21. Tell them: ‘Hear this,you foolish people who have no understanding,who have eyes but do not discern,who have ears but do not perceive:
22. “You should fear me!” says the Lord.“You should tremble in awe before me!I made the sand to be a boundary for the sea,a permanent barrier that it can never cross.Its waves may roll, but they can never prevail.They may roar, but they can never cross beyond that boundary.”
23. But these people have stubborn and rebellious hearts.They have turned aside and gone their own way.
24. They do not say to themselves,“Let us revere the Lord our God.It is he who gives us the autumn rains and the spring rains at the proper time.It is he who assures us of the regular weeks of harvest.”
25. Your misdeeds have stopped these things from coming.Your sins have deprived you of my bounty.’
26. “Indeed, there are wicked scoundrels among my people.They lie in wait like bird catchers hiding in ambush.They set deadly traps to catch people.
27. Like a cage filled with the birds that have been caught,their houses are filled with the gains of their fraud and deceit.That is how they have gotten so rich and powerful.
28. That is how they have grown fat and sleek.There is no limit to the evil things they do.They do not plead the cause of the fatherless in such a way as to win it.They do not defend the rights of the poor.
29. I will certainly punish them for doing such things!” says the Lord.“I will certainly bring retribution on such a nation as this!
30. “Something horrible and shockingis going on in the land of Judah:
31. The prophets prophesy lies.The priests exercise power by their own authority.And my people love to have it this way.But they will not be able to help you when the time of judgment comes!