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Yahweh Will Not Answer

¹ And I said,

"^(C1)Hear now, heads of Jacob
And rulers of the house of Israel.
Is it not for you to ^(C2)know justice?

² "You who hate good and love evil,
Who ^(C1)tear off their skin from them
And their flesh from their bones,

³ And who ^(C1)eat the flesh of my people,
Strip off their skin from them,
Break their bones,
And ^(C2)spread them out as for the pot
And as meat in a caldron."

⁴ Then they will ^(C1)cry out to Yahweh,
But He will not answer them.
Instead, He will ^(C2)hide His face from them at that time
Because they have ^(C3)practiced evil deeds.

⁵ Thus says Yahweh concerning the prophets who ^(C1)lead my people astray;

When they have something to bite with their teeth,
They ^(C2)call out, "Peace,"
But against him who puts nothing in their mouths,
They set themselves apart for war.

⁶ Therefore it will be ^(C1)night for you—without vision,
And darkness for you—without divination.
The ^(C2)sun will go down on the prophets,
And the day will grow black over them.

⁷ The seers will be ^(C1)ashamed,
And the ^(C2)diviners will be humiliated.
Indeed, they will all ^(C3)cover their ^(F1)mouths
Because there is ^(C4)no answer from God.

⁸ On the other hand ^(C1)I am filled with power—
With the Spirit of Yahweh—
And with justice and might
To ^(C2)declare to Jacob his transgression,
Even to Israel his sin.

⁹ Now hear this, ^(C1)heads of the house of Jacob
And rulers of the house of Israel,
Who ^(C2)abhor justice
And twist everything that is straight,

¹⁰ Who ^(C1)build Zion with bloodshed
And Jerusalem with violent injustice.

¹¹ Her heads pronounce ^(C1)judgment for a bribe,
And her ^(C2)priests instruct for a price,
And her prophets divine for money.
Yet they lean on Yahweh saying,
"^(C3)Is not Yahweh in our midst?
Evil will not come upon us."

¹² Therefore, on account of you
^(C1)Zion will be plowed as a field;
^(C2)Jerusalem will become a heap of ruins,
And the ^(C3)mountain of the house of God will become high places of a forest.