14. Are Lebanon's rocky heights ever without snow?Do its cool mountain streams ever run dry?
15. Yet my people have forgotten me;they burn incense to idols.They have stumbled in the way they should go,they no longer follow the old ways;they walk on unmarked paths.
16. They have made this land a thing of horror,to be despised for ever.All who pass by will be shocked at what they see;they will shake their heads in amazement.
17. I will scatter my people before their enemies,like dust blown by the east wind.I will turn my back on them;I will not help them when the disaster comes.”
18. Then the people said, “Let's do something about Jeremiah! There will always be priests to instruct us, the wise to give us counsel, and prophets to proclaim God's message. Let's bring charges against him, and stop listening to what he says.”
19. So I prayed, “Lord, hear what I am saying and listen to what my enemies are saying about me.
20. Is evil the payment for good? Yet they have dug a pit for me to fall in. Remember how I came to you and spoke on their behalf, so that you would not deal with them in anger.