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1Let everyone beware of his neighbor, and put no trust in any brother, for every 2brother is a deceiver, and every neighbor 3goes about as a slanderer.
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Everyone deceives his neighbor, and no one speaks the truth; they have taught their tongue to speak lies; they weary themselves committing iniquity.
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Heaping oppression upon oppression, and deceit upon deceit, 4they refuse to know me, declares the LORD.
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Therefore thus says the LORD of hosts: "Behold, 5I will refine them and 6test them, for what else can I do, 7because of my people?
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8Their tongue is a deadly arrow; 9it speaks deceitfully; with his mouth 10each speaks peace to his neighbor, but in his heart 11he plans an ambush for him.
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12Shall I not punish them for these things? declares the LORD, and shall I not avenge myself on a nation such as this?
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"I will take up weeping and wailing for the mountains, and a lamentation for 13the pastures of the wilderness, 14because they are laid waste so that no one passes through, and the lowing of cattle is not heard; 15both the birds of the air and the beasts have fled and are gone.
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16I will make Jerusalem a heap of ruins, 17a lair of jackals, 18and I will make the cities of Judah a desolation, without inhabitant."
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19Who is the man so wise that he can understand this? To whom has the mouth of the LORD spoken, that he may declare it? Why is the land ruined 20and laid waste like a wilderness, so that no one passes through?
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And the LORD says: 21"Because they have forsaken my law that I set before them, and have not obeyed my voice or walked in accord with it,
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but 22have stubbornly followed their own hearts and have gone after the Baals, as their fathers taught them.