The nation of Israel is full of guilt. This guilt is like a heavy weight the people have to carry. Those people are like bad children from evil families. They left the Lord. They insulted the Holy One (God) of Israel. They left him and treated him like a stranger.
But I am the Lord,\par and I can look into a person’s heart.\par I can test a person’s mind.\par I can decide what each person should have.\par I can give each person the right payment\par for the things he does.\par
This is what the Lord says:\par “Do you think that I was not fair\par to your ancestors {\cf2\super [4]} ?\par Is that why they turned away from me?\par Your ancestors worshiped worthless idols,\par and they became worthless themselves.\par
The people of Israel tried to trick God.\par But now they must accept their guilt.\par The Lord will break down their altars. {\cf2\super [98]} \par He will destroy their memorial stones. {\cf2\super [99]} \par
People did not think it was important to have a true knowledge of God. So God left them and allowed those people to have their own worthless thinking. And so those people do the things that they should not do.
and say evil things about each other. Those people hate God. They are rude and conceited and boast about themselves. Those people invent ways of doing evil. They don’t obey their parents,
Why is this true? Because if a person’s thinking is controlled by his sinful self, then that person is against God. That person refuses to obey God’s law. And really that person is not able to obey God’s law.