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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.
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Therefore thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel: 23Behold, I will feed this people with bitter food, and give them 24poisonous water to drink.
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25I will scatter them among the nations 26whom neither they nor their fathers have known, and I will 27send the sword after them, until I have consumed them."
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Thus says the LORD of hosts: 28"Consider, and call for the mourning women to come; send for the skillful women to come;
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let them make haste 29and raise a wailing over us, 30that our eyes may run down with tears and our eyelids flow with water.
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For a sound of wailing is heard from Zion: 31'How we are ruined! We are utterly shamed, because we have left the land, because they have cast down our dwellings.'"
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Hear, O women, the word of the LORD, and let your ear receive the word of his mouth; teach to your daughters a lament, and each to her neighbor a dirge.
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For death has come up into our windows; it has entered our palaces, 32cutting off the children from the streets and the young men from the squares.
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Speak, "Thus declares the LORD: 33'The dead bodies of men shall fall like dung upon the open field, 34like sheaves after the reaper, and none shall gather them.'"
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Thus says the LORD: 35"Let not the wise man boast in his wisdom, let not the mighty man boast in his might, let not the rich man boast in his riches,
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but 36let him who boasts boast in this, that he understands and knows me, that I am the LORD who practices steadfast love, justice, and righteousness in the earth. 37For in these things I delight, declares the LORD."