“ Suppose there isn’t enough food in the land. And a plague strikes the land. The hot winds completely dry up our crops. Or locusts or grasshoppers come and eat them up. Or an enemy surrounds one of our cities and gets ready to attack it. Or trouble or sickness comes.

“国中若有饥荒、瘟疫、旱风、霉烂、蝗虫、蚂蚱，或有仇敌犯境围困城邑，无论遭遇什么灾祸疾病，

“这地若有饥荒、瘟疫、焚风、霉烂、蝗虫、蚂蚱，或有仇敌围困这地的城门，无论遭遇什么灾祸疾病，

“这地若有饥荒、瘟疫、焚风、霉烂、蝗虫、蚂蚱，或有仇敌围困这地的城门，无论遭遇什么灾祸疾病，

“如果国中有饥荒、瘟疫、旱灾、霉病、蝗灾、虫灾，或是城邑被敌人围困，无论遭遇什么灾祸疾病，

“如果这地有饥荒、瘟疫、旱风、霉烂、蝗虫、蚂蚱，或有仇敌把他们围困在城里，无论遭遇什么灾祸，什么疾病，

「國中若有饑荒、瘟疫、旱風、霉爛、蝗蟲、螞蚱，或有仇敵犯境圍困城邑，無論遭遇甚麼災禍疾病，

「這地若有饑荒、瘟疫、焚風、霉爛、蝗蟲、螞蚱，或有仇敵圍困這地的城門，無論遭遇甚麼災禍疾病，

「這地若有饑荒、瘟疫、焚風、霉爛、蝗蟲、螞蚱，或有仇敵圍困這地的城門，無論遭遇甚麼災禍疾病，

「如果國中有饑荒、瘟疫、旱災、黴病、蝗災、蟲災，或是城邑被敵人圍困，無論遭遇什麼災禍疾病，

“如果這地有饑荒、瘟疫、旱風、霉爛、蝗蟲、螞蚱，或有仇敵把他們圍困在城裡，無論遭遇甚麼災禍，甚麼疾病，

『此地若有饑荒、瘟疫、旱風、霉爛、蝗蟲、螞蚱，若有仇敵圍困城市之地，無論甚麼災病、甚麼病痛，

若斯土有饑饉疫癘、五穀枯稿霉爛、或有蝻蝗蚱蜢、或有仇敵犯境、圍其城邑、無論何災何疾、

如於斯土有饑饉、瘟疫、風暴特甚、五穀細弱、如有蝗蟲、食其物產、如有仇敵、困其邑鄉、勿論何災、勿論何害。

如斯地有饑饉疫癘、或稼穡萎弱枯槁、或有蝗蝻蚱蜢之災、或敵人犯境、圍困城池、無論何災、無論何害、害原文作病

“ When famine or plague comes to the land, or blight or mildew, locusts or grasshoppers, or when an enemy besieges them in any of their cities, whatever disaster or disease may come,

“ If there is famine in the land, if there is pestilence or blight or mildew or locust or caterpillar, if their enemy besieges them in the land at their gates, whatever plague, whatever sickness there is,

“ If there is a famine in the land or a plague or crop disease or attacks of locusts or caterpillars, or if your people’s enemies are in the land besieging their towns— whatever disaster or disease there is—

When there is famine in the land, when there is pestilence, when there is blight or mildew, locust or grasshopper, when their enemy besieges them in the land and its cities, when there is any plague or illness,

“ If there is a famine in the land, if there is a plague, if there is blight or mildew, locust or grasshopper, if their enemy harasses them in the land of their cities, whatever plague, whatever sickness there is,

“ When there is famine in the land, pestilence or blight or mildew, locusts or grasshoppers; when their enemy besieges them in the land of their cities; whatever plague or whatever sickness there is;

If there be in the land famine, if there be pestilence, if there be blasting or mildew, locust or caterpillar; if their enemy besiege them in the land of their cities; whatsoever plague, whatsoever sickness there be;

When there is famine on the earth, when there is pestilence, when there is blight, mildew, locust, or grasshopper, when their enemy besieges them in the region of their fortified cities, when there is any plague or illness,

If there be in the land famine, if there be pestilence, blasting, mildew, locust,[ or] if there be caterpiller; if their enemy besiege them in the land of their cities; whatsoever plague, whatsoever sickness[ there be];

“ The time will come when the land suffers from a famine, a plague, blight and disease, or a locust invasion, or when their enemy lays siege to the cities of the land, or when some other type of plague or epidemic occurs.

