15 I am about to bring a nation

from far away against you,x

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.y

16 Their quiver is like an open grave;z

they are all warriors.

17 They will consume your harvest and your food.aa

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.

With the sword they will destroy

your fortified citiesab in which you trust.

18 “But even in those days”—this is the Lord’s declaration—“I will not finish you off.ac 19 When 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 mead and served foreign gods in your land, so will you serve strangers in a land that is not yours.’ae

20 “Declare this in the house of Jacob; proclaim it in Judah, saying:

21 Hear this,

you foolish and senselessE people.af

They have eyes, but they don’t see.

They have ears, but they don’t hear.ag

22 Do 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?a

The waves surge, but they cannot prevail.

They roar but cannot pass over it.

23 But these people have stubborn and rebellious hearts.b

They have turned aside and have gone away.

24 They have not said to themselves,

‘Let’s fear the Lord our God,c

who gives the seasonal rains, both autumn and spring,d

who guarantees to us the fixed weeks of the harvest.’