3. Death will be chosen rather than life by all the residue that remain of this evil family, that remain in all the places where I have driven them,” says the Lord of Hosts.
4. “Moreover you shall tell them, ‘the Lord says:“‘Do men fall, and not rise up again?Does one turn away, and not return?
5. Why then have the people of Jerusalem fallen back by a perpetual backsliding?They cling to deceit.They refuse to return.
6. I listened and heard, but they didn’t say what is right.No one repents of his wickedness, saying, “What have I done?”Everyone turns to his course,as a horse that rushes headlong in the battle.
7. Yes, the stork in the sky knows her appointed times.The turtledove, the swallow, and the crane observe the time of their coming;but my people don’t know the Lord’s law.
8. “‘How do you say, “We are wise, and the Lord’s law is with us?”But, behold, the false pen of the scribes has worked falsely.
9. The wise men are disappointed.They are dismayed and trapped.Behold, they have rejected the Lord’s word.What kind of wisdom is in them?