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

Do people fall and not get up again?t

If they turn away, do they not return?

5 Why have these people turned away?

Why is Jerusalem always turning away?

They take hold of deceit;u

they refuse to return.v

6 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.w

7 Even storks in the sky

know their seasons.

Turtledoves, swallows, and cranesG

are aware of their migration,

but my people do not know

the requirements of the Lord.x

PUNISHMENT FOR JUDAH’S LEADERS

8 “How can you claim, ‘We are wise;

the law of the Lord is with us’?

In fact, the lying pen of scribesy

has produced falsehood.

9 The wise will be put to shame;

they will be dismayed and snared.

They have rejected the word of the Lord,z

so what wisdom do they really have?

10 Therefore, I will giveaa their wives to other men,

their fields to new occupants,

for from the least to the greatest,ab

everyone is making profit dishonestly.

From prophet to priest,

everyone deals falsely.

11 They have treated the brokenness

of my dear* people superficially,

claiming, ‘Peace, peace,’

when there is no peace.

12 Were they ashamed when they acted so detestably?

They weren’t at all ashamed.

They can no longer feel humiliation.

Therefore, they will fall among the fallen.

When I punish them, they will collapse,”ac

says the Lord.

13 “I will gather them and bring them to an end.”A,a

This is the Lord’s declaration.

“There will be no grapes on the vine,

no figs on the fig tree,

and even the leaf will wither.

Whatever I have given them will be lost to them.”