9. They complain about me. They say, “Who does that man think he's teaching? Who needs his message? It's only good for babies that have just been weaned!
10. He is trying to teach us letter by letter, line by line, lesson by lesson.”
11. If you won't listen to me, then God will use foreigners speaking some strange-sounding language to teach you a lesson.
12. He offered rest and comfort to all of you, but you refused to listen to him.
13. That is why the Lord is going to teach you letter by letter, line by line, lesson by lesson. Then you will stumble with every step you take. You will be wounded, trapped, and taken prisoner.
14. Now you arrogant ones who rule here in Jerusalem over this people, listen to what the Lord is saying.
15. You boast that you have made a treaty with death and reached an agreement with the world of the dead. You are certain that disaster will spare you when it comes, because you depend on lies and deceit to keep you safe.
16. This, now, is what the Sovereign Lord says: “I am placing in Zion a foundation that is firm and strong. In it I am putting a solid cornerstone on which are written the words, ‘Faith that is firm is also patient.’
17. Justice will be the measuring line for the foundation, and honesty will be its plumb line.”Hailstorms will sweep away all the lies you depend on, and floods will destroy your security.
18. The treaty you have made with death will be abolished, and your agreement with the world of the dead will be cancelled. When disaster sweeps down, you will be overcome.
19. It will strike you again and again, morning after morning. You will have to bear it day and night. Each new message from God will bring new terror!
20. You will be like the person in the proverb, who tries to sleep in a bed too short to stretch out on, with a blanket too narrow to wrap himself in.