Then I said, It may be they are poor; for they are weak, for they know not the way of the Lord, or the judgment of God.

Hear now these things, O foolish and senseless people; who have eyes, and see not; and have ears, and hear not:

Even the stork in the heaven knows her time, [also] the turtledove and wild swallow; the sparrows observe the times of their coming in; but this My people knows not the judgments of the Lord.

The wise men are ashamed, and alarmed, and taken; because they have rejected the word of the Lord; what wisdom is there in them?

Do you thus recompense the Lord? O foolish and unwise people. Did not He Himself, your Father, purchase you, and make you, and form you?

It is a nation that has lost counsel, neither is there understanding in them.

For the end, A Psalm of David. The fool has said in his heart, There is no God. They have corrupted [themselves], and have become abominable in their devices; there is none that does good, there is not so much as one.

They have all gone out of the way, they have together become corrupt, there is none that does good, no not one. Their throat is an open tomb; with their tongues they have used deceit. The poison of asps is under their lips: whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness; their feet are swift to shed blood: destruction and misery are in their ways; and the way of peace they have not known: there is no fear of God before their eyes.

The ox knows his owner, and the donkey his master's crib; but Israel does not know Me, and the people have not regarded Me.

You shall hear indeed, but you shall not understand; and you shall see indeed, but you shall not perceive.

For the heart of this people has become dull, and their ears are hard of hearing, and they have closed their eyes; lest they should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and be converted, and I should heal them.

And after a time there shall be in it no green thing because of [the grass] being parched. Come here, you woman that comes from a sight; for it is a people of no understanding; therefore He that made them shall have no pity upon them, and He that formed them shall have no mercy [upon them].

For the Lord has made you to drink a spirit of deep sleep; and He shall close their eyes, and [the eyes] of their prophets and of their rulers, who see secret things.

And this book shall be given into the hands of a man that is unlearned, and [one] shall say to him, Read this; and he shall say, I am not learned.

And who is blind, but My servants? And [who is] deaf, but those that rule over them? Yes, the servants of God have been made blind.

You have often seen, and have not taken heed; [your] ears have been opened, and you have not heard.

Hear the word of the Lord, you children of Israel: for the Lord [has] a controversy with the inhabitants of the land, because there is no truth, nor mercy, nor knowledge of God in the land.

My people are like as if they had no knowledge: because you have rejected knowledge, I also will reject you, that you shall not minister as priest unto Me: and [as] you have forgotten the law of your God, I also will forget your children.

Woe to you, blind guides, who say, 'Whoever swears by the temple, it is nothing; but whoever swears by the gold of the temple, is obligated.'

And, 'Whoever swears by the altar, it is nothing; but whoever swears by the gift that is on it, is obligated.'

Therefore he that swears by the altar, swears by it and by all the things on it.

And he that swears by heaven, swears by the throne of God and by Him who sits on it.

Blind guides, you who strain out a gnat, but swallow a camel!

Blind Pharisee, first clean the inside of the cup and dish, so that the outside of them may be clean also.

Professing to be wise, they became fools,

There is none who understands; there is none who seeks God.

They have not framed their counsels to return to their God, for the spirit of fornication is in them, and they have not known the Lord.

And these things they will do [to you] because they did not know the Father nor Me.

And just as they did not approve to have God in their knowledge, God gave them up to a reprobate mind, to do the things which are not fitting;

Where is the wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the disputer of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of this world?

For since, in the wisdom of God, the world through wisdom did not know God, God was well pleased, through the foolishness of our preaching, to save those that believe.

Now Amnon had a friend, and his name [was] Jonadab, the son of Shimeah the brother of David: and Jonadab [was] a very cunning man.

And Ahithophel said to Absalom, Go in to your father's concubines, whom he left to keep his house; and all Israel shall hear that you have dishonored your father; and the hands of all that are with you shall be strengthened.

And the counsel of Ahithophel, which he counseled in former days, [was] as if one should inquire of the word of God: so [was] all the counsel of Ahithophel both to David and also to Absalom.

They meditated troubles, and wrought wickedness on their beds, and they put it in execution with the daylight; for they have not lifted up their hands to God.

So the master praised the unrighteous manager because he had dealt shrewdly. For the sons of this age are shrewder in their own generation than the sons of light.

For your obedience has become known to all. Therefore I rejoice on your behalf; but I want you to be wise in what is good, and innocent to what is evil.

Brothers, do not be children in your understanding; rather, in malice be children, but in understanding be men.