12 But they just keep saying, ‘We do not care what you say! We will do whatever we want to do! We will continue to behave wickedly and stubbornly!’”
13 Therefore, the Lord says,“Ask the people of other nationswhether they have heard of anything like this.Israel should have been like a virgin.But she has done something utterly revolting!
14 Does the snow ever completely vanish from the rocky slopes of Lebanon?Do the cool waters from those distant mountains ever cease to flow?
15 Yet my people have forgotten meand offered sacrifices to worthless idols!This makes them stumble along in the way they liveand leave the old reliable path of their fathers.They have left them to walk in bypaths,in roads that are not smooth and level.
16 So their land will become an object of horror.People will forever hiss out their scorn over it.All who pass that way will be filled with horrorand will shake their heads in derision.
17 I will scatter them before their enemieslike dust blowing in front of a burning east wind.I will turn my back on them and not look favorably on themwhen disaster strikes them.”
18 Then some people said, “Come on! Let us consider how to deal with Jeremiah! There will still be priests to instruct us, wise men to give us advice, and prophets to declare God’s word. Come on! Let’s bring charges against him and get rid of him! Then we will not need to pay attention to anything he says.”