5 Why has this people dslidden back,

Jerusalem, in a perpetual backsliding?

eThey hold fast to deceit,

fThey refuse to return.

6 gI listened and heard,

But they do not speak aright.

hNo man repented of his wickedness,

Saying, ‘What have I done?’

Everyone turned to his own course,

As the horse rushes into the battle.

7 “Even ithe stork in the heavens

Knows her appointed times;

And the turtledove, the swift, and the swallow

Observe the time of their coming.

But jMy people do not know the judgment of the Lord.

8 “How can you say, ‘We are wise,

kAnd the law of the Lord is with us’?

Look, the false pen of the scribe certainly works falsehood.

9 lThe wise men are ashamed,

They are dismayed and taken.

Behold, they have rejected the word of the Lord;

So mwhat wisdom do they have?

10 Therefore nI will give their wives to others,

And their fields to those who will inherit them;

Because from the least even to the greatest

Everyone is given to ocovetousness;

From the prophet even to the priest

Everyone deals falsely.