1. Oh, that I had in the wildernessa travelers’ lodging!That I might leave my peopleand depart from them.They are all adulterers,a band of traitors.
2. They ready their tongues like a drawn bow;with lying, and not with truth,they are powerful in the land.They go from evil to evil,and me they do not know—oracle of the Lord.
3. Be on your guard, everyone against his neighbor;put no trust in any brother.Every brother imitates Jacob, the supplanter,every neighbor is guilty of slander.
4. Each one deceives the other,no one speaks the truth.They have accustomed their tongues to lying,they are perverse and cannot repent.
5. Violence upon violence,deceit upon deceit:They refuse to know me—oracle of the Lord.
6. Therefore, thus says the Lord of hosts:I will refine them and test them;how else should I deal with the daughter of my people?
7. A murderous arrow is their tongue,their mouths utter deceit;They speak peaceably with their neighbors,but in their hearts they lay an ambush!
8. Should I not punish them for these deeds—oracle of the Lord;on a nation such as this should I not take vengeance?
9. Over the mountains I shall break out in cries of lamentation,over the pastures in the wilderness, in a dirge:They are scorched, and no one crosses them,no sound of lowing cattle;Birds of the air as well as beasts,all have fled and are gone.