and our fathers, our kings, and our rulers, in the cities of Judah, and in the streets of Jerusalem. For then we had plenty of food, and were well-off, and saw no evil.

But since we stopped burning incense to the Queen of Heaven and pouring out drink offerings to her, we have lacked everything, and have been consumed by the sword and by famine.

Yes, so that Jehovah could no longer hold back because of the evil of your doings, because of the abominations which you have done! Therefore your land is a waste, and a wonder, and a curse, without inhabitant, as it is today.

Behold, I will watch over them for evil, and not for good. And all the men of Judah in the land of Egypt shall be consumed by the sword and by famine, until there is an end to them.

Our inheritance has been turned over to strangers; our houses to foreigners.

We have drunk our water for money; our wood comes at a price.

We have given the hand to Egypt, to Assyria, to be satisfied with bread.

Moreover He said to me, Son of man, behold, I will cut off the food supply in Jerusalem; and they shall eat bread by weight and with anxiety, and shall drink water by measure and in horror,

that they may lack bread and water, and be appalled with one another, and waste away because of their iniquity.

I was angry with My people, I have polluted My inheritance, and given them into your hand. You have shown them no mercy; upon the aged you have laid your yoke very heavily.

I also spoke to Zedekiah king of Judah according to all these words, saying, Bring your necks under the yoke of the king of Babylon, and serve him and his people, and live.

Why will you die, you and your people, by the sword, by the famine, and by the pestilence, as Jehovah has spoken against the nation that will not serve the king of Babylon?

Go and tell Hananiah, saying, Thus says Jehovah: You have broken the yokes of wood, but you have made in their place yokes of iron.

For thus says Jehovah of Hosts, the God of Israel, I have put a yoke of iron on the neck of all these nations, that they may serve Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon. And they shall serve him. And I have given him the beasts of the field also.

Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am meek and lowly in heart, and you will find rest unto your souls.