Strong people will become tinder for a fire, and their work will be the spark. Both of them will burn together, and there will be no one to put out the fire.
The people will make noise like raging water. But the Lord will yell at them, and they will run far away. They will be chased away like husks on the mountains being blown by the wind, like whirling dust being blown by a storm.
We were pregnant; we writhed with labor pains only to give birth to the wind. We weren’t able to bring salvation to the land, and no new people were born on earth.
As flames burn up straw and dry grass shrivels in flames, so their roots will rot, and their blossoms will blow away like dust. They have rejected the teachings of the Lord of Armies and have despised the word of the Holy One of Israel.
No one calls for justice, and no one pleads his case truthfully. People trust pointless arguments and speak lies. They conceive trouble and give birth to evil.
That is why the Lord isn’t happy with their young men, nor will he show compassion for their orphans and widows. Every one of them is a godless evildoer, and every mouth speaks foolishness. Even after all this, his anger will not disappear, and he is still ready to use his power.
While you had the land, it was your own. After it was sold, you could have done as you pleased with the money. So how could you do a thing like this? You didn’t lie to people but to God!”