Rulers and Prophets Denounced

¹And I said:

lHear, you heads of Jacob

and rulers of the house of Israel!

mIs it not for you to know justice?—

²you nwho hate the good and love the evil,

owho tear the skin from off my people1

and their flesh from off their bones,

³pwho eat the flesh of my people,

and flay their skin from off them,

and break their bones in pieces

and chop them up like meat in a pot,

like flesh in a cauldron.

⁴qThen they will cry to the Lord,

but he will not answer them;

rhe will hide his face from them at that time,

because they have made their deeds evil.

⁵Thus says the Lord concerning sthe prophets

who lead my people astray,

twho cry “Peace”

when they have something to eat,

but declare war against him

who puts nothing into their mouths.

⁶Therefore uit shall be night to you, without vision,

and darkness to you, without divination.

vThe sun shall go down on the prophets,

and the day shall be black over them;

⁷wthe seers shall be disgraced,

and the diviners put to shame;

xthey shall all cover their lips,

for ythere is no answer from God.

⁸But as for me, zI am filled with power,

with the Spirit of the Lord,

and with justice and might,

to declare to Jacob ahis transgression

and to Israel his sin.

⁹bHear this, you heads of the house of Jacob

and rulers of the house of Israel,

cwho detest justice

and make crooked all that is straight,

¹⁰dwho build Zion with blood

and Jerusalem with iniquity.

¹¹eIts heads give judgment for a bribe;

fits priests teach for a price;

gits prophets practice divination for money;

hyet they lean on the Lord and isay,

“Is not the Lord in the midst of us?

jNo disaster shall come upon us.”

¹²Therefore because of you

kZion shall be plowed as a field;

Jerusalem lshall become a heap of ruins,

and mthe mountain of the house na wooded height.