Crucify him!—Let him taste the death he yearns for.—He is our enemy.—Crucify him.—Stone him!

[At this moment a number of fugitives rush into the marketplace in wild disorder, throwing away their weapons as they run]

Fugitives

The walls are down.—The enemy is in the city. The Chaldeans have gained the day.—Israel is lost.

More Fugitives

Abimelech is slain.—All is lost.—Jerusalem is fallen.

Yet More Fugitives

[In full flight] They are hard on our heels.—To the temple.—All is lost.—Israel! Israel.—Alas for Jerusalem.

[The crowd joins the fugitives, uttering shrieks of terror. Jeremiah is forgotten. The whole city seems to ring with cries of despair and the noise of vain attempts at flight]

THE CONVERSION