And now I speak to the wicked. Listen to what I have to say to you! What right do you have to presume to speak for me and claim my covenant promises as yours?
This is what the Lord says about these people: “They come near to me with hollow words and honor me superficially with their lips; all the while their hearts run far away from me! Their worship is nothing more than man-made rules.
They have wandered off the main road and have gone astray, because they are prophets who love profit—the wages they earn by wrongdoing. They are following the example of Balaam, son of Beor,
It will be an entirely different covenant than the one I made with their fathers when I led them by my hand out of Egypt. For they did not remain faithful to my covenant, so I rejected them, says the Lord God.
but I train like a champion athlete. I subdue my body and get it under my control, so that after preaching the good news to others I myself won’t be disqualified.