CHAPTER 3
1 And I said, Ye princes of Jacob, and
dukes of the house of Israel, hear. Whether it is not yours for to know doom, (And I said, Ye leaders of Jacob, and rulers of the house of Israel, listen. Is it not for you to know what is right, or to do what is just,)
2 which hate good, and love evil? Which violently take away the skins of them from above them, and the flesh of them from above the bones of them. (ye who hate good, and love evil? Who violently take away their very skin, and their flesh from off their bones.)
3 Which ate the flesh of my people, and (un)covered, [or flayed (off)], the skin of them from above; and brake together the bones of them, and cutted (them up) together as in a cauldron, and as flesh in the middle of a pot. (Who eat the flesh of my people, and uncover, or flay off, their skin; and altogether break their bones, and altogether cut them up, as if to put them into a cauldron, yea, like meat in the middle of a pot.)
4 Then they shall cry to the Lord, and he shall not hear them; and he shall hide his face from them in that time, as they did wickedly in their findings. (Then they shall cry to the Lord, but he shall not hear them; and he shall hide his face from them at that time, for they did wickedly in their deeds.)
5 The Lord saith these things on the prophets that deceive my people, that bite with their teeth, and preach peace; and if any man giveth not in the mouth of them anything, they hallow battle on him. (The Lord saith these things about the prophets who deceive my people, who bite with their teeth, and preach peace; and if anyone will not put something into their mouths, or into their pockets, they proclaim battle against them.)
6 Therefore night shall be to you for vision, or prophecy, and darknesses to you for divination; and the sun shall go down on the prophets, and the day shall be made dark on them.
7 And they shall be confounded that see visions, and diviners shall be confounded, and all shall cover their cheers, for it is not the answer of God. (And they who see visions shall be shamed, and diviners shall be shamed, and all of them shall cover their faces, for it is not the answer of God.)
8 Nevertheless I am filled with (the) strength of the Spirit of the Lord, and with doom and power (or and with judgement and with power), (so) that I show to Jacob his great trespass, and to Israel his sin.
9 Hear these things, ye princes of the house of Jacob, and doomsmen of the house of Israel, which loathe doom, and pervert all right things; (Hear these things, ye leaders of the house of Jacob, and rulers of the house of Israel, who hate justice, and pervert, or warp, every good, or right, thing;)
10 which build Zion in bloods, and Jerusalem in wickedness. (who build up Zion with bloodshed, and Jerusalem with wickedness.)
11 The princes thereof deemed for gifts, and [the] priests thereof taught for hire, and the prophets thereof divined for money; and on the Lord they rested, and said, Whether the Lord is not in the middle of us? evils shall not come (up)on us. (Its leaders judged, or governed, for bribes, and its priests taught for pay, and its prophets divined for money; and yet they rested, or relied, upon the Lord, and said, Is not the Lord here in the midst of us? yea, evil shall not come upon us.)
12 For this thing because of you, Zion as a field shall be eared; and Jerusalem shall be as an heap of stones, and the hill of the temple shall be into high things of woods. (For this thing, because of you, Zion shall be plowed under like a field, and Jerusalem shall become a heap of stones, and the Temple mount shall become the high place of a forest.)