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² The Lord has said,
    "Listen, heaven and earth!
The children I raised
    have turned against me.
³ Oxen and donkeys know
    who owns and feeds them,
but my people won't ever learn."

⁴ Israel, you are a sinful nation
    loaded down with guilt.
You are wicked and corrupt
and have turned from the Lord,
    the holy God of Israel.
⁵ Why be punished more?
    Why not give up your sin?
Your head is badly bruised,
    and you are weak all over.
⁶ From your head to your toes
    there isn't a healthy spot.
Bruises, cuts, and open sores
go without care
    or oil to ease the pain.

⁷ Your country lies in ruins;
    your towns are in ashes.
Foreigners and strangers
take and destroy your land
    while you watch.
⁸ Enemies surround Jerusalem,
alone like a hut
in a vineyard^[c]
    or in a cucumber field.
⁹ Zion would have disappeared
    like Sodom and Gomorrah,^[d]
if the Lord All-Powerful
had not let a few
    of its people survive.

¹⁰ You are no better
    than the leaders and people
of Sodom and Gomorrah!
    So listen to the Lord God:
¹¹ "Your sacrifices
    mean nothing to me.
I am sick of your offerings
    of rams and choice cattle;
I don't like the blood
    of bulls or lambs or goats.

¹² "Who asked you to bring all this
when you come to worship me?
    Stay out of my temple!
¹³ Your sacrifices are worthless,
    and incense is disgusting.
I can't stand the evil you do
    on your New Moon Festivals
or on your Sabbaths
    and other times of worship.
¹⁴ I hate your New Moon Festivals
    and all others as well.
They are a heavy burden
    I am tired of carrying.

¹⁵ "No matter how much you pray,
I won't listen.
    You are too violent.
¹⁶ Wash yourselves clean!
I am disgusted
    with your filthy deeds.
Stop doing wrong
¹⁷     and learn to live right.
See that justice is done.
Defend widows and orphans
    and help those in need."^[e]

¹⁸ I, the Lord, invite you
    to come and talk it over.
Your sins are scarlet red,
but they will be whiter
    than snow or wool.
¹⁹ If you willingly obey me,
the best crops in the land
    will be yours.
²⁰ But if you turn against me,
your enemies will kill you.
    I, the Lord, have spoken.

²¹ Jerusalem, you are like
    an unfaithful wife.
Once your judges were honest
    and your people lived right;
now you are a city
    full of murderers.
²² Your silver is fake,
and your wine
    is watered down.
²³ Your leaders have rejected me
    to become friends of crooks;
your rulers are looking
    for gifts and bribes.
Widows and orphans
    never get a fair trial.

²⁴ I am the Lord All-Powerful,
the mighty ruler of Israel,
    and I make you a promise:
You are now my enemy,
and I will show my anger
    by taking revenge on you.
²⁵ I will punish you terribly
    and burn away everything
that makes you unfit
    to worship me.
²⁶ Jerusalem, I will choose
judges and advisors
    like those you had before.
Your new name will be
    "Justice and Faithfulness."

²⁷ Jerusalem, you will be saved
    by showing justice;^[f]
Zion's people who turn to me
will be saved
    by doing right.
²⁸ But those rebellious sinners
who turn against me, the Lord,
    will all disappear.

²⁹ You will be made ashamed
of those groves of trees
    where you worshiped idols.
³⁰ You will be like a grove of trees
    dying in a drought.
³¹ Your strongest leaders
will be like dry wood
    set on fire by their idols.^[g]
No one will be able to help,
    as they all go up in flames.