5. One cheats the other;no one tells the truth;they train themselves to lie;they wear themselves out by doing wrong.
6. You live in a world of deceit, and in their deceitthey refuse to know me,declares the Lord.
7. Therefore, the Lord of heavenly forces proclaims:I’m going to refine and test them,for what else can I do with my people?
8. Their tongue is a lethal arrow;their words are deceitful.They wish their neighbors well,but in their hearts plot their ruin.
9. Shouldn’t I punish them for this?declares the Lord;shouldn’t I avenge such a nation?
10. I will weep and wail for the mountains,and lament for the grazing lands in the wilderness.They are dried up and deserted;no sound of the flocks is heard;no sign of birds or animals is seen;all have vanished.
11. I will reduce Jerusalem to ruins,a den for wild dogs.I will make the towns of Judah a wasteland, without inhabitant.
12. Who is wise enough to understand this?Who has been taught by the Lordand can therefore explain it?Why has the land been reduced to rubbleand laid waste like a desert,with no one passing through?
13. The Lord says: It is because they have abandoned my Instruction that I gave them, and haven’t obeyed or followed it.