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Heaping oppression upon oppression, and deceit upon deceit, 1they refuse to know me, declares the LORD.
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Therefore thus says the LORD of hosts: "Behold, 2I will refine them and 3test them, for what else can I do, 4because of my people?
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5Their tongue is a deadly arrow; 6it speaks deceitfully; with his mouth 7each speaks peace to his neighbor, but in his heart 8he plans an ambush for him.
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9Shall I not punish them for these things? declares the LORD, and shall I not avenge myself on a nation such as this?
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"I will take up weeping and wailing for the mountains, and a lamentation for 10the pastures of the wilderness, 11because they are laid waste so that no one passes through, and the lowing of cattle is not heard; 12both the birds of the air and the beasts have fled and are gone.
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13I will make Jerusalem a heap of ruins, 14a lair of jackals, 15and I will make the cities of Judah a desolation, without inhabitant."
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16Who is the man so wise that he can understand this? To whom has the mouth of the LORD spoken, that he may declare it? Why is the land ruined 17and laid waste like a wilderness, so that no one passes through?
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And the LORD says: 18"Because they have forsaken my law that I set before them, and have not obeyed my voice or walked in accord with it,
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but 19have stubbornly followed their own hearts and have gone after the Baals, as their fathers taught them.
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Therefore thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel: 20Behold, I will feed this people with bitter food, and give them 21poisonous water to drink.
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22I will scatter them among the nations 23whom neither they nor their fathers have known, and I will 24send the sword after them, until I have consumed them."
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Thus says the LORD of hosts: 25"Consider, and call for the mourning women to come; send for the skillful women to come;
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let them make haste 26and raise a wailing over us, 27that our eyes may run down with tears and our eyelids flow with water.
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For a sound of wailing is heard from Zion: 28'How we are ruined! We are utterly shamed, because we have left the land, because they have cast down our dwellings.'"
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Hear, O women, the word of the LORD, and let your ear receive the word of his mouth; teach to your daughters a lament, and each to her neighbor a dirge.
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For death has come up into our windows; it has entered our palaces, 29cutting off the children from the streets and the young men from the squares.
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Speak, "Thus declares the LORD: 30'The dead bodies of men shall fall like dung upon the open field, 31like sheaves after the reaper, and none shall gather them.'"
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Thus says the LORD: 32"Let not the wise man boast in his wisdom, let not the mighty man boast in his might, let not the rich man boast in his riches,
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but 33let him who boasts boast in this, that he understands and knows me, that I am the LORD who practices steadfast love, justice, and righteousness in the earth. 34For in these things I delight, declares the LORD."
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"Behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when 35I will punish all those who are circumcised merely in the flesh--
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36Egypt, Judah, Edom, the sons of Ammon, Moab, and 37all who dwell in the desert who cut the corners of their hair, for all these nations are uncircumcised, and all the house of Israel are 38uncircumcised in heart."