At that time, I will search Jerusalem with lamps, I will punish the people who settle like dregs in wine, Who say in their hearts, “The Lord will not do good, nor will he do harm.”
Who say, “Let him make haste, let him speed his work, that we may see it; On with the plan of the Holy One of Israel! let it come to pass, that we may know it!”
Like a scarecrow in a cucumber field are they, they cannot speak; They must be carried about, for they cannot walk. Do not fear them, they can do no harm, neither can they do good.
Moab has been resting from its youth, suspended above its dregs, Never poured from flask to flask, never driven into exile. Thus it retained its flavor, its bouquet is not lost.
Then he said to me: Do you see, son of man, what the elders of the house of Israel are doing in the dark, each in his idol chamber? They think: “The Lord cannot see us; the Lord has forsaken the land.”
and the Lord said to him: Pass through the city, through the midst of Jerusalem, and mark an X on the foreheads of those who grieve and lament over all the abominations practiced within it.
He answered me: The guilt of the house of Israel and the house of Judah is too great to measure; the land is filled with bloodshed, the city with lawlessness. They think that the Lord has abandoned the land, that he does not see them.
You have wearied the Lord with your words, yet you say, “How have we wearied him?” By saying, “All evildoers are good in the sight of the Lord, And he is pleased with them,” or “Where is the just God?”
and saying, “Where is the promise of his coming? From the time when our ancestors fell asleep, everything has remained as it was from the beginning of creation.”
I will also put her children to death. Thus shall all the churches come to know that I am the searcher of hearts and minds and that I will give each of you what your works deserve.