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The Blind Perversity of the Whole Nation

You shall say to them, Thus says the Lord:
When people fall, do they not get up again?
    If they go astray, do they not turn back?(A)
Why then has this people[a] turned away
    in perpetual faithlessness?
They have held fast to deceit;
    they have refused to return.(B)
I have given heed and listened,
    but they do not speak honestly;
no one repents of wickedness,
    saying, “What have I done!”
All of them turn to their own course
    like a horse plunging headlong into battle.(C)
Even the stork in the heavens
    knows its times,
and the turtledove, swallow, and crane[b]
    observe the time of their coming,
but my people do not know
    the ordinance of the Lord.(D)

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Footnotes

  1. 8.5 Heb ms Gk: MT this people, Jerusalem,
  2. 8.7 Meaning of Heb uncertain

“You are to say to them: This is what the Lord says:

Do people fall and not get up again?(A)
If they turn away, do they not return?
Why have these people turned away?
Why is Jerusalem always turning away?
They take hold of deceit;(B)
they refuse to return.(C)
I have paid careful attention.
They do not speak what is right.
No one regrets his evil,
asking, ‘What have I done?’
Everyone has stayed his course
like a horse rushing into battle.(D)
Even storks in the sky
know their seasons.
Turtledoves, swallows, and cranes[a]
are aware of their migration,
but my people do not know
the requirements of the Lord.(E)

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Footnotes

  1. 8:7 Hb obscure