3. “And death shall be preferred to life by all the rest of those who remain of this evil people, who remain in all the places where I have driven them,” declares יהוה of hosts.
4. “And you shall say to them, ‘Thus said יהוה, “Would they fall, and not rise? Does one turn away and not return?
5. “Why then has this people, Yerushalayim, turned away in a continual backsliding? They cling to deceit, they refuse to turn back.
6. “I have listened and heard – they do not speak right. No man has repented of his evil, saying, ‘What have I done?’ They all turned to their own course, like a horse rushing into battle.
7. “Even a stork in the heavens knows her appointed times. And a turtledove, and a swallow, and a thrush observe the time of their coming. But My people do not know the right-ruling of יהוה.
8. “How do you say, ‘We are wise, and the Torah of יהוה is with us’? But look, the false pen of the scribe has worked falsehood.
9. “The wise shall be put to shame, they shall be broken down and caught. See, they have rejected the Word of יהוה, so what wisdom do they have?
10. “Therefore I give their wives to others, and their fields to possessing ones. For from the least even to the greatest, they are all greedy for gain. From the prophet to the priest, all act falsely.
11. “And they heal the breach of the daughter of My people slightly, saying, ‘Peace, peace!’ when there is no peace.
12. “Were they ashamed when they had done abomination? No! They were not at all ashamed, nor did they know how to blush. So they shall fall among those who fall. They shall stumble in the time of their visitation,” said יהוה.