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

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,

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!

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

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,

But now I see that the prophets of Jerusalem are even worse! They commit adultery and love dishonesty. They encourage those who are doing evil so that no one turns away from their sins. These prophets are as wicked as the people of Sodom and Gomorrah once were.”

For the land is full of adultery, and it lies under a curse. The land itself is in mourning— its wilderness pastures are dried up. For they all do evil and abuse what power they have.

the prophets give false prophecies, and the priests rule with an iron hand. Worse yet, my people like it that way! But what will you do when the end comes?

For you will be expelled from the synagogues, and the time is coming when those who kill you will think they are doing a holy service for God.

“ This will happen because these evil prophets deceive my people by saying,‘ All is peaceful’ when there is no peace at all! It’s as if the people have built a flimsy wall, and these prophets are trying to reinforce it by covering it with whitewash!Tell these whitewashers that their wall will soon fall down. A heavy rainstorm will undermine it; great hailstones and mighty winds will knock it down.

In their blind conceit, they cannot see how wicked they really are.

“ I used to believe that I ought to do everything I could to oppose the very name of Jesus the Nazarene.

Micah set up a shrine for the idol, and he made a sacred ephod and some household idols. Then he installed one of his sons as his personal priest.

They crush your people, Lord, hurting those you claim as your own.They kill widows and foreigners and murder orphans.“ The Lord isn’t looking,” they say,“ and besides, the God of Israel doesn’t care.”Think again, you fools! When will you finally catch on?Is he deaf— the one who made your ears? Is he blind— the one who formed your eyes?He punishes the nations— won’t he also punish you? He knows everything— doesn’t he also know what you are doing?The Lord knows people’s thoughts; he knows they are worthless!

“ I will search with lanterns in Jerusalem’s darkest corners to punish those who sit complacent in their sins. They think the Lord will do nothing to them, either good or bad.

The wicked think,“ God isn’t watching us! He has closed his eyes and won’t even see what we do!”

Then why do these people stay on their self destructive path? Why do the people of Jerusalem refuse to turn back? They cling tightly to their lies and will not turn around.I listen to their conversations and don’t hear a word of truth. Is anyone sorry for doing wrong? Does anyone say,“ What a terrible thing I have done”? No! All are running down the path of sin as swiftly as a horse galloping into battle!Even the stork that flies across the sky knows the time of her migration, as do the turtledove, the swallow, and the crane. They all return at the proper time each year. But not my people! They do not know the Lord’s laws.“‘ How can you say,“ We are wise because we have the word of the Lord,” when your teachers have twisted it by writing lies?These wise teachers will fall into the trap of their own foolishness, for they have rejected the word of the Lord. Are they so wise after all?

Then Absalom turned to Ahithophel and asked him,“ What should I do next?”Ahithophel told him,“ Go and sleep with your father’s concubines, for he has left them here to look after the palace. Then all Israel will know that you have insulted your father beyond hope of reconciliation, and they will throw their support to you.”So they set up a tent on the palace roof where everyone could see it, and Absalom went in and had sex with his father’s concubines.Absalom followed Ahithophel’s advice, just as David had done. For every word Ahithophel spoke seemed as wise as though it had come directly from the mouth of God.

Then all the women present and all the men who knew that their wives had burned incense to idols— a great crowd of all the Judeans living in northern Egypt and southern Egypt— answered Jeremiah,“ We will not listen to your messages from the Lord!We will do whatever we want. We will burn incense and pour out liquid offerings to the Queen of Heaven just as much as we like— just as we, and our ancestors, and our kings and officials have always done in the towns of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem. For in those days we had plenty to eat, and we were well off and had no troubles!But ever since we quit burning incense to the Queen of Heaven and stopped worshiping her with liquid offerings, we have been in great trouble and have been dying from war and famine.”“ Besides,” the women added,“ do you suppose that we were burning incense and pouring out liquid offerings to the Queen of Heaven, and making cakes marked with her image, without our husbands knowing it and helping us? Of course not!”

“ I know the Lord will bless me now,” Micah said,“ because I have a Levite serving as my priest.”

Can anyone hide from me in a secret place? Am I not everywhere in all the heavens and earth?” says the Lord.

Only fools say in their hearts,“ There is no God.” They are corrupt, and their actions are evil; not one of them does good!

You have discouraged the righteous with your lies, but I didn’t want them to be sad. And you have encouraged the wicked by promising them life, even though they continue in their sins.

No one cares about being fair and honest. The people’s lawsuits are based on lies. They conceive evil deeds and then give birth to sin.They hatch deadly snakes and weave spiders’ webs. Whoever eats their eggs will die; whoever cracks them will hatch a viper.Their webs can’t be made into clothing, and nothing they do is productive. All their activity is filled with sin, and violence is their trademark.Their feet run to do evil, and they rush to commit murder. They think only about sinning. Misery and destruction always follow them.They don’t know where to find peace or what it means to be just and good. They have mapped out crooked roads, and no one who follows them knows a moment’s peace.

Then Jeremiah the prophet said to Hananiah,“ Listen, Hananiah! The Lord has not sent you, but the people believe your lies.Therefore, this is what the Lord says:‘ You must die. Your life will end this very year because you have rebelled against the Lord.’”

You boast,“ We have struck a bargain to cheat death and have made a deal to dodge the grave. The coming destruction can never touch us, for we have built a strong refuge made of lies and deception.”