The look on their faces shows they are guilty; like the people of Sodom, they are proud of their sin. They don’t care who sees it. How terrible it will be for them, because they have brought much trouble on themselves.
They eagerly run to do evil, and they are always ready to kill innocent people. They think evil thoughts. Everywhere they go they cause ruin and destruction.
“People of Judah, pay attention to the word of the Lord: Have I been like a desert to the people of Israel or like a dark and dangerous land? Why do my people say, ‘We are free to wander. We won’t come to you anymore’?
At that time I, the Lord, will search Jerusalem with lamps. I will punish those who are satisfied with themselves, who think, ‘The Lord won’t help us or punish us.’
Come to the Lord, all you who are not proud, who obey his laws. Do what is right. Learn to be humble. Maybe you will escape on the day the Lord shows his anger.
People did not think it was important to have a true knowledge of God. So God left them and allowed them to have their own worthless thinking and to do things they should not do.
Remember that in the past you were without Christ. You were not citizens of Israel, and you had no part in the agreements with the promise that God made to his people. You had no hope, and you did not know God.