Because I give you good instruction, do not forsake my teaching.

that I may cause those who love me to inherit wealth, and that I may fill their treasuries.

The scorner does not love one who corrects him; he will not go to the wise.

Commit your works to the Lord, and your plans will be established.

Beatings and wounds cleanse away evil, and floggings cleanse the innermost being.

May your father and your mother have joy; may she who bore you rejoice.

When you argue a case with your neighbor, do not reveal the secret of another person,

I have not learned wisdom, nor do I have knowledge of the Holy One.

Your silver has become scum, your beer is diluted with water.

Joyfully you will draw water from the springs of deliverance.

“Listen, you deaf ones! Take notice, you blind ones!

No longer will they build a house only to have another live in it, or plant a vineyard only to have another eat its fruit, for my people will live as long as trees, and my chosen ones will enjoy to the fullest what they have produced.

I will destroy Daughter Zion, who is as delicate and defenseless as a young maiden.

“‘But just look at you! You are putting your confidence in a false belief that will not deliver you.

“The Lord says, ‘That is why I will scatter your people like chaff that is blown away by a desert wind.

Then the Lord said to me, “Do not pray for good to come to these people!

“Therefore, the Lord who rules over all says, ‘You have not listened to what I said.

Then you will again be my people and I will be your God.

The prophet Jeremiah told all this to King Zedekiah of Judah in Jerusalem.

That was when the Lord spoke to Jeremiah,