1 lWoe to those who devise wickedness
and work evil mon their beds!
When the morning dawns, they perform it,
because it is in the power of their hand.
2 They covet fields and nseize them,
and houses, and take them away;
they oppress a man and his house,
a man and his inheritance.
3 Therefore thus says the Lord:
behold, against othis family I am devising disaster,1
from which you cannot remove your necks,
and you pshall not walk haughtily,
qfor it will be a time of disaster.
4 In that day rthey shall take up a taunt song against you
and moan bitterly,
and say, “We are utterly ruined;
she changes the portion of my people;
show he removes it from me!
tTo an apostate he allots our fields.”
5 Therefore you will have none uto cast the line by lot
in the assembly of the Lord.
6 v“Do not preach”—thus they preach—
w“one should not preach of such things;
xdisgrace will not overtake us.”
7 Should this be said, O house of Jacob?
vHas the Lord grown impatient?2
Are these his deeds?
Do not my words do good
to him who walks uprightly?
8 But lately ymy people have risen up as an enemy;
you strip the rich robe from those who pass by trustingly
with no thought of war.3
9 The women of my people you drive out
from their delightful houses;
from their young children you take away
my splendor forever.
10 zArise and go,
for this is no aplace to rest,
because of buncleanness that destroys
with a grievous destruction.
11 If a man should go about and cutter wind and lies,
saying, “I will preach to you dof wine and strong drink,”
he would be the preacher for this people!
12 I will surely assemble all of you, O Jacob;
eI will gather fthe remnant of Israel;
I will set them together
like sheep in a fold,
hlike a flock in its pasture,
a noisy multitude of men.
13 iHe who opens the breach goes up before them;
they break through and pass the gate,
jgoing out by it.
Their king passes on before them,
kthe Lord at their head.
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