The Depravity of Jerusalem
1Roam 2Ch 16:9 through the streets of Jerusalem.
Look and take note;
search in her squares.
If you find one person, Ps 14:1-3; Ezk 22:30; Rm 3:10
any who acts justly,
who seeks to be faithful,
then I will forgive her. Gn 18:26-32
they are swearing falsely. Lv 19:12; Is 48:1; Jr 7:9
You have struck them, but they felt no pain. Pr 23:35
You finished them off,
but they refused to accept discipline. Pr 27:22
They made their faces harder than rock, Ezk 3:7-9
and they refused to return. Hs 11:5
4Then I thought:
They are just the poor;
they have played the fool.
For they don’t understand the way of the Lord, Gn 18:19; 2Kg 17:26; 21:22; Ps 95:10; Jr 8:7; Hs 4:6
the justice of their God. Mc 3:1
5I will go to the powerful
and speak to them.
Surely they know the way of the Lord,
the justice of their God. Ps 103:7
However, these also had broken the yoke
and torn off the chains. Ps 2:3; Jr 2:20
6Therefore, a lion from the forest will strike them down. 2Kg 17:26; Jr 4:7; 25:38
A wolf from an arid plain will ravage them.
A leopard Hs 13:7; Rv 13:2 keeps watch over their cities.
Anyone who leaves them will be torn to pieces
because their rebellious acts are many, Is 59:12
their unfaithful deeds numerous. Jr 3:6,8,11-12,22; 14:7; 30:15; Am 5:12
7Why should I forgive you?
Your children have abandoned Me
and sworn by those who are not gods. Dt 32:21; Jos 23:7; Gl 4:8
I satisfied their needs, yet they committed adultery; Hs 4:10
they gashed themselves 1Kg 18:24 at the Or adultery and trooped to the, or adultery and lodged at the ; Hb obscure prostitute’s house.
8They are well-fed, Lit well-equipped ; Hb obscure eager Lit early-rising ; Hb obscure stallions, Ezk 23:20
each neighing Jr 13:27 after someone else’s wife. Ex 20:14; Ezk 22:11
9Should I not punish them for these things? Jr 5:29; 8:10; 9:9
This is the Lord’s declaration.
Should I not avenge Myself Dt 32:35; Heb 10:30
on such a nation as this?
10Go up among her vineyard terraces and destroy them, 2Kg 24:2
but do not finish them off. Jr 4:27
Prune away her shoots,
for they do not belong to the Lord. Hs 1:9
11They, the house of Israel and the house of Judah,
have dealt very treacherously with Me. Is 21:2; 24:16; 48:8; Hs 6:7
This is the Lord’s declaration.
12They have contradicted the Lord
and insisted, “It won’t happen. Lit He does not exist Is 28:15; Jr 23:17
Harm won’t come to us;
we won’t see sword or famine.”
13The prophets become only wind,
for the Lord’s word is not in them.
This will in fact happen to them.
Coming Judgment
14Therefore, this is what the Lord God of Hosts says:
Because you have spoken this word,
I am going to make My words
become fire in your mouth. Hs 6:5; Rv 11:5
These people are the wood,
and the fire will consume them. Zch 12:6
15I am about to bring a nation
from far away against you, Is 10:3; 13:5; 30:27; Jr 4:16
house of Israel.
This is the Lord’s declaration.
It is an established nation,
an ancient nation,
a nation whose language you do not know
and whose speech you do not understand. Dt 28:49; Is 28:11; 33:19; 1Co 14:21
16Their quiver is like an open grave; Ps 5:9; Rm 3:13
they are all mighty warriors.
17They will consume your harvest and your food. Lv 26:16; Dt 28:31,33,51
They will consume your sons and your daughters.
They will consume your flocks and your herds.
They will consume your vines and your fig trees.
They will destroy with the sword
your fortified cities Hs 8:14 in which you trust.
18“But even in those days” — this is the Lord’s declaration — “I will not finish you off. 2Ch 12:12; Jr 4:27; 5:10; 30:11; Ezk 11:13; 20:17; Rm 11:1-5
19When people ask, ‘For what offense has the Lord our God done all these things to us? ’ You will respond to them: Just as you abandoned Me Dt 28:20; 29:24-25; 31:16; Jdg 2:12; 1Sm 8:8; 1Kg 9:8-9; Is 1:4,28; Jr 1:16; 2:13,17,19; 16:11; 17:13 and served foreign gods in your land, so will you serve strangers in a land that is not yours. Dt 4:27-28; 28:47-48
20“Declare this in the house of Jacob; proclaim it in Judah, saying:
21Hear this,
you foolish and senseless Lit without heart people. Dt 32:6
They have eyes, but they don’t see.
They have ears, but they don’t hear. Ps 115:5-6; 135:16-17; Is 6:9; 42:20; Ezk 12:2; Mt 13:14; Mk 8:18
22Do you not fear Me?
This is the Lord’s declaration.
Do you not tremble before Me,
the One who set the sand as the boundary of the sea,
an enduring barrier that it cannot cross? Jb 26:10; 38:10-11; Ps 104:9; Pr 8:29
The waves surge, but they cannot prevail.
They roar but cannot pass over it.
23But these people have stubborn and rebellious hearts. Dt 21:18,20; Ps 78:8; Is 1:5; Heb 3:12
They have turned aside and have gone away.
24They have not said to themselves,
‘Let’s fear the Lord our God, Pr 9:10; Hs 6:1
who gives the rain, Mt 5:45 both early and late, Jl 2:23 in its season, Dt 11:14
who guarantees to us the fixed weeks of the harvest.’
25Your guilty acts have diverted these things from you.
Your sins have withheld My bounty from you, Is 59:2
26for wicked men live among My people.
They watch like fowlers lying in wait. Hb obscure Pr 1:11
They set a trap; Ps 10:9
they catch men.
27Like a cage full of birds,
so their houses are full of deceit. Ps 10:7; 50:19; Is 3:14; 5:18; 30:12; Jr 8:5; Zph 1:9; Ac 13:10; Rm 1:29
Therefore they have grown powerful and rich.
28They have become fat Dt 32:15 and sleek.
They have also excelled in evil matters.
They have not taken up cases,
such as the case of the fatherless, so they might prosper,
and they have not defended the rights of the needy. Deut 24:14; Jb 29:16; 30:25; 31:19; Ps 82:3-4; 140:12; Pr 14:31; 31:9; Is 1:23; Zch 7:10; Ac 4:34
29Should I not punish them for these things?
This is the Lord’s declaration.
Should I not avenge Myself Jr 5:9; 8:19; Heb 10:30
on such a nation as this?
30A horrible, terrible thing
has taken place in the land. Hs 6:10
31The prophets prophesy falsely, Jr 6:13; 8:10; 14:14; 20:6; 23:14,25,26,32; 27:10,14-16; 28:15; 29:9,21,31; Lm 2:14; Zch 13:3
and the priests rule by their own authority.
My people love it like this.
But what will you do at the end of it? Dt 32:29; Is 10:3
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