1 A nd I say, `Hear, I pray you, heads of Jacob, And ye judges of the house of Israel, Is it not for you to know the judgment?

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

2 Y e who are hating good, and loving evil, Taking violently their skin from off them, And their flesh from off their bones,

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

3 A nd who have eaten the flesh of My people, And their skin from off them have stript, And their bones they have broken, And they have spread out as in a pot, And as flesh in the midst of a caldron.

Who 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.”

4 T hen do they cry unto Jehovah, And He doth not answer them, And hideth His face from them at that time, As they have made evil their doings.

Then 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.

5 T hus said Jehovah concerning the prophets Who are causing My people to err, Who are biting with their teeth, And have cried `Peace,' And he who doth not give unto their mouth, They have sanctified against him war.

Thus 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:

6 T herefore a night ye have without vision, And darkness ye have without divination, And gone in hath the sun on the prophets, And black over them hath been the day.

“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.

7 A nd ashamed have been the seers, And confounded have been the diviners, And covered their lip have all of them, For their is no answer, O God.

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

8 A nd yet I have been full of power by the Spirit of Jehovah, And of judgment, and of 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 justice and might, To declare to Jacob his transgression And to Israel his sin.

9 H ear this, I pray you, heads of the house of Jacob, And ye judges of the house of Israel, Who are making judgment abominable, And all uprightness do pervert.

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

10 B uilding up Zion with blood, And Jerusalem with iniquity.

Who build up Zion with bloodshed And Jerusalem with iniquity:

11 H er heads for a bribe do judge, And her priests for hire do teach, And her prophets for silver divine, And on Jehovah they lean, saying, `Is not Jehovah in our midst? Evil doth not come in upon us.'

Her 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.”

12 T herefore, for your sake, Zion is ploughed a field, and Jerusalem is heaps, And the mount of the house for high places of a forest!

Therefore 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.