How do wicked men “lurk like fowlers lying in wait”?

In Jeremiah 5:26–28 the wicked behaviour of certain people in Judah is described using the analogy of a fowler or bird catcher. Fowlers would hide a net and then hide away out of sight until the birds came. At a signal from a watcher the net would be released and pulled tight, catching the birds).¹ In a similar way the wicked men in Judah set a trap and catch men. In Jeremiah 5:28c their victims are described as the fatherless and the needy. These two classes of people were powerless in society and depended on the powerful to protect them. In his covenant with Israel, the Lord insisted that they be a nation that cares for the orphaned and the poor (Exodus 22:22–27; Exodus 23:6, Exodus 23:11; Deuteronomy 10:18; Deuteronomy 15:11; Deuteronomy 24:17, Deuteronomy 24:19,  Deuteronomy 24:20, Deuteronomy 24:21; Deuteronomy 27:19).² Instead, the powerful in Judah are exploiting the vulnerable in order to become great and rich, and they have grown fat and sleek at the expense of the poor. Like the fowler returning home with a basketful of birds, these wicked people have filled their houses with deceit, with the ill-gotten gains of exploitation.