1. And he shall say, Hear now these words, ye heads of the house of Jacob, and ye remnant of the house of Israel; is it not for you to know judgement?
2. who hate good, and seek evil; who tear their skins off them, and their flesh off their bones:
3. even as they devoured the flesh of my people, and stripped their skins off them, and broke their bones, and divided them as flesh for the caldron, and as meat for the [Or, tub] pot,
4. thus they shall cry to the Lord, but he shall not hearken to them; and he shall turn away his face from them at that time, because they have done wickedly in their practices against themselves.
5. Thus saith the Lord concerning the prophets that lead my people astray, that bit with their teeth, and proclaim peace to them; and when nothing was put into their mouth, they raised up war against them:
6. therefore there shall be night to you [Gr. out of] instead of a vision, and there shall be to you darkness instead of prophecy; and the sun shall go down upon the prophets, and the day shall be dark upon them.
7. And the seers of night-visions shall be ashamed, and the prophets shall be laughed to scorn: and all [Gr. they] the people shall speak against them, because there shall be none to hearken to them.
8. Surely I will strengthen myself with the Spirit of the Lord, and of judgement, and of power, to declare to Jacob his transgressions, and to Israel his sins.
9. Hear now these words, ye chiefs of the house of Jacob, and the remnant of the house of Israel, who hate judgement, and pervert all righteousness;
10. who build up Sion with blood, and Jerusalem with iniquity.
11. The heads thereof have judged for gifts, and the priests thereof have answered for hire, and her prophets have divined for silver: and yet they have rested on the Lord, saying, Is not the Lord among us? no evil shall come upon us.
12. Therefore on your account Sion shall be ploughed as a field, and Jerusalem shall be as a storehouse of fruits, and the mountain of the house as a grove of the forest.