JEREMIAH, BOOK OF

The southern kingdom of Judah had sunk deep into apostasy. The prophet Jeremiah was raised up to offer them God's final invitation for repentance. When that failed, the prophet was commissioned to foretell the coming Babylonian conquest, and to admonish the nation that it must submit to the punishing invasion and subsequent captivity -- for seventy years. The prophet was sorely persecuted for his courageous message. Jeremiah also denounced the sins of several pagan nations.