1 A nd I said: “Hear now, O heads of Jacob, And you rulers of the house of Israel: Is it not for you to know justice?

¶ And I said, Hear, I pray you, O princes of Jacob, and ye heads of the house of Israel. Did it not pertain to you to know that which is right?

2 Y ou who hate good and love evil; Who strip the skin from My people, And the flesh from their bones;

Who hate the good, and love the evil, who steal their skin from off them, and their flesh from off their bones;

3 W ho also eat the flesh of My people, Flay their skin from them, Break their bones, And chop them in pieces Like meat for the pot, Like flesh in the caldron.”

and eat the flesh of my people, and flay their skin from off them; and they break their bones and chop them in pieces as for the pot and as flesh within the caldron.

4 T hen they will cry to the Lord, But He will not hear them; He will even hide His face from them at that time, Because they have been evil in their deeds.

Then they shall cry unto the LORD, but he will not respond to them: he will even hide his face from them at that time because of their evil doings.

5 T hus says the Lord concerning the prophets Who make my people stray; Who chant “Peace” While they chew with their teeth, But who prepare war against him Who puts nothing into their mouths:

Thus hath the LORD said concerning the prophets that make my people err, that bite with their teeth, and cry, Peace; and he that does not give them something to eat, they even prepare war against him.

6 “ Therefore you shall have night without vision, And you shall have darkness without divination; The sun shall go down on the prophets, And the day shall be dark for them.

Therefore the vision shall be made night unto you, and darkness unto those that divine, and the sun shall go down over the prophets, and the day shall be dark over them.

7 S o the seers shall be ashamed, And the diviners abashed; Indeed they shall all cover their lips; For there is no answer from God.”

Then the prophets shall be ashamed, and the diviners confounded; and they shall all cover their lips because they shall have no answer from God.

8 B ut truly I am full of power by the Spirit of the Lord, And of justice and might, To declare to Jacob his transgression And to Israel his sin.

¶ But truly I am full of power by the Spirit of the LORD, and of judgment, and of might, to declare unto Jacob his rebellion, and to Israel his sin.

9 N ow hear this, You heads of the house of Jacob And rulers of the house of Israel, Who abhor justice And pervert all equity,

Now hear this, ye heads of the house of Jacob and captains of the house of Israel, that abhor judgment and pervert all equity;

10 W ho build up Zion with bloodshed And Jerusalem with iniquity:

that build up Zion with blood and Jerusalem with iniquity;

11 H er heads judge for a bribe, Her priests teach for pay, And her prophets divine for money. Yet they lean on the Lord, and say, “Is not the Lord among us? No harm can come upon us.”

the heads thereof judge for bribes, and the priests thereof teach for hire, and the prophets thereof divine for money: yet they come near unto the LORD, and say, Is not the LORD among us? No evil can come upon us.

12 T herefore because of you Zion shall be plowed like a field, Jerusalem shall become heaps of ruins, And the mountain of the temple Like the bare hills of the forest.

Therefore for your sake Zion shall be plowed as a field, and Jerusalem shall become heaps of ruins and the mountain of the house as the high places of the forest.