10. So I will give their wives to other menand their fields to new owners.Everyone, from the least important to the greatest,is greedy for money.Even the prophets and priestsall tell lies.
11. They tried to heal my people’s serious injuriesas if they were small wounds.They said, “It’s all right, it’s all right.”But really, it is not all right.
12. They should be ashamed of the terrible way they act,but they are not ashamed at all.They don’t even know how to blush about their sins.So they will fall, along with everyone else.They will be thrown to the ground when I punish them, says the Lord.
13. “ ‘I will take away their crops, says the Lord.There will be no grapes on the vineand no figs on the fig tree.Even the leaves will dry up and die.I will take away what I gave them.’ ”
14. “Why are we just sitting here?Let’s get together!We have sinned against the Lord,so he has given us poisoned water to drink.Come, let’s run to the strong, walled cities.The Lord our God has decided that we must die,so let’s die there.
15. We hoped to have peace,but nothing good has come.We hoped for a time when he would heal us,but only terror has come.
16. From the land of Dan,the snorting of the enemy’s horses is heard.The ground shakes from the neighing of their large horses.They have come and destroyedthe land and everything in it,the city and all who live there.”
17. “Look! I am sending poisonous snakes to attack you.These snakes cannot be charmed,and they will bite you,” says the Lord.
18. God, you are my comfort when I am very sadand when I am afraid.
19. Listen to the sound of my people.They cry from a faraway land:“Isn’t the Lord still in Jerusalem?Isn’t Jerusalem’s king still there?”But God says, “Why did the people make me angry by worshiping idols,useless foreign idols?”
20. And the people say, “Harvest time is over;summer has ended,and we have not been saved.”
21. Because my people are crushed, I am crushed.I cry loudly and am afraid for them.