How terrible it will be for those who continue to sin and lie about it! How terrible for those who keep on doing what is evil as if they were tied to it!

祸哉！那些以虚假之细绳牵罪孽的人！他们又像以套绳拉罪恶，

祸哉！那些以虚假的绳子牵引罪孽，以套车的绳索紧拉罪恶的人。

祸哉！那些以虚假的绳子牵引罪孽，以套车的绳索紧拉罪恶的人。

那些用虚假作绳子扯来罪恶，用套绳拉来邪恶的人有祸了！

那些人虚假的绳索牵引罪孽，又像用车绳拉罪恶的人，有祸了！

祸哉！他们那样的人！他们用虚谎之绳牵拉罪孽、牵拉罪恶，就像用套车之绳一样。

禍哉！那些以虛假之細繩牽罪孽的人！他們又像以套繩拉罪惡，

禍哉！那些以虛假的繩子牽引罪孽，以套車的繩索緊拉罪惡的人。

禍哉！那些以虛假的繩子牽引罪孽，以套車的繩索緊拉罪惡的人。

那些用虛假作繩子扯來罪惡，用套繩拉來邪惡的人有禍了！

那些人虛假的繩索牽引罪孽，又像用車繩拉罪惡的人，有禍了！

有禍啊，那些以虛謊的繩索牽引着罪罰，像以套車粗繩拉罪之報應的人；

禍哉！他們那樣的人！他們用虛謊之繩牽拉罪孽、牽拉罪惡，就像用套車之繩一樣。

以虛偽為繩引邪惡、如以曳車之索牽罪戾、禍哉其人、

人行惡而取戾、若以索曳車、其有禍乎、

禍哉斯人、以惡為索、牽引災罰、亦如以曳車之巨繩、牽引罪報、

Woe to those who draw sin along with cords of deceit, and wickedness as with cart ropes,

Woe to those who draw iniquity with cords of falsehood, who draw sin as with cart ropes,

What sorrow for those who drag their sins behind them with ropes made of lies, who drag wickedness behind them like a cart!

Woe to those who drag iniquity with cords of deceit and pull sin along with cart ropes,

Woe to those who drag wrongdoing with the cords of deceit, And sin as if with cart ropes;

Woe to those who draw iniquity with cords of vanity, And sin as if with a cart rope;

Woe unto them that draw iniquity with cords of falsehood, and sin as it were with a cart rope;

Woe to those who drag wickedness with cords of deceit and pull sin along with cart ropes,

Woe unto them that draw iniquity with cords of vanity, and sin as it were with a cart rope:

Those who pull evil along using cords of emptiness are as good as dead, who pull sin as with cart ropes.

Woe to those who draw iniquity with cords of falsehood, and wickedness as with cart rope,

I have also seen something horrible among Jerusalem’s prophets. They are not faithful to me. They are not living by the truth. They strengthen the hands of those who do evil. So not one of them turns from their sinful ways. All of them are like the people of Sodom to me. They are just like the people of Gomorrah.”

The land is full of people who aren’t faithful to the Lord. Now the land is under his curse. And that’s why it is thirsty for water. That’s why the desert grasslands are dry. The prophets are leading sinful lives. They don’t use their power in the right way.

The prophets prophesy lies. The priests rule by their own authority. And my people love it this way. But what will you do in the end?”

You will be thrown out of the synagogue. In fact, the time is coming when someone may kill you. And they will think they are doing God a favor.

“‘ “They lead my people away from me. They say,‘ Peace.’ But there isn’t any peace. They are like people who build a weak wall. They try to cover up the weakness by painting the wall white.Tell those who do this that their wall is going to fall. Heavy rains will come. I will send hailstones crashing down. Powerful winds will blow.

They praise themselves so much that they can’t see their sin or hate it.

“ I believed that I should oppose the name of Jesus of Nazareth. So I did everything I could to oppose his name.

That same Micah had a small temple. He made a sacred linen apron and some statues of his family gods. He appointed one of his sons to serve as his priest.

Lord, they crush your people. They treat badly those who belong to you.They kill outsiders. They kill widows. They murder children whose fathers have died.They say,“ The Lord doesn’t see what’s happening. The God of Jacob doesn’t pay any attention to it.”You who aren’t wise, pay attention. You foolish people, when will you become wise?Does he who made the ear not hear? Does he who formed the eye not see?Does he who corrects nations not punish? Does he who teaches human beings not know anything?The Lord knows what people think. He knows that their thoughts don’t amount to anything.

