17. They will devour your harvests and food, devour your sons and daughters; they will devour your flocks and herds, devour your vines and fig trees. With the sword they will destroy the fortified cities in which you trust.
18. “Yet even in those days,” declares the Lord, “I will not destroy you completely.
19. And when the people ask, ‘Why has the Lord our God done all this to us?’ you will tell them, ‘As you have forsaken me and served foreign gods in your own land, so now you will serve foreigners in a land not your own.’
20. “Announce this to the descendants of Jacob and proclaim it in Judah:
21. Hear this, you foolish and senseless people, who have eyes but do not see, who have ears but do not hear:
22. Should you not fear me?” declares the Lord. “Should you not tremble in my presence? I made the sand a boundary for the sea, an everlasting barrier it cannot cross. The waves may roll, but they cannot prevail; they may roar, but they cannot cross it.
23. But these people have stubborn and rebellious hearts; they have turned aside and gone away.
24. They do not say to themselves, ‘Let us fear the Lord our God, who gives autumn and spring rains in season, who assures us of the regular weeks of harvest.’