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12 Who is wise enough to understand this? To whom has the mouth of the Lord spoken, so that they may declare it? Why is the land ruined and laid waste like a wilderness, so that no one passes through? ¹³And the Lord says: Because they have forsaken my law that I set before them, and have not obeyed my voice, or walked in accordance with it, ¹⁴but have stubbornly followed their own hearts and have gone after the Baals, as their ancestors taught them. ¹⁵Therefore, thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: I am feeding this people with wormwood, and giving them poisonous water to drink. ¹⁶I will scatter them among nations that neither they nor their ancestors have known; and I will send the sword after them, until I have consumed them.

23 Thus says the Lord: Do not let the wise boast in their wisdom, do not let the mighty boast in their might, do not let the wealthy boast in their wealth; ²⁴but let those who boast boast in this, that they understand and know me, that I am the Lord; I act with steadfast love, justice, and righteousness in the earth, for in these things I delight, says the Lord.

11 Thus shall you say to them: The gods who did not make the heavens and the earth shall perish from the earth and from under the heavens.^*

¹² It is he who made the earth by his power,
   who established the world by his wisdom,
   and by his understanding stretched out the heavens.
¹³ When he utters his voice, there is a tumult of waters in the heavens,
   and he makes the mist rise from the ends of the earth.
He makes lightnings for the rain,
   and he brings out the wind from his storehouses.
¹⁴ Everyone is stupid and without knowledge;
   goldsmiths are all put to shame by their idols;
for their images are false,
   and there is no breath in them.
¹⁵ They are worthless, a work of delusion;
   at the time of their punishment they shall perish.
¹⁶ Not like these is the Lord,^* the portion of Jacob,
   for he is the one who formed all things,
and Israel is the tribe of his inheritance;
   the Lord of hosts is his name.

The Coming Exile

¹⁷ Gather up your bundle from the ground,
   O you who live under siege!
¹⁸ For thus says the Lord:
I am going to fling away the inhabitants of the land
   at this time,
and I will bring distress on them,
   so that they shall feel it.

¹⁹ Woe is me because of my hurt!
   My wound is severe.
But I said, ‘Truly this is my punishment,
   and I must bear it.’
²⁰ My tent is destroyed,
   and all my cords are broken;
my children have gone from me,
   and they are no more;
there is no one to spread my tent again,
   and to set up my curtains.
²¹ For the shepherds are stupid,
   and do not inquire of the Lord;
therefore they have not prospered,
   and all their flock is scattered.

²² Hear, a noise! Listen, it is coming—
   a great commotion from the land of the north
to make the cities of Judah a desolation,
   a lair of jackals.

²³ I know, O Lord, that the way of human beings is not in their control,
   that mortals as they walk cannot direct their steps.
²⁴ Correct me, O Lord, but in just measure;
   not in your anger, or you will bring me to nothing.

²⁵ Pour out your wrath on the nations that do not know you,
   and on the peoples that do not call on your name;
for they have devoured Jacob;
   they have devoured him and consumed him,
   and have laid waste his habitation.