Rulers Denounced
1 And I said,
“Hear now, heads of Jacob
And rulers of the house of Israel.
Is it not for you to knowandadminister justice?
2 “You who hate good and love evil,
Who tear the skin off my people
And their flesh from their bones;
3 You who eat the flesh of my people,
Strip off their skin from them,
Break their bones
And chop them in pieces as for the pot,
Like meat in a kettle.”
4 Then they will cry to the Lord,
But He will not answer them;
Instead, He will even hide His face from them at that time [withholding His mercy]
Because they have practicedandtoleratedandignored evil acts.
5 Thus says the Lordconcerning the [false] prophets who lead my people astray;
When they havesomething goodto bite with their teeth,
They call out, “Peace,”
But against the one who gives them nothing to eat,
They declare a holy war.
6 Thereforeit willbe night (tragedy) for you–without vision,
And darkness (cataclysm) for you–without foresight.
The sun shall go down on the [false] prophets,
And the day shall become darkandblack over them.
7 The seers shall be ashamed
And the diviners discreditedandembarrassed;
Indeed, they shall all cover their mouths [in shame]
Because there is no answer from God.
8 But in fact, I am filled with power,
With the Spirit of the Lord,
And with justice and might,
To declare to Jacob his transgression
And to Israel his sin.
9 Now hear this, you heads of the house of Jacob
And rulers of the house of Israel,
Who hateandreject justice
And twist everything that is straight,
10 Who build Zion with blood [and extortion and murder]
And Jerusalem with violent injustice.
11 Her leaders pronounce judgment for a bribe,
Her priests teach for a fee,
And her prophets foretell for money;
Yet they lean on the Lord, saying,
“Is not the Lordamong us?
No tragedyordistress will come on us.”
12 Therefore, on account of you
Zion shall be plowed like a field,
Jerusalem shall becomea heap of ruins,
And the mountain of the house [of the Lord]shall becomelike a densely wooded hill.