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Rulers Denounced

¹ And I said,

"^(C1)Hear now, you ^(F1)leaders 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 Who ^(C1)eat the flesh of my people,
Strip off their skin from them,
Smash their bones,
And ^(C2)chop them up as for the pot,
And as meat in a cauldron!"

⁴ Then they will ^(C1)cry out to the LORD,
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 This is what the LORD says concerning the prophets who ^(C1)lead my people astray:

When they have something to bite with their teeth,
They ^(C2)cry out, "Peace!"
But against him who puts nothing in their mouths
They declare holy 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 become dark over them.

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

⁸ On the other hand, ^(C1)I am filled with power—
With the Spirit of the LORD—
And with justice and courage
To ^(C2)make known to Jacob his rebellious act,
And to Israel his sin.

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

¹⁰ Who ^(C1)build Zion with bloodshed,
And Jerusalem with malice.

¹¹ Her leaders pronounce ^(C1)judgment for a bribe,
Her ^(C2)priests teach for pay,
And her prophets divine for money.
Yet they lean on the LORD, saying,
"^(C3)Is the LORD not in our midst?
Catastrophe will not come upon us."

¹² Therefore on account of you,
^(C1)Zion will be plowed like a field,
^(C2)Jerusalem will become a heap of ruins,
And the ^(C3)mountain of the ^(F1)temple will become high places of a forest.