“ If there is famine in the land, if there is pestilence, if there is blight, mildew, locust or caterpillar; if their enemy besieges them in the land of their cities; whatever plague, whatever sickness there is;

Then here is what I will do to you. All at once I will bring terror on you. I will send sicknesses that will make you weak. I will send fever that will destroy your sight. It will slowly take your strength away. When you plant seeds, it will not do you any good. Instead, your enemies will eat what you have planted.

He will send all kinds of sicknesses on you. He’ll send them until he has destroyed you. He’ll remove you from the land you are entering to take as your own.The Lord will make you sick and very weak. He will strike you with fever and swelling. He’ll send burning heat. There won’t be any rain. The hot winds will completely dry up your crops. All those things will happen until you die.

‘ Suppose trouble comes on us. It doesn’t matter whether it’s a punishing sword, or plague or hunger. We’ll serve you. We’ll stand in front of this temple where your Name is. We’ll cry out to you when we’re in trouble. Then you will hear us. You will save us.’

You will plant many seeds in your field. But you will gather very little food. Locusts will eat it up.You will plant vineyards and take care of them. But you won’t drink the wine. You won’t gather the grapes. Worms will eat them up.You will have olive trees through your whole country. But you won’t use the oil. The olives will drop off the trees.You will have children. But you won’t be able to keep them. They’ll be taken away as prisoners.Large numbers of locusts will eat up the leaves on all your trees. They will also eat up the crops on your land.

The Lord and King says,“ It will get much worse. I will punish Jerusalem in four horrible ways. There will be war, hunger, wild animals and plague. They will destroy the people and their animals.

They’ll surround all the cities throughout your whole land. They’ll attack those cities until the high, strong walls you trust in fall down. That’s what will happen to the cities in the land the Lord your God is giving you.Your enemies will surround you and attack you. They will make you suffer greatly. So you will eat your own children. You will eat the dead bodies of the sons and daughters the Lord your God has given you.There may be a gentle and caring man among you. But he will treat his own brother badly. He’ll be just as mean to the wife he loves and to any of his children who are still alive.He won’t give to a single one of them any part of the dead bodies of his children that he’s eating. It will be all he has left to eat. That’s how much your enemies will make you suffer when they surround all your cities and attack them.There may be a gentle and caring woman among you. She wouldn’t even touch the ground with her feet without first putting her sandals on. But she will not share anything with the husband she loves. She won’t share with her own children either.She will eat what comes out of her body after she has a baby. Then she’ll even eat her baby. She won’t share it with anyone in her family. In her great hunger she’ll plan to eat it in secret. There won’t be anything else for her to eat because the city she lives in will be surrounded. That’s an example of how much your enemies will make you suffer when they are attacking your cities.Be careful to follow all the words of this law. They are written in this scroll. Have respect for the glorious and wonderful name of the Lord your God. If you don’t,he will send terrible plagues on you and your children after you. He’ll send horrible and lasting troubles. He’ll make you very sick for a long time.He’ll bring on you all the sicknesses you were afraid of getting when you were in Egypt. You won’t be able to get rid of them.The Lord will also bring on you all other kinds of sickness and trouble. I haven’t even written those down in this Book of the Law. You will be destroyed.

There wasn’t enough food anywhere in the city. It was surrounded for so long that people had to weigh out two pounds of silver for a donkey’s head. They had to weigh out two ounces of silver for half a pint of seed pods.One day the king of Israel was walking on top of the city wall. A woman cried out to him,“ You are my king and master. Please help me!”The king replied,“ If the Lord doesn’t help you, where can I get help for you? From the threshing floor? From the winepress?”He continued,“ What’s wrong?” She answered,“ A woman said to me,‘ Give up your son. Then we can eat him today. Tomorrow we’ll eat my son.’So we cooked my son. Then we ate him. The next day I said to her,‘ Give up your son. Then we can eat him.’ But she had hidden him.”

The Lord says,“ I sent a great army of locusts to attack you. They included common locusts, giant locusts, young locusts and other locusts. I will make up for the years they ate your crops.You will have plenty to eat. It will satisfy you completely. Then you will praise me. I am the Lord your God. I have done wonderful things for you. My people will never again be put to shame.

“ Suppose there isn’t enough food in the land. And a plague strikes the land. The hot winds completely dry up our crops. Or locusts or grasshoppers come and eat them up. Or enemies surround one of our cities and get ready to attack it. Or trouble or sickness comes.But suppose one of your people prays to you. They ask you to help them. They are aware of how much they are suffering. And they spread out their hands toward this temple to pray.Then listen to them from heaven. It’s the place where you live. Forgive them. Deal with everyone in keeping with everything they do. You know their hearts. In fact, you are the only one who knows every human heart.Your people will have respect for you. They will live the way you want them to. They’ll live that way as long as they are in the land you gave our people long ago.

