The Lord Answers Rebellious Idolaters

¹ “I revealed Myself to those who did not ask for Me; I was found by those who did not seek Me. To a nation that did not call My name, I said, ‘Here I am! Here I am!’

² All day long I have held out My hands to an obstinate people who walk in the wrong path, who follow their own imaginations,

³ to a people who continually provoke Me to My face, sacrificing in the gardens and burning incense on altars of brick,

⁴ sitting among the graves, spending nights in secret places, eating the meat of pigs and polluted broth from their bowls.

⁵ They say, ‘Keep to yourself; do not come near me, for I am holier than you!’ Such people are smoke in My nostrils, a fire that burns all day long.

⁶ Behold, it is written before Me: I will not keep silent, but I will repay; I will pay it back into their laps,

⁷ both for your iniquities and for those of your fathers,” says the LORD. “Because they burned incense on the mountains and scorned Me on the hills, I will measure into their laps full payment for their former deeds.”