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O Lord, do your eyes not look for truth?
You have struck them,
    but they felt no anguish;
you have consumed them,
    but they refused to take correction.
They have made their faces harder than rock;
    they have refused to turn back.(A)

Then I said, “These are only the poor;
    they have no sense,
for they do not know the way of the Lord,
    the law of their God.(B)
Let me go to the rich[a]
    and speak to them;
surely they know the way of the Lord,
    the law of their God.”
But they all alike had broken the yoke;
    they had burst the bonds.(C)

Therefore a lion from the forest shall kill them;
    a wolf from the desert shall destroy them.
A leopard is watching against their cities;
    everyone who goes out of them shall be torn in pieces,
because their transgressions are many;
    their faithlessness is great.(D)

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Footnotes

  1. 5.5 Or the great

Lord, you are searching for honesty.
You struck your people,
    but they paid no attention.
You crushed them,
    but they refused to be corrected.
They are determined, with faces set like stone;
    they have refused to repent.

Then I said, “But what can we expect from the poor?
    They are ignorant.
They don’t know the ways of the Lord.
    They don’t understand God’s laws.
So I will go and speak to their leaders.
    Surely they know the ways of the Lord
    and understand God’s laws.”
But the leaders, too, as one man,
    had thrown off God’s yoke
    and broken his chains.
So now a lion from the forest will attack them;
    a wolf from the desert will pounce on them.
A leopard will lurk near their towns,
    tearing apart any who dare to venture out.
For their rebellion is great,
    and their sins are many.

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