Those who are eager to do wrong draw near; they are far from your law.

They detest me and maintain their distance; they do not hesitate to spit in my face.

All the relatives of a poor person hate him; how much more do his friends avoid him – he pursues them with words, but they do not respond.

This is what the Lord says: “What fault could your ancestors have possibly found in me that they strayed so far from me? They paid allegiance to worthless idols, and so became worthless to me.

“‘But the Levites who went far from me, straying off from me after their idols when Israel went astray, will be responsible for their sin.

“Son of man, your brothers, your relatives, and the whole house of Israel, all of them are those to whom the inhabitants of Jerusalem have said, ‘They have gone far away from the Lord; to us this land has been given as a possession.’