Rulers and Prophets Condemned 1 UST Then I said,“You leaders of the people of Jacob and you rulers of the people of Israel, listen to me! You are the ones who should know all about how to treat people fairly. BSB BSB: Then I said: “Hear now, O leaders of Jacob, you rulers of the house of Israel. Should you not know justice?
2 UST Yet you hate what is right and love what is evil! You violently rob my people{ as though} you are stripping off their skin and flesh. BSB BSB: You hate good and love evil. You tear the skin from my people and strip the flesh from their bones.
3 UST You greedily strip my people of everything that they have{ as though} you are a butcher who strips off their skin, breaks their bones, chops them up, puts them into a cooking pot, and eats them.” BSB BSB: You eat the flesh of my people after stripping off their skin and breaking their bones. You chop them up like flesh for the cooking pot, like meat in a cauldron.”
4 UST Someday,{ when bad things happen to those leaders,} they will call out for Yahweh{ to help them}, but he will not help them. He will be as diligent to ignore them at that time, as they were to do evil deeds. BSB BSB: Then they will cry out to the LORD, but He will not answer them. At that time He will hide His face from them because of the evil they have done.
5 UST This is what Yahweh says,“This is about the prophets who are misleading my people. They prophesy good things for anyone giving them something to eat. However, they declare holy war against anyone who does not give them food. BSB BSB: This is what the LORD says: “As for the prophets who lead My people astray, who proclaim peace while they chew with their teeth, but declare war against one who puts nothing in their mouths:
6 UST Because of that, it will be{ as though it is} always night for you prophets because you will no longer be able to see visions, and you will no longer be able to practice divination. Yes,{ it will be as though} the sun has set for you prophets even during the day, because I will show you nothing.” BSB BSB: Therefore night will come over you without visions, and darkness without divination. The sun will set on these prophets, and the daylight will turn black over them.
7 UST Those who claim to see the future will feel ashamed, and those who practice divination will feel disgraced. They will all cover their faces to express how ashamed they are, because God will not answer them. BSB BSB: Then the seers will be ashamed and the diviners will be disgraced. They will all cover their mouths because there is no answer from God.”
8 UST But as for me, Yahweh’ s Spirit greatly empowers me to do what is right and to be strong so that I can tell the people of Jacob how they have rebelled{ against God} and tell the people of Israel how they have sinned. BSB BSB: As for me, however, I am filled with power by the Spirit of the LORD, with justice and courage, to declare to Jacob his transgression and to Israel his sin.
9 UST You leaders of the people of Jacob and you rulers of the people of Israel, listen to this! You are the ones who hate it when people do what is right, and when people say what is true, you change it into something false. BSB BSB: Now hear this, O leaders of the house of Jacob and rulers of the house of Israel, who despise justice and pervert all that is right,
10 UST You are getting the wealth to build up Jerusalem by murdering people and treating people unjustly. BSB BSB: who build Zion with bloodshed and Jerusalem with iniquity.
11 UST The city’ s leaders decide cases{ favorably} only for those who give them bribes. The city’ s priests teach only when people pay them{ well}. The city’ s prophets require people to pay them money in order to tell them what they think will happen to them. Yet those same leaders trust in Yahweh and say,“Yahweh is among us, so nothing bad will happen to us.” BSB BSB: Her leaders judge for a bribe, her priests teach for a price, and her prophets practice divination for money. Yet they lean upon the LORD, saying, “Is not the LORD among us? No disaster can come upon us.”
12 UST So, because of what you leaders are doing, enemies will make Mount Zion look like a field that a farmer has plowed. Jerusalem will become a pile of rubble, and the temple hill will become an overgrown forest. BSB BSB: Therefore, because of you, Zion will be plowed like a field, Jerusalem will become a heap of rubble, and the temple mount a wooded ridge.