OPPRESSORS JUDGED

2 Woe to those who dream up wickedness

and prepare evil plansap on their beds!

At morning lightaq they accomplish it

because the power is in their hands.a

2 They covet fieldsb and seize them;c

they also take houses.

They deprive a man of his home,d

a person of his inheritance.e

3 Therefore, the Lord says:

I am now planningf a disaster

against this nation;g

you cannot free your necks from it.h

Then you will not walk so proudlyi

because it will be an evil time.j

4 In that day one will take upk a taunt against you

and lament mournfully,l saying,

“We are totally ruined!m

He measures out the allotted land of my people.

How he removes it from me!

He allots our fieldsn to traitors.”

5 Therefore, there will be no one

in the assembly of the Lord

to divide the land by casting lots.A,o

GOD’S WORD REJECTED

6 “Quit your preaching,”p theyB preach.

“They should not preach these things;q

shame will not overtake us.”C,r

7 House of Jacob, should it be asked,

“Is the Spirit of the Lord impatient?s

Are these the things he does?”

Don’t my words bring goodt

to the one who walks uprightly?u

8 But recently my people have risen up

like an enemy:v

You strip off the splendid robew

from those who are passing through confidently,x

like those returning from war.

9 You forcey the women of my people

out of their comfortable homes,

and you take my blessingD,z

from their children forever.

10 Get up and leave,

for this is not your place of restaa

because defilementab brings destruction—

a grievous destruction!ac

11 If a man comes

and utters empty lies—ad

“I will preach to you about wine and beer”—ae

he would be just the preacher for this people!af

THE REMNANT REGATHERED

12 I will indeed gatherag all of you, Jacob;

I will collect the remnant of Israel.ah

I will bring them together like sheep in a pen,

like a flock in the middle of its pasture.

It will be noisy with people.ai

13 One who breaks open the way

will advance before them;

they will break out, pass through the city gate,

and leave by it.

Their King will pass through before them,

the Lord as their leader.

UNJUST LEADERS JUDGED

3 Then I said, “Now listen,aj leaders of Jacob,

you rulers of the house of Israel.

Aren’t you supposed to know what is just?ak

2 You hate good and love evil.

You tear off people’s skinal

and strip their flesh from their bones.

3 You eat the flesham of my people

after you strip their skin from them

and break their bones.

You chop them upan

like flesh for the cooking pot,

like meat in a cauldron.”

4 Then they will cry outao to the Lord,

but he will not answer them.

He will hide his face from them at that timeap

because of the crimes they have committed.

FALSE PROPHETS JUDGED

5 This is what the Lord says

concerning the prophets

who lead my people astray,aq

who proclaimar peace

when they have food to sink their teeth into

but declare war against the one

who puts nothing in their mouths.

6 Therefore, it will be nightas for you—

without visions;

it will grow dark for you—

without divination.a

The sun will setb on these prophets,

and the daylight will turn black over them.

7 Then the seers will be ashamedc

and the diviners disappointed.d

They will all cover their mouthsA,e

because there will be no answer from God.f

8 As for me, however, I am filled with powerg

by the Spirit of the Lord,

with justice and courage,

to proclaim to Jacob his rebellion

and to Israel his sin.h

ZION’S DESTRUCTION

9 Listen to this, leaders of the house of Jacob,i

you rulers of the house of Israel,

who abhor justicej

and pervert everything that is right,

10 who build Zion with bloodshedk

and Jerusalem with injustice.

11 Her leaders issue rulings for a bribe,l

her priests teach for payment,m

and her prophets practice divination for silver.

Yet they lean on the Lord, saying,

“Isn’t the Lordn among us?

No disaster will overtake us.”

12 Therefore, because of you,

Zion will be plowed like a field,

Jerusalem will become ruins,o

and the temple’s mountainp

will be a high thicket.q

THE LORD’S RULE FROM RESTORED ZION

4 In the last daysr

the mountain of the Lord’s houses

will be established

at the top of the mountains

and will be raised above the hills.

Peoples will stream to it,t

2 and many nations will come and say,u

“Come, let’s go up to the mountain of the Lord,v

to the house of the God of Jacob.

He will teach us about his waysw

so we may walk in his paths.”

For instruction will go out of Zionx

and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.

3 He will settle disputes among many peoplesy

and provide arbitration for strong nations

that are far away.

They will beat their swords into plows

and their spears into pruning knives.

Nation will not take up the sword against nation,

and they will never again train for war.

4 But each person will sit under his grapevinez

and under his fig tree

with no one to frighten him.aa

For the mouth of the Lordab of Armies

has spoken.

5 Though all the peoples walk

in the name of their own gods,ac

we will walkad in the name of the Lord our God

forever and ever.ae

6 On that day—

this is the Lord’s declaration—

I will assemble the lame

and gather the scattered,af

those I have injured.

7 I will make the lame into a remnant,ag

those far removed into a strong nation.

Then the Lord will reign over themah in Mount Zion

from this time on and forever.

8 And you, watchtower for the flock,ai

fortified hillB of Daughter Zion,

the former ruleaj will come to you;

sovereignty will come to Daughter Jerusalem.

FROM EXILE TO VICTORY

9 Now, why are you shouting loudly?ak

Is there no king with you?

Has your counselor perishedal

so that anguish grips you like a woman in labor?

10 Writhe and cry out,C,am Daughter Zion,

like a woman in labor,

for now you will leave the cityan

and camp in the open fields.

You will go to Babylon;

there you will be rescued;ao

there the Lord will redeem youa

from the grasp of your enemies!

11 Many nations have now assembled against you;b

they say, “Let her be defiled,

and let us feast our eyes on Zion.”

12 But they do not know the Lord’s intentionsc

or understand his plan,

that he has gathered them

like sheaves to the threshing floor.

13 Rise and thresh,d Daughter Zion,

for I will make your horns iron

and your hooves bronze

so you can crush many peoples.e

Then youA will set apart their plunderf

for the Lord,

their wealth for the Lord of the whole earth.