4. Tell them: Thus says the Lord:When someone falls, do they not rise again?if they turn away, do they not turn back?
5. Why then do these people resistwith persistent rebellion?Why do they cling to deception,refuse to turn back?
6. I have listened closely:they speak what is not true;No one regrets wickedness,saying, “What have I done?”Everyone keeps on running their course,like a horse dashing into battle.
7. Even the stork in the skyknows its seasons;Turtledove, swift, and thrushobserve the time of their return,But my people do not knowthe order of the Lord.
8. How can you say, “We are wise,we have the law of the Lord”?See, that has been changed into falsehoodby the lying pen of the scribes!
9. The wise are put to shame,terrified, and trapped;Since they have rejected the word of the Lord,what sort of wisdom do they have?
10. Therefore, I will give their wives to other men,their fields to new owners.Small and great alike, all are greedy for gain,prophet and priest, all practice fraud.
11. They have treated lightlythe injury to the daughter of my people:“Peace, peace!” they say,though there is no peace.
12. They have acted shamefully; they have done abominable things,yet they are not at all ashamed,they do not know how to blush.Hence they shall be among those who fall;in their time of punishment they shall stumble,says the Lord.
13. I will gather them all in—oracle of the Lord:no grapes on the vine,No figs on the fig trees,foliage withered!Whatever I have given them is gone.
14. Why do we remain here?Let us assemble and flee to the fortified cities,where we will meet our doom;For the Lord our God has doomed us,he has given us poisoned water to drink,because we have sinned against the Lord.
15. We wait for peace to no avail;for a time of healing, but terror comes instead.
16. From Dan is heardthe snorting of horses;The neighing of stallionsshakes the whole land.They come to devour the land and everything in it,the city and its inhabitants.
17. Yes, I will send against youpoisonous snakes.Against them no charm will workwhen they bite you—oracle of the Lord.