¶ And I said, Hear, I pray you, O heads of Jacob, and ye princes of the house of Israel; Is it² not for you to know judgment?

Who hate³ the good, and love⁴ the evil; who pluck⁵ off their skin from off them, and their flesh from off their bones;

Who also eat⁶ the flesh of my people, and flay their skin from off them; and they break their bones, and chop⁷ them in pieces, as for the pot, and as flesh within the caldron.

Then⁸ shall they cry⁹ unto the LORD, but he will not hear them: he will even¹⁰ hide his face from them at that time, as¹¹ they have behaved themselves ill in their doings.

Thus saith the LORD concerning¹² the prophets that make my people err, that bite¹³ with their teeth, and cry, Peace; and he that putteth not into their mouths, they even prepare war against him.

Therefore night¹⁴ shall be unto you, that ye shall not have a vision¹⁵; and it shall be dark unto you, that ye shall not divine; and the sun shall go down over the prophets, and the day shall be dark over them.

Then shall the seers¹⁶ be ashamed, and the diviners confounded: yea, they shall all cover¹⁷ their lips¹⁸; for there is no answer of God.

¶ But truly I am¹⁹ full of power by the spirit of the LORD, and of judgment, and of might, to declare²⁰ unto Jacob his transgression, and to Israel his sin.

Hear this, I pray²¹ you, ye heads of the house of Jacob, and princes of the house of Israel, that²² abhor judgment, and pervert all equity.

¶ They build up Zion²³ with blood²⁴, and Jerusalem with iniquity.

The heads²⁵ thereof judge for reward, and the priests²⁶ thereof teach for hire, and the prophets²⁷ thereof divine for money: yet²⁸ will they lean upon the LORD, and say²⁹, Is not the LORD among us? none evil can come upon us.

Therefore shall Zion³⁰ for your sake be plowed as a field, and Jerusalem shall become heaps, and the mountain³¹ of the house as the high places of the forest.