7. She spouts evil like a fountain.Her streets echo with the sounds of violence and destruction.I always see her sickness and sores.
8. Listen to this warning, Jerusalem,or I will turn from you in disgust.Listen, or I will turn you into a heap of ruins,a land where no one lives.”
9. This is what the lord of Heaven’s Armies says:“Even the few who remain in Israelwill be picked over again,as when a harvester checks each vine a second timeto pick the grapes that were missed.”
10. To whom can I give warning?Who will listen when I speak?Their ears are closed,and they cannot hear.They scorn the word of the lord.They don’t want to listen at all.
11. So now I am filled with the lord’s fury.Yes, I am tired of holding it in!“I will pour out my fury on children playing in the streetsand on gatherings of young men,on husbands and wivesand on those who are old and gray.
12. Their homes will be turned over to their enemies,as will their fields and their wives.For I will raise my powerful fistagainst the people of this land,”says the lord.
13. “From the least to the greatest,their lives are ruled by greed.From prophets to priests,they are all frauds.
14. They offer superficial treatmentsfor my people’s mortal wound.They give assurances of peacewhen there is no peace.
15. Are they ashamed of their disgusting actions?Not at all—they don’t even know how to blush!Therefore, they will lie among the slaughtered.They will be brought down when I punish them,”says the lord.
16. This is what the lord says:“Stop at the crossroads and look around.Ask for the old, godly way, and walk in it.Travel its path, and you will find rest for your souls.But you reply, ‘No, that’s not the road we want!’
17. I posted watchmen over you who said,‘Listen for the sound of the alarm.’But you replied,‘No! We won’t pay attention!’
18. “Therefore, listen to this, all you nations.Take note of my people’s situation.
19. Listen, all the earth!I will bring disaster on my people.It is the fruit of their own schemes,because they refuse to listen to me.They have rejected my word.