1Hør efter, Israels folks ledere. Burde I ikke vide, hvad der er ret og rigtigt?2Men I hader det gode og elsker det onde. I flår huden af mit folk og kødet af deres knogler.3I hakker dem i småstykker, som var de kød til en suppegryde, og derefter tager I bare for jer af retterne.4Når I så råber til Herren om hjælp, vil han ikke høre på jer. Han vender ryggen til på grund af al jeres ondskab.5Hør efter, I falske profeter, som fører Herrens folk på afveje. I profeterer fred og ingen fare for dem, som betaler jer godt. Men I lover krig og ulykke til dem, som ikke har råd til at betale.6Engang vil jeres syner holde op, jeres trolddomskunster vil høre fortiden til. Det er ude med jer, og natten vil sænke sig over jer.7Når det viser sig, at jeres ord var løgn, ord, der ikke kom fra Gud, vil I holde jer for munden og skjule jeres ansigt i skam.8Men jeg er fyldt med Herrens Ånd og kraft og viger ikke tilbage for at udpege Israels synd.9Hør efter, Israels folks ledere. I, som hader retfærdighed og fordrejer sandheden.10I bygger jeres magt og rigdom, på mord, ondskab og korruption.11Dommerne tager imod bestikkelse, præsterne kræver betaling for at undervise, og profeterne vil have penge for at spå. Samtidig hævder I, at Herren er med jer, og at intet ondt vil ramme jer.12Derfor bliver Zion lagt øde som en pløjemark, Jerusalem bliver til en hob af ruiner, tempelbjerget bliver dækket af tjørnekrat.
1And I said: Hear, you heads of Jacob and rulers of the house of Israel! Is it not for you to know justice?— (Jer 5,5; Ez 22,6; Ez 22,27; Mika 1,2)2you who hate the good and love the evil, who tear the skin from off my people[1] and their flesh from off their bones, (Ez 34,3; Mika 3,9)3who eat the flesh of my people, and flay their skin from off them, and break their bones in pieces and chop them up like meat in a pot, like flesh in a cauldron. (Salm 14,4; Es 3,15)4Then they will cry to the Lord, but he will not answer them; he will hide his face from them at that time, because they have made their deeds evil. (5.Mos 31,17; Ord 1,28; Es 1,15)5Thus says the Lord concerning the prophets who lead my people astray, who cry “Peace” when they have something to eat, but declare war against him who puts nothing into their mouths. (Jer 6,14; Jer 23,13; Jer 23,32; Ez 13,10)6Therefore it shall be night to you, without vision, and darkness to you, without divination. The sun shall go down on the prophets, and the day shall be black over them; (Ez 12,24; Ez 13,23; Amos 8,9)7the seers shall be disgraced, and the diviners put to shame; they shall all cover their lips, for there is no answer from God. (3.Mos 13,45; Jer 37,19; Amos 8,11; Zak 13,4)8But as for me, I am filled with power, with the Spirit of the Lord, and with justice and might, to declare to Jacob his transgression and to Israel his sin. (Es 58,1; Jer 6,11; Ez 23,36; Mika 1,5)9Hear this, you heads of the house of Jacob and rulers of the house of Israel, who detest justice and make crooked all that is straight, (Mika 1,2; Mika 3,2)10who build Zion with blood and Jerusalem with iniquity. (Jer 22,13; Ez 22,27; Hab 2,12)11Its heads give judgment for a bribe; its priests teach for a price; its prophets practice divination for money; yet they lean on the Lord and say, “Is not the Lord in the midst of us? No disaster shall come upon us.” (Es 1,23; Es 48,2; Jer 6,13; Jer 7,4; Jer 23,17; Ez 22,25; Amos 5,14; Amos 9,10; Mika 3,5; Mika 7,3)12Therefore because of you Zion shall be plowed as a field; Jerusalem shall become a heap of ruins, and the mountain of the house a wooded height. (Jer 26,18; Mika 1,6; Mika 4,2; Luk 13,35)