1And I said , Hear , I pray you , ye heads of Jacob , and rulers of the house of Israel : is it not for you to know justice ? 2ye who hate the good , and love the evil ; who pluck off their skin from off them , and their flesh from off their bones ; 3who also eat the flesh of my people , and flay their skin from off them , and break their bones , and chop them in pieces , as for the pot , and as flesh within the caldron . 4Then shall they cry unto Jehovah , but he will not answer them ; yea, he will hide his face from them at that time , according as they have wrought evil in their doings .
The Consequences of Corruption
5Thus saith Jehovah concerning the prophets that make my people to err ; that bite with their teeth , and cry , Peace ; and whoso putteth not into their mouths , they even prepare war against him : 6Therefore it shall be night unto you , that ye shall have no vision ; and it shall be dark unto you , that ye shall not divine ; and the sun shall go down upon the prophets , and the day shall be black over them . 7And the seers shall be put to shame , and the diviners confounded ; yea , they shall all cover their lips ; for there is no answer of God. 8But as for me , I am full of power by the Spirit of Jehovah , and of judgment , and of might , to declare unto Jacob his transgression , and to Israel his sin .
The Fall of Zion
9Hear this , I pray you , ye heads of the house of Jacob , and rulers of the house of Israel , that abhor justice , and pervert all equity . 10They build up Zion with blood , and Jerusalem with iniquity . 11The heads thereof judge for reward , and the priests thereof teach for hire , and the prophets thereof divine for money : yet they lean upon Jehovah , and say, Is not Jehovah in the midst of us ? no evil shall come upon us . 12Therefore shall Zion for your sake be plowed as a field , and Jerusalem shall become heaps , and the mountain of the house as the high places of a forest .