At that time I will search Jerusalem with lamps. I will punish those who are so contented. They are like wine that has not been shaken up. They think,‘ The Lord won’t do anything. He won’t do anything good or bad.’

Sinful people say to themselves,“ God will never notice. He covers his face. He never sees us.”

Then why have the people of Jerusalem turned away from me? Why do they always turn away? They keep on telling lies. They refuse to come back to me.I have listened carefully. But they do not say what is right. They refuse to turn away from their sins. None of them says,‘ What have I done?’ Each of them goes their own way. They are like horses charging into battle.Storks know when to fly south. So do doves, swifts and thrushes. But my people do not know what I require them to do.“‘ “How can you people say,‘ We are wise. We have the law of the Lord’? Actually, the teachers of the law have told lies about it. Their pens have not written what is true.Those who think they are wise will be put to shame. They will become terrified. They will be trapped. They have not accepted my message. So what kind of wisdom do they have?

Absalom said to Ahithophel,“ Give us your advice. What should we do?”Ahithophel answered,“ Your father left some concubines behind to take care of the palace. Go and sleep with them. Then all the Israelites will hear about it. They will hear that you have made your father hate you. Everyone with you will be encouraged to give you more support.”So they set up a tent for Absalom on the roof of the palace. He went in and slept with his father’s concubines. Everyone in Israel saw it.In those days the advice Ahithophel gave was as good as advice from someone who asks God for guidance. That’s what David and Absalom thought about all of Ahithophel’s advice.

All the Jews who were living in Lower and Upper Egypt gathered to give Jeremiah their answer. A large crowd had come together. It included men who knew that their wives were burning incense to other gods. Their wives were there with them. All of them said to Jeremiah,“ We won’t listen to the message you have spoken to us in the Lord’ s name!We will certainly do everything we said we would. We’ll burn incense to the female god called the Queen of Heaven. We’ll pour out drink offerings to her. We’ll do just as we and our people of long ago have done. Our kings and our officials also did it. All of us did it in the towns of Judah and the streets of Jerusalem. At that time we had plenty of food. We were well off. We didn’t suffer any harm.But then we stopped burning incense to the Queen of Heaven. We stopped pouring out drink offerings to her. And ever since that time we haven’t had anything. Instead, we’ve been dying of war and hunger.”The women added,“ We burned incense to the Queen of Heaven. We poured out drink offerings to her. And our husbands knew we were making cakes that looked like her. They knew we were pouring out drink offerings to her.”

Micah said,“ Now I know that the Lord will be good to me. This Levite has become my priest.”

Who can hide in secret places so that I can’t see them?” announces the Lord.“ Don’t I fill heaven and earth?” announces the Lord.

Foolish people say in their hearts,“ There is no God.” They do all kinds of horrible and evil things. No one does anything good.

I had not made godly people sad. But when you told them lies, you made them lose all hope. You advised sinful people not to turn from their evil ways. You did not want them to save their lives.

People aren’t fair when they present cases in court. They aren’t honest when they state their case. They depend on weak arguments. They tell lies. They plan to make trouble. Then they carry it out.The plans they make are like the eggs of poisonous snakes. Anyone who eats those eggs will die. When one of them is broken, a snake comes out.Those people weave their evil plans together like a spider’s web. But the webs they make can’t be used as clothes. They can’t cover themselves with what they make. Their acts are evil. They do things to harm others.They are always in a hurry to sin. They run quickly to murder those who aren’t guilty. They love to think up evil plans. They leave a trail of harmful actions.They don’t know how to live at peace with others. What they do isn’t fair. They lead twisted lives. No one who lives like that will enjoy peace and rest.

Then Jeremiah the prophet spoke to the false prophet Hananiah. Jeremiah said,“ Listen, Hananiah! The Lord hasn’t sent you. But you have tricked these people. Now they trust in lies.So the Lord says,‘ I am about to remove you from the face of the earth. Before this year is over, you will die. You have taught the people to turn against me.’ ”

You brag,“ We have entered into a covenant with the place of the dead. We have made an agreement with the grave. When a terrible plague comes to punish us, it can’t touch us. That’s because we depend on lies to keep us safe. We hide behind what isn’t true.”