Jeremiah laments the destruction of Jerusalem

I probably shouldn't admit this in an age when a bizarre alliance of scientific arrogance and a pseudo-intellectual conceited social activism has combined to declare all religion and christianity in particular an anachronistic blockade to human progress, but I am one of those dinosaurs who considers the Bible one of the greatest books ever written, although I much prefer the Old Testament to the new. It has been many years since I read it but I reread the Book of Jeremiah to write this profile. The Book of Jeremiah is along with the Book of Job the most pessimistic of the Biblical chapters. Lots of fire and brimstone here. Essentially the Book of Jeremiah is a lengthy diatribe warning that the refusal of Jeremiah's own people to heed God's word will lead to complete disaster. He prophecizes the conquering and Babylonian captivity of the Jewish people which did indeed come to pass. He does however prophecize a rebirth of Judah and a new covenant with God. And he also demonizes the foreign enemies of Judea. There are many clever analogies and metaphors and several recognizable literary devices. Jeremiah must have had a very strong constitution because history tells us that in spite his harsh warnings leading to being imprisoned several times for treason by both his own Jewish people and the enemies of the Jews he lived into his nineties in an age when the average life span was about thirty.