23. But you people have stubborn hearts. You refuse to obey me. You have turned away from me. You have gone down the wrong path.
24. You do not say to yourselves, "Let us have respect for the Lord our God. He sends rain in the fall and the spring. He promises us that the harvest will come at the same time each year."
25. But the things you have done wrong have robbed you of those gifts. Your sins have kept those good things far away from you.'
26. "Jeremiah, some of my people are evil. They hide and wait just as people hide to catch birds. They set traps for men.
27. A hunter uses tricks to fill his cage with birds. And my people have filled their houses with a lot of goods. They have become rich and powerful.
28. They have grown fat and heavy. There is no limit to the evil things they do. In court they do not state the case of children whose fathers have died. They do not stand up for poor people.
29. Shouldn't I punish them for that?" announces the Lord. "Shouldn't I pay back the nation that does those things?
30. "Something horrible and shocking has happened in the land.