Jeremiah 3:24
For shame hath devoured the labour of our fathers from our youth; their flocks and their herds, their sons and their daughters. For shame hath devoured the labour of our fathers from our youth; their flocks and their herds, their sons and their daughters.
The verse belongs to the very words God gave His erring, backsliding people to speak and pray when turning to Him. It is their answer to His call to return and be healed of backsliding, by coming to Him as the Lord their God. It was pressed upon the nation when the land had been cleansed of idolatrous shrines under Josiah, while hearts were not transformed and sown truth was choked like seed among thorns.
Lying down in shame and confusion, it confesses that shame over sin has devoured the labor of the fathers from youth, including their flocks and their herds, their sons and their daughters. It belongs to a confession that the people and their fathers have sinned against God and disobeyed His voice from their youth even to that day. With its context it affirms that salvation hoped for from the hills and mountains is vain, and that salvation is truly only in the Lord. It was given to awaken them to the fatal danger of further backsliding and to show that only loyalty to Jehovah could secure divine favor and prosperity.