4 How long must the land be parchedand the grass in every field be withered?How long must the animals and the birds diebecause of the wickedness of the people who live in this land?For these people boast,“God will not see what happens to us.”
5 The Lord answered, “If you have raced on foot against men and they have worn you out,how will you be able to compete with horses?And if you feel secure only in safe and open country,how will you manage in the thick undergrowth along the Jordan River?
6 As a matter of fact, even your own brothers and the members of your own family have betrayed you too. Even they have plotted to do away with you. So do not trust them even when they say kind things to you.
7 “I will abandon my nation.I will forsake the people I call my own.I will turn my beloved peopleover to the power of their enemies.
8 The people I call my own have turned on melike a lion in the forest.They have roared defiantly at me.So I will treat them as though I hate them.
9 The people I call my own attack me like birds of prey or like hyenas.But other birds of prey are all around them.Let all the nations gather together like wild beasts.Let them come and destroy these people I call my own.
10 Many foreign rulers will ruin the land where I planted my people.They will trample all over my chosen land.They will turn my beautiful landinto a desolate wasteland.