The LORD blessed you in every way, but you would not serve him with glad and joyful hearts.

When they ask why I did all these things, tell them, Jeremiah, that just as they turned away from me and served foreign gods in their own land, so they will serve strangers in a land that is not theirs."

Certainly not! God must be true, even though all human beings are liars. As the scripture says, "You must be shown to be right when you speak; you must win your case when you are being tried."

But what if our doing wrong serves to show up more clearly God's doing right? Can we say that God does wrong when he punishes us? (This would be the natural question to ask.)

The LORD your God is bringing you into a fertile land---a land that has rivers and springs, and underground streams gushing out into the valleys and hills;

There you will never go hungry or ever be in need. Its rocks have iron in them, and from its hills you can mine copper.

and many terrible disasters will come on them. But this song will still be sung, and it will stand as evidence against them. Even now, before I take them into the land that I promised to give them, I know what they are thinking."

The LORD alone led his people without the help of a foreign god.

Their cows and goats gave plenty of milk; they had the best sheep, goats, and cattle, the finest wheat, and the choicest wine.