²⁰ “Declare this in the house of Jacob
And proclaim it in Judah, saying,
²¹ ‘Hear this now, O ^(A)foolish people,
Without ^[a]understanding,
Who have eyes and see not,
And who have ears and hear not:
^22 (B)Do you not fear Me?’ says the Lord.
‘Will you not tremble at My presence,
Who have placed the sand as the ^(C)bound of the sea,
By a perpetual decree, that it cannot pass beyond it?
And though its waves toss to and fro,
Yet they cannot prevail;
Though they roar, yet they cannot pass over it.
²³ But this people has a defiant and rebellious heart;
They have revolted and departed.
²⁴ They do not say in their heart,
“Let us now fear the Lord our God,
^(D)Who gives rain, both the ^(E)former and the latter, in its season.
^(F)He reserves for us the appointed weeks of the harvest.”
^25 (G)Your iniquities have turned these things away,
And your sins have withheld good from you.

²⁶ ‘For among My people are found wicked men;
They ^(H)lie in wait as one who sets snares;
They set a trap;
They catch men.
²⁷ As a cage is full of birds,
So their houses are full of deceit.
Therefore they have become great and grown rich.
²⁸ They have grown ^(I)fat, they are sleek;
Yes, they ^[b]surpass the deeds of the wicked;
They do not plead ^(J)the cause,
The cause of the fatherless;
^(K)Yet they prosper,
And the right of the needy they do not defend.
^29 (L)Shall I not punish them for these things?’ says the Lord.
‘Shall I not avenge Myself on such a nation as this?’

³⁰ “An astonishing and ^(M)horrible thing
Has been committed in the land:
³¹ The prophets prophesy ^(N)falsely,
And the priests rule by their own power;
And My people ^(O)love to have it so.
But what will you do in the end?

^(F)“In an acceptable time I have heard you,
And in the day of salvation I have helped you.”

^(W)“I will dwell in them
And walk among them.
I will be their God,
And they shall be My people.”

^(X)“Come out from among them
And be separate, says the Lord.
Do not touch what is unclean,
And I will receive you.”
¹⁸ “I ^(Y)will be a Father to you,
And you shall be My ^(Z)sons and daughters,
Says the Lord Almighty.”

⁴ “Prepare^(D) war against her;
Arise, and let us go up ^(E)at noon.
Woe to us, for the day goes away,
For the shadows of the evening are lengthening.
⁵ Arise, and let us go by night,
And let us destroy her palaces.”

“Cut down trees,
And build a mound against Jerusalem.
This is the city to be punished.
She is full of oppression in her midst.
^7 (F)As a fountain ^[a]wells up with water,
So she wells up with her wickedness.
^(G)Violence and plundering are heard in her.
Before Me continually are ^[b]grief and wounds.
⁸ Be instructed, O Jerusalem,
Lest ^(H)My soul depart from you;
Lest I make you desolate,
A land not inhabited.”

“They shall thoroughly glean as a vine the remnant of Israel;
As a grape-gatherer, put your hand back into the branches.”

¹⁰ To whom shall I speak and give warning,
That they may hear?
Indeed their ^(I)ear is uncircumcised,
And they cannot give heed.
Behold, ^(J)the word of the Lord is a reproach to them;
They have no delight in it.
¹¹ Therefore I am full of the fury of the Lord.
^(K)I am weary of holding it in.
“I will pour it out ^(L)on the children outside,
And on the assembly of young men together;
For even the husband shall be taken with the wife,
The aged with him who is full of days.
¹² And ^(M)their houses shall be turned over to others,
Fields and wives together;
For I will stretch out My hand
Against the inhabitants of the land,” says the Lord.
¹³ “Because from the least of them even to the greatest of them,
Everyone is given to ^(N)covetousness;
And from the prophet even to the ^(O)priest,
Everyone deals falsely.
¹⁴ They have also ^(P)healed the ^[c]hurt of My people ^[d]slightly,
^(Q)Saying, ‘Peace, peace!’
When there is no peace.
¹⁵ Were they ^(R)ashamed when they had committed abomination?
No! They were not at all ashamed;
Nor did they know how to blush.
Therefore they shall fall among those who fall;
At the time I punish them,
They shall be cast down,” says the Lord.

“Stand in the ways and see,
And ask for the ^(S)old paths, where the good way is,
And walk in it;
Then you will find ^(T)rest for your souls.
But they said, ‘We will not walk in it.’
¹⁷ Also, I set ^(U)watchmen over you, saying,
^(V)‘Listen to the sound of the trumpet!’
But they said, ‘We will not listen.’
¹⁸ Therefore hear, you nations,
And know, O congregation, what is among them.
^19 (W)Hear, O earth!
Behold, I will certainly bring ^(X)calamity on this people—
^(Y)The fruit of their thoughts,
Because they have not heeded My words
Nor My law, but rejected it.
^20 (Z)For what purpose to Me
Comes frankincense ^(AA)from Sheba,
And ^(AB)sweet cane from a far country?
^(AC)Your burnt offerings are not acceptable,
Nor your sacrifices sweet to Me.”

“Behold, I will lay stumbling blocks before this people,
And the fathers and the sons together shall fall on them.
The neighbor and his friend shall perish.”