Woe to Oppressors 1Woe to those who devise iniquity and plot evil on their beds! At morning’s light they accomplish it because the power is in their hands. 2They covet fields and seize them; they take away houses. They deprive a man of his home, a fellow man of his inheritance. 3Therefore this is what the LORD says: “I am planning against this nation a disaster from which you cannot free your necks. Then you will not walk so proudly, for it will be a time of calamity. 4In that day they will take up a proverb against you and taunt you with this bitter lamentation: ‘We are utterly ruined! He has changed the portion of my people. How He has removed it from me! He has allotted our fields to traitors.’ ” 5Therefore, you will have no one in the assembly of the LORD Reproof of False Prophets 6“Do not preach,” they preach. “Do not preach these things; disgrace will not overtake us.” 7Should it be said, O house of Jacob, “Is the Spirit of the LORD impatient? Are these the things He does?” Do not My words bring good 8But of late My people have risen up like an enemy: You strip off the splendid robe from unsuspecting passersby like men returning from battle. 9You drive the women of My people from their pleasant homes. You take away My blessing 10Arise and depart, for this is not your place of rest, because its defilement brings destruction— 11If a man of wind were to come and say falsely, “I will preach to you of wine and strong drink,”a he would be just the preacher for this people! The Remnant of Israel 12I will surely gather all of you, O Jacob; I will collect the remnant of Israel. I will bring them together like sheep in a pen, like a flock in the midst of its pasture— a noisy throng. 13One who breaks open the way will go up before them; they will break through the gate, and go out by it. Their King will pass through before them, the LORD as their leader. Footnotes: 11 a Or “I will prophesy to you for wine and strong drink” |
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