21 ‘Now hear this, O foolish and 1senseless people,

Who have aeyes but do not see;

Who have ears but do not hear.

22 ‘Do you not afear Me?’ declares the Lord.

‘Do you not tremble in My presence?

For I have bplaced the sand as a boundary for the sea,

An eternal decree, so it cannot cross over it.

Though the waves toss, yet they cannot prevail;

Though they roar, yet they cannot cross over it.

23 ‘But this people has a astubborn and rebellious heart;

They have turned aside and departed.

24 ‘They do not say in their heart,

“Let us now fear the Lord our God,

Who agives rain in its season,

Both bthe autumn rain and the spring rain,

Who keeps for us

The cappointed weeks of the harvest.”

25 ‘Your ainiquities have turned these away,

And your sins have withheld good from you.

26 ‘For wicked men are found among My people,

They awatch like fowlers 1lying in wait;

They set a trap,

They catch men.

27 ‘Like a cage full of birds,

So their houses are full of adeceit;

Therefore they have become great and rich.

28 ‘They are afat, they are sleek,

They also 1excel in deeds of wickedness;

They do not plead the cause,

The cause of the 2borphan, that they may prosper;

And they do not 3defend the rights of the poor.

29 ‘aShall I not punish 1these people?’ declares the Lord,

‘On a nation such as this

Shall I not avenge Myself?’