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Chapter 3

The Leader Devours the Chair of My People

Then I said:

Listen, you leaders of the house of Jacob,
    you rulers of the house of Israel.
Should you not be responsible
    to know what is right?
And yet you hate what is good
    and love what is evil.
You eat the flesh of my people
    and strip off their skin;
you break their bones into pieces
    like flesh for the pot,
    like meat in a cauldron.
Then they will cry out to the Lord,
    but he will not answer them.
He will conceal his face from them at that time
    because of the evil they have done.

Against Prophets Who Lead the People Astray

Thus says the Lord about the prophets
    who lead my people astray,
who promise prosperity
    when they have something to eat,
but who declare war against those
    who put no food into their mouths.
Therefore, you will have night without vision
    and darkness without divination.
The sun will go down on the prophets;
    for them the daytime will be black.
Then the seers will be disgraced
    and the diviners will be put to shame.
They will all cover their lips,
    for there is no answer from God.
But as for me, I am filled with strength,
    with the Spirit of the Lord,
    with justice and might
to declare to Jacob his crime
    and to Israel his sin.

A Civilization Built on Injustice

Listen to this,
    you leaders of the house of Jacob,
    you rulers of the house of Israel,
who despise justice
    and pervert what is right,
10 who build Zion through bloodshed
    and Jerusalem through wickedness.
11 Her leaders accept bribes for favorable judgments,
    her priests render judgments for a fee,
    her prophets practice divination for money.
And yet they rely upon the Lord, saying,
    “Isn’t the Lord in our midst?
    No harm can come upon us.”
12 Therefore, because of you,
    Zion will be plowed like a field.
Jerusalem will be reduced to a heap of rubble,
    and the temple mount to a height
    overgrown with thickets.

Leaders and Prophets Rebuked

Then I said,

“Listen, you leaders(A) of Jacob,
    you rulers of Israel.
Should you not embrace justice,
    you who hate good and love evil;
who tear the skin from my people
    and the flesh from their bones;(B)
who eat my people’s flesh,(C)
    strip off their skin
    and break their bones in pieces;(D)
who chop(E) them up like meat for the pan,
    like flesh for the pot?(F)

Then they will cry out to the Lord,
    but he will not answer them.(G)
At that time he will hide his face(H) from them
    because of the evil they have done.(I)

This is what the Lord says:

“As for the prophets
    who lead my people astray,(J)
they proclaim ‘peace’(K)
    if they have something to eat,
but prepare to wage war against anyone
    who refuses to feed them.
Therefore night will come over you, without visions,
    and darkness, without divination.(L)
The sun will set for the prophets,(M)
    and the day will go dark for them.(N)
The seers will be ashamed(O)
    and the diviners disgraced.(P)
They will all cover(Q) their faces(R)
    because there is no answer from God.(S)
But as for me, I am filled with power,
    with the Spirit of the Lord,
    and with justice and might,
to declare to Jacob his transgression,
    to Israel his sin.(T)

Hear this, you leaders of Jacob,
    you rulers of Israel,
who despise justice
    and distort all that is right;(U)
10 who build(V) Zion with bloodshed,(W)
    and Jerusalem with wickedness.(X)
11 Her leaders judge for a bribe,(Y)
    her priests teach for a price,(Z)
    and her prophets tell fortunes for money.(AA)
Yet they look(AB) for the Lord’s support and say,
    “Is not the Lord among us?
    No disaster will come upon us.”(AC)
12 Therefore because of you,
    Zion will be plowed like a field,
Jerusalem will become a heap of rubble,(AD)
    the temple(AE) hill a mound overgrown with thickets.(AF)