Jeremiad of the Day

Jeremiah, from whom we have the word Jeremiad — a prolonged lamentation or complaint; also : a cautionary or angry harangue — foretold the destruction of Jerusalem by Babylon and was ignored, mocked, and jailed for his effort. He is thus known as "the broken hearted prophet."

God apparently told him, "You will go to them; but for their part, they will not listen to you." When Jerusalem was finally sacked and the Temple destroyed in 586 BC, Jeremiah famously uttered the words, "I told you so!"

I made that last part up.

Thanks to my friend Donna, who is always quick with the apt biblical quote, for sending me the following.

For scoundrels are found among my people;
they take over the goods of others.
Like fowlers they set a trap;
they catch human beings.
Like a cage full of birds,
their houses are full of treachery;
therefore they have become great and rich,
they have grown fat and sleek.
They know no limits in deeds of wickedness;
they do not judge with justice
the cause of the orphan, to make it prosper,
and they do not defend the rights of the needy.

- Jeremiah 5:26-28