Chapter 3
The Leader Devours the Chair of My People
1 Then I said:
Listen, you leaders of the house of Jacob,
you rulers of the house of Israel.
Should you not be responsible
to know what is right?
2 And yet you hate what is good
and love what is evil.
3 You eat the flesh of my people
and strip off their skin;
you break their bones into pieces
like flesh for the pot,
like meat in a cauldron.
4 Then they will cry out to the Lord,
but he will not answer them.
He will conceal his face from them at that time
because of the evil they have done.
Against Prophets Who Lead the People Astray
5 Thus says the Lord about the prophets
who lead my people astray,
who promise prosperity
when they have something to eat,
but who declare war against those
who put no food into their mouths.
6 Therefore, you will have night without vision
and darkness without divination.
The sun will go down on the prophets;
for them the daytime will be black.
7 Then the seers will be disgraced
and the diviners will be put to shame.
They will all cover their lips,
for there is no answer from God.
8 But as for me, I am filled with strength,
with the Spirit of the Lord,
with justice and might
to declare to Jacob his crime
and to Israel his sin.
A Civilization Built on Injustice
9 Listen to this,
you leaders of the house of Jacob,
you rulers of the house of Israel,
who despise justice
and pervert what is right,
10 who build Zion through bloodshed
and Jerusalem through wickedness.
11 Her leaders accept bribes for favorable judgments,
her priests render judgments for a fee,
her prophets practice divination for money.
And yet they rely upon the Lord, saying,
“Isn’t the Lord in our midst?
No harm can come upon us.”
12 Therefore, because of you,
Zion will be plowed like a field.
Jerusalem will be reduced to a heap of rubble,
and the temple mount to a height
overgrown with thickets.
