⁴ The Lord says, “The people of Judah have sinned again and again, and I will not forget it. I will not leave them unpunished anymore. For they have rejected the laws of God, refusing to obey him. They have hardened their hearts and sinned as their fathers did. ⁵ So I will destroy Judah with fire and burn down all Jerusalem’s palaces and forts.”

⁶ The Lord says, “The people of Israel have sinned again and again, and I will not forget it. I will not leave them unpunished anymore. For they have perverted justice by accepting bribes and sold into slavery the poor who can’t repay their debts; they trade them for a pair of shoes. ⁷ They trample the poor in the dust and kick aside the meek.

“And a man and his father defile the same temple girl, corrupting my holy name. ⁸ At their religious feasts they lounge in clothing stolen from their debtors, and in my own Temple they offer sacrifices of wine they purchased with stolen money.

⁹ “Yet think of all I did for them! I cleared the land of the Amorites before them—the Amorites, as tall as cedar trees, and strong as oaks! But I lopped off their fruit and cut their roots. ¹⁰ And I brought you out from Egypt and led you through the desert forty years, to possess the land of the Amorites. ¹¹ And I chose your sons to be Nazirites^[a] and prophets—can you deny this, Israel?” asks the Lord. ¹² “But you caused the Nazirites to sin by urging them to drink your wine, and you silenced my prophets, telling them, ‘Shut up!’

¹³ “Therefore, I will make you groan as a wagon groans that is loaded with sheaves. ¹⁴ Your swiftest warriors will stumble in flight. The strong will all be weak, and the great ones can no longer save themselves. ¹⁵ The archer’s aim will fail, the swiftest runners won’t be fast enough to flee, and even the best of horsemen can’t outrun the danger then. ¹⁶ The most courageous of your mighty men will drop their weapons and run for their lives that day.” The Lord God has spoken.