and their children will make good what they stole from the poor.

The wicked vomit up the wealth they stole; God takes it back, even out of their stomachs.

no wicked people have been happy for long.

They may be alive and well when we find them, but they'll be dead when we're through with them!

The king of Babylonia cut Jerusalem up and ate it. He emptied the city like a jar; like a monster he swallowed it. He took what he wanted and threw the rest away.

I will punish Bel, the god of Babylonia, and make him give up his stolen goods; the nations will not worship him any more. "Babylon's walls have fallen.

All your enemies mock you and glare at you with hate. They curl their lips and sneer, "We have destroyed it! This is the day we have waited for!"

When they sow the wind, they will reap a storm! A field of grain that doesn't ripen can never produce any bread. But even if it did, foreigners would eat it up.

Israel has become like any other nation and is as useless as a broken pot.

Listen to this, you that trample on the needy and try to destroy the poor of the country.

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Blind guides! You strain a fly out of your drink, but swallow a camel!

or taken pride in my wealth.

I have never been glad when my enemies suffered, or pleased when they met with disaster;

The grapevines wither, and wine is becoming scarce. Everyone who was once happy is now sad,

There is no more happy singing over wine; no one enjoys its taste any more.

People shout in the streets because there is no more wine. Happiness is gone forever; it has been banished from the land.

The LORD says, "The people I love are doing evil things. What right do they have to be in my Temple? Do they think they can prevent disaster by making promises and by offering animal sacrifices? Will they then rejoice?

I once called them a leafy olive tree, full of beautiful fruit; but now, with a roar like thunder I will set its leaves on fire and break its branches.

Doomed is the one who builds his house by injustice and enlarges it by dishonesty; who makes his people work for nothing and does not pay their wages.

But you can only see your selfish interests; you kill the innocent and violently oppress your people. The LORD has spoken.

The time is coming. The day is near when buying and selling will have no more meaning, because God's punishment will fall on everyone alike.

People of Israel, stop celebrating your festivals like pagans. You have turned away from your God and have been unfaithful to him. All over the land you have sold yourselves like prostitutes to the god Baal and have loved the grain you thought he paid you with!

Come near to God, and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners! Purify your hearts, you hypocrites!

Be sorrowful, cry, and weep; change your laughter into crying, your joy into gloom!