² Oh, that I had in the desert
       a lodging place for travelers,
       so that I might leave my people
       and go away from them;
       for they are all adulterers,
       a crowd of unfaithful people.
    ³ "They make ready their tongue
       like a bow, to shoot lies;

       it is not by truth
       that they triumph in the land.

       They go from one sin to another;
       they do not acknowledge me,"
       declares the LORD.
    ⁴ "Beware of your friends;
       do not trust any of your people.
       For every one of them is a deceiver,
       and every friend a slanderer.
    ⁵ Friend deceives friend,
       and no one speaks the truth.
       They have taught their tongues to lie;
       they weary themselves with sinning.
    ⁶ You live in the midst of deception;
       in their deceit they refuse to acknowledge me,"
       declares the LORD.
    ⁷ Therefore this is what the LORD Almighty says:
       "See, I will refine and test them,
       for what else can I do
       because of the sin of my people?
    ⁸ Their tongue is a deadly arrow;
       it speaks deceitfully.

       With their mouths they all speak cordially to their neighbors,
       but in their hearts they set traps for them. 

    ²⁰ Now, you women, hear the word of the LORD;
       open your ears to the words of his mouth.

       Teach your daughters how to wail;
       teach one another a lament. 

    ²³ This is what the LORD says:
       "Let not the wise boast of their wisdom
       or the strong boast of their strength
       or the rich boast of their riches,

    ²⁴ but let those who boast boast about this:
       that they understand and know me,

       that I am the LORD, who exercises kindness,
       justice and righteousness on earth,
       for in these I delight,"
       declares the LORD.

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