20 Declare this to Ya’akov’s (Jacob’s) descendants,

and declare it in Yehudah (Judah):

21 Please listen to this, you foolish, heartless people.

They have eyes but do not see,

and they have ears, but do not hear.[ref]

22 Yahweh declares:

Should you all respect and strive to obey me,

and shouldn’t you tremble in front of me?

It was me who designated the sand as the boundary for the ocean—

it’s a permanent line and the sea doesn’t go past it.

The waters surge but get no further,

and the waves roar, but can’t get past it.[ref]

23 But this group of people has a stubborn and rebellious heart.

They’ve turned aside and gone away.

24 They don’t say to themselves:

Please, let’s strive to obey our god Yahweh—

the one who gives the autumn and spring rains at the appropriate time.

He decides on the harvest weeks for us.

25 Your disobedience has diverted those things,

≈ and your sins have withheld goodness from you all

26 because there are wicked influencers among my people.

They lie in wait like a bird-catcher.

≈ They set a trap and catch people.

27 Their homes are full of deceit like a cage full of birds.

→ so that’s how they’ve become rich and powerful.

28 They’ve become fat and slick.

They also disobey by doing evil.

They don’t plead the cause of those who are fatherless,

≈ and they’re successful, yet they haven’t insisted on justice for the poor.

29 Yahweh says:

Why shouldn’t I punish them for all that behaviour?

≈ Why shouldn’t I avenge myself on a nation like this one?

30 Something horrible and shocking has happened in the country:

31 The prophets prophesy with lies,

and the priests rule by their own authority,

and my people love it this way,

but what will you all do when it comes to its end?