O LORD, even if I would argue my case with you, you would always be right. Yet, I want to talk to you about your justice. Why do wicked people succeed? Why do treacherous people have peace and quiet?

You plant them, and they take root. They grow, and they produce fruit. They speak well of you with their lips, but their hearts are far from you.

This is what the LORD of Armies, the God of Israel, says: I'm going to put a stop to the sounds of joy and happiness and the sounds of brides and grooms in this place. This will happen in your lifetime, while you watch.

"When you tell the people all these things, they will ask you, 'Why does the LORD threaten us with all these disasters? What have we done wrong? How have we sinned against the LORD our God?' Then say to them, 'It's because your ancestors abandoned me, declares the LORD.

They followed other gods, served them, worshiped them, and abandoned me. They didn't obey my teachings. You have done worse than your ancestors. All of you are following your own stubborn, evil ways that keep you from obeying me.

First, I will have them pay twice as much for their wickedness and their sin, because they have polluted my land. They have filled my property with the lifeless statues of their detestable and disgusting idols.”

Nations come to you from the most distant parts of the world and say, "Our ancestors have inherited lies, worthless and unprofitable gods." "People can't make gods for themselves. They aren't really gods. That is what I will teach them.

This time I will make my power and my strength known to them. Then they will know that my name is the LORD."