But, you have been unfaithful to me, nation of Israel, like an unfaithful wife who has left her husband,” says the Lord.

Come back to me, you wayward people. I want to cure your waywardness. Say, ‘Here we are. We come to you because you are the Lord our God.

You must be truthful, honest and upright when you take an oath saying, ‘As surely as the Lord lives!’ If you do, the nations will pray to be as blessed by him as you are and will make him the object of their boasting.”

They will surround Jerusalem like men guarding a field because they have rebelled against me,” says the Lord.

I looked and saw that the fruitful land had become a desert and that all of the cities had been laid in ruins. The Lord had brought this all about because of his blazing anger.

All this will happen because the Lord said, “The whole land will be desolate; however, I will not completely destroy it.

For the nations of Israel and Judah have been very unfaithful to me,” says the Lord.

Yet even then I will not completely destroy you,” says the Lord.

But I am not really the one being troubled!” says the Lord. “Rather they are bringing trouble on themselves to their own shame!

The Lord said to the people of Judah, “The Lord God of Israel who rules over all says: ‘You might as well go ahead and add the meat of your burnt offerings to that of the other sacrifices and eat it, too!

The Lord said to me, “Tell them, ‘The Lord says, Do people not get back up when they fall down? Do they not turn around when they go the wrong way?

Your wise men will be put to shame. They will be dumbfounded and be brought to judgment. Since they have rejected the word of the Lord, what wisdom do they really have?

They do one act of violence after another, and one deceitful thing after another. They refuse to pay attention to me,” says the Lord.

The Lord says, “Watch out! The time is soon coming when I will punish all those who are circumcised only in the flesh.

You people of Israel, listen to what the Lord has to say to you.

Lord, we know that people do not control their own destiny. It is not in their power to determine what will happen to them.

The Lord said to me, “The people of Judah and the citizens of Jerusalem have plotted rebellion against me!

My people will sow wheat, but will harvest weeds. They will work until they are exhausted, but will get nothing from it. They will be disappointed in their harvests because the Lord will take them away in his fierce anger.

But I will completely uproot and destroy any of those nations that will not pay heed,’” says the Lord.

“I, the Lord, say: ‘This shows how I will ruin the highly exalted position in which Judah and Jerusalem take pride.