You can have three years when there will not be enough food in the land. You can have three months when your enemies will sweep you away. They will catch up with you. They will destroy you with their swords. Or you can have three days when the sword of the Lord will punish you. That means there would be three days of plague in the land. My angel would strike down people in every part of Israel.’ So take your pick. Tell me how to answer the one who sent me.”

The Lord will help your enemies win the battle over you. You will come at them from one direction. But you will run away from them in every direction. All the kingdoms on earth will be completely shocked when they see you.

I will send war against you to punish you for breaking my covenant. When you go back into your cities, I will send a plague among you. You will be handed over to your enemies.I will cut off your supply of bread. Ten women will need only one oven to bake your bread. They will weigh out the bread piece by piece. Even when you eat all of it, it will not be enough to satisfy you.“‘ After all that, suppose you still do not listen to me. And suppose you continue to be my enemy.Then I will be angry with you. I will be your enemy. I myself will again punish you for your sins over and over.You will eat the dead bodies of your sons. You will also eat the dead bodies of your daughters.I will destroy the high places where you worship other gods. I will pull down your incense altars. I will pile up your dead bodies on the lifeless statues of your gods. And I will turn away from you.I will completely destroy your cities. I will destroy your places of worship. The pleasant smell of your offerings will not give me any delight.I myself will destroy your land so completely that your enemies who live there will be shocked.I will scatter you among the nations. I will pull out my sword and hunt you down. Your land and your cities will be completely destroyed.Then the deserted land will enjoy its sabbath years. It will rest. It will not be farmed. It will enjoy its sabbaths. But you will become prisoners in the country of your enemies.The land will rest the whole time it is deserted. It was not able to rest during the sabbaths you lived in it.“‘ Some of you will be left in the lands of your enemies. I will fill your hearts with fear. The sound of a leaf blown by the wind will scare you away. You will run as if you were escaping from swords. You will fall down, even though no one is chasing you.You will trip over one another as if you were running away from the battle. You will run away, even though no one is chasing you. You will not be able to stand and fight against your enemies.While you are still scattered among the nations, you will die. The lands of your enemies will destroy you.You who are left in those lands will become weaker and weaker. You will die because of your sins and the sins of your people who lived before you.“‘ But suppose you admit that both you and your people who lived before you have sinned. You admit the evil and dishonest things you have done against me. And you admit you have become my enemy.What you did made me become your enemy. I let your enemies take you into their land. But suppose you stop being stubborn. You stop being proud. And you pay for your sin.Then I will remember my covenant with Jacob. I will remember my covenant with Isaac. I will remember my covenant with Abraham. I will remember what I said to them about the land.You will leave the land. It will enjoy its sabbaths while it lies deserted because you are not there. You will pay for your sins because you said no to my laws. You turned away from my rules.But even after all that, I will not say no to you or turn away from you. I will not destroy you completely in the land of your enemies. I will not break my covenant with you. I am the Lord your God.Because of you, I will remember the covenant I made with the people of Israel who lived before you. I brought them out of Egypt to be their God. The nations saw me do it. I am the Lord.’ ”These are the orders, the laws and the rules of the covenant the Lord made on Mount Sinai. He made it between himself and the Israelites through Moses.

Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, marched out against Jerusalem. He came with all his armies and attacked it. It was in the ninth year that Zedekiah was king of Judah. It was in the tenth month.The city wall was broken through. It happened on the ninth day of the fourth month. It was in the 11th year of Zedekiah’s rule.All the officials of the king of Babylon came. They took seats near the Middle Gate. Nergal- Sharezer from Samgar was there. Nebo- Sarsekim, a chief officer, was also there. So was Nergal- Sharezer, a high official. And all the other officials of the king of Babylon were there too.

The armies of the king of Babylon were getting ready to attack Jerusalem. Jeremiah the prophet was being held as a prisoner. He was kept in the courtyard of the guard. It was part of Judah’s royal palace.

He spoke, and the locusts came. There were so many of them they couldn’t be counted.They ate up every green thing in the land. They ate up what the land produced.

The giant locusts have eaten what the common locusts have left. The young locusts have eaten what the giant locusts have left. And other locusts have eaten what the young locusts have left.Get up and weep, you people who drink too much! Cry, all you who drink wine! Cry because the fresh wine has been taken away from you.The locusts are like a mighty army that has marched into our land. There are so many of them they can’t even be counted. Their teeth are as sharp as a lion’s teeth. They are like the fangs of a female lion.The locusts have completely destroyed our vines. They have wiped out our fig trees. They’ve stripped off the bark and thrown it away. They’ve left the branches bare.