耶利米書9:10-16

9:10 我要為山嶺哭泣悲哀，為曠野的草場揚聲哀號；因為都已乾焦，甚至無人經過。人也聽不見牲畜鳴叫，空中的飛鳥和地上的野獸都已逃去。

9:11 我必使耶路撒冷變為亂堆，為野狗的住處，也必使猶大的城邑變為荒場，無人居住。

9:12 誰是智慧人，可以明白這事？耶和華的口向誰說過，使他可以傳說？遍地為何滅亡，乾焦好像曠野，甚至無人經過呢？

9:13 耶和華說：「因為這百姓離棄我，在他們面前所設立的律法沒有遵行，也沒有聽從我的話；

9:14 只隨從自己頑梗的心行事，照他們列祖所教訓的隨從眾巴力。」

9:15 所以萬軍之耶和華─以色列的上帝如此說：「看哪，我必將茵蔯給這百姓吃，又將苦膽水給他們喝。

9:16 我要把他們散在列邦中，就是他們和他們列祖素不認識的列邦。我也要使刀劍追殺他們，直到將他們滅盡。」

“I will take up weeping and wailing for the mountains,

and a lamentation for the pastures of the wilderness,

because they are laid waste so that no one passes through,

and the lowing of cattle is not heard;

both the birds of the air and the beasts

have fled and are gone.

  I will make Jerusalem a heap of ruins,

a lair of jackals,

and I will make the cities of Judah a desolation,

without inhabitant.”

  Who is the man so wise that he can understand this? To whom has the mouth of the Lord spoken, that he may declare it? Why is the land ruined and laid waste like a wilderness, so that no one passes through?  And the Lord says: “Because they have forsaken my law that I set before them, and have not obeyed my voice or walked in accord with it,  but have stubbornly followed their own hearts and have gone after the Baals, as their fathers taught them.  Therefore thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: Behold, I will feed this people with bitter food, and give them poisonous water to drink.  I will scatter them among the nations whom neither they nor their fathers have known, and I will send the sword after them, until I have consumed them.”

************

    先知透過預言來說明耶路撒冷受到上帝懲罰的狀態，並且宣告之所以有這樣下場的原因：「因為這百姓離棄我，在他們面前所設立的律法沒有遵行，也沒有聽從我的話；只隨從自己頑梗的心行事，照他們列祖所教訓的隨從眾巴力。」

    這也提醒我們，我們不可以隨從世人悖逆上帝，只追求自己的昌盛。因為拜巴力就是追求自己豐盛的方式。正如台灣的民間宗教，所求的是：平安、賺大錢，都是為自己的好處，不是為榮耀上帝。

    當我們越求自己的好處，就越容易失去；我們越求榮耀上帝，反而是蒙上帝賜福，這是一個很有趣的原則！也因此，我們要將自己交託上帝，來接受上帝的賜福滿滿！