You boast that you have made a treaty with death and reached an agreement with the world of the dead. You are certain that disaster will spare you when it comes, because you depend on lies and deceit to keep you safe.

This man Micah had his own place of worship. He made some idols and an ephod, and appointed one of his sons as his priest.

Micah said, "Now that I have a Levite as my priest, I know that the LORD will make things go well for me."

Then Absalom turned to Ahithophel and said, "Now that we are here, what do you advise us to do?"

So they set up a tent for Absalom on the palace roof, and in the sight of everyone Absalom went in and had intercourse with his father's concubines.

The wicked say to themselves, "God doesn't care! He has closed his eyes and will never see me!"

Fools say to themselves, "There is no God!" They are all corrupt, and they have done terrible things; there is no one who does what is right.

Because they think so highly of themselves, they think that God will not discover their sin and condemn it.

They crush your people, LORD; they oppress those who belong to you.

They say, "The LORD does not see us; the God of Israel does not notice."

God made our ears---can't he hear? He made our eyes---can't he see?

The LORD knows what we think; he knows how senseless our reasoning is.

prophets speak nothing but lies; priests rule as the prophets command, and my people offer no objections. But what will they do when it all comes to an end?"

Why then, my people, do you turn away from me without ever turning back? You cling to your idols and refuse to return to me.

Even storks know when it is time to return; doves, swallows, and thrushes know when it is time to migrate. But, my people, you do not know the laws by which I rule you.

Your wise men are put to shame; they are confused and trapped. They have rejected my words; what wisdom do they have now?

The land is full of people unfaithful to the LORD; they live wicked lives and misuse their power. Because of the LORD's curse the land mourns and the pastures are dry.

But I have seen the prophets in Jerusalem do even worse: they commit adultery and tell lies; they help people to do wrong, so that no one stops doing what is evil. To me they are all as bad as the people of Sodom and Gomorrah.

No one can hide where I cannot see them. Do you not know that I am everywhere in heaven and on earth?

Then I told Hananiah this, and added, "Listen, Hananiah! The LORD did not send you, and you are making these people believe a lie.

And so the LORD himself says that he is going to get rid of you. Before this year is over you will die because you have told the people to rebel against the LORD."

Then all the men who knew that their wives offered sacrifices to other gods, and all the women who were standing there, including the Israelites who lived in southern Egypt---a large crowd in all---said to me,

We will do everything that we said we would. We will offer sacrifices to our goddess, the Queen of Heaven, and we will pour out wine offerings to her, just as we and our ancestors, our king and our leaders, used to do in the towns of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem. Then we had plenty of food, we were prosperous, and had no troubles.

And the women added, "When we baked cakes shaped like the Queen of Heaven, offered sacrifices to her, and poured out wine offerings to her, our husbands approved of what we were doing."

"The prophets mislead my people by saying that all is well. All is certainly not well! My people have put up a wall of loose stones, and then the prophets have come and covered it with whitewash.

Tell the prophets that their wall is going to fall down. I will send a pouring rain. Hailstones will fall on it, and a strong wind will blow against it.

"By your lies you discourage good people, whom I do not wish to hurt. You prevent evil people from giving up evil and saving their lives.

"At that time I will take a lamp and search Jerusalem. I will punish the people who are self-satisfied and confident, who say to themselves, 'The LORD never does anything, one way or the other.'

You will be expelled from the synagogues, and the time will come when those who kill you will think that by doing this they are serving God.

"I myself thought that I should do everything I could against the cause of Jesus of Nazareth.