[All shudder]
Thus in his anguish he called upon Jeremiah. When the fiery steel pierced his eyes, again did he call on the name of Jeremiah, saying: “Jeremiah, Jeremiah, where art thou, revealer? Where art thou, Jeremiah, my brother?” Zedekiah called upon his name, the name of him who had foreseen.
[They shrink away from Jeremiah, as from a dangerous beast]
Jeremiah
[Struggling with emotion] It is false. Not by my will did this happen. Let him not dare to accuse me. The word came to me; what I said was struck from me as we strike fire from flint. I wished him no ill. God made me a liar, resist his power as I would. Not mine the will that moved me.
Zephaniah
What is he talking about?
A Woman
Madness hath seized him.
Another Woman