6. Therefore, thus says the Lord of hosts:I will refine them and test them;how else should I deal with the daughter of my people?
7. A murderous arrow is their tongue,their mouths utter deceit;They speak peaceably with their neighbors,but in their hearts they lay an ambush!
8. Should I not punish them for these deeds—oracle of the Lord;on a nation such as this should I not take vengeance?
9. Over the mountains I shall break out in cries of lamentation,over the pastures in the wilderness, in a dirge:They are scorched, and no one crosses them,no sound of lowing cattle;Birds of the air as well as beasts,all have fled and are gone.
10. I will turn Jerusalem into a heap of ruins,a haunt of jackals;The cities of Judah I will make a waste,where no one dwells.
11. Who is wise enough to understand this? To whom has the mouth of the Lord spoken? Let him declare it!Why is the land ravaged,scorched like a wilderness no one crosses?
12. The Lord said: Because they have abandoned my law, which I set before them, and did not listen to me or follow it,