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

21‘Now hear this, O foolish and senseless people,
         Who have eyes but do not see;
         Who have ears but do not hear.

22‘Do you not fear Me?’ declares the LORD.
         ‘Do you not tremble in My presence?
         For I have placed 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 stubborn 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 gives rain in its season,
         Both the autumn rain and the spring rain,
         Who keeps for us
         The appointed weeks of the harvest.”

25‘Your iniquities have turned these away,
         And your sins have withheld good from you.

26‘For wicked men are found among My people,
         They watch like fowlers lying in wait;
         They set a trap,
         They catch men.

27‘Like a cage full of birds,
         So their houses are full of deceit;
         Therefore they have become great and rich.

28‘They are fat, they are sleek,
         They also excel in deeds of wickedness;
         They do not plead the cause,
         The cause of the orphan, that they may prosper;
         And they do not defend the rights of the poor.

29‘Shall I not punish these people?’ declares the LORD,
         ‘On a nation such as this
         Shall I not avenge Myself?’

30“An appalling and horrible thing
         Has happened in the land:

31The prophets prophesy falsely,
         And the priests rule on their own authority;
         And My people love it so!
         But what will you do at the end of it?

NASB ©1995