Ver. 23 But this people hath a revolting and a rebellious heart They are not so obedient as the sea and its waves; nor so firm and stable as the sand that is set for the bound of it. This is a reproof and an aggravation of the revoltings and rebellions of this people: they are revolted and gone; they had departed from the ways of the Lord, and were gone back from his worship, as the Targum; and were gone into evil ways, and to a false worship; they not only had revolted, but they went on, they continued therein, and went further and further, off from God and his worship.
21
'Listen to this, you foolish people, who do not have any sense. You have eyes, but you do not see. You have ears, but you do not hear.
22
Shouldn't you have respect for me?' announces the Lord. 'Shouldn't you tremble with fear in front of me? I made the sand to hold the ocean back. It will do that forever. The ocean can't go past it. The waves might roll, but they can't sweep over it. They might roar, but they can't go across it.
23
But you people have stubborn hearts. You refuse to obey me. You have turned away from me. You have gone down the wrong path.
24
You do not say to yourselves, "Let us have respect for the LORD our God. He sends rain in the fall and the spring. He promises us that the harvest will come at the same time each year."
25
But the things you have done wrong have robbed you of those gifts. Your sins have kept those good things far away from you.'