1  Woe to them that devise iniquity and work evil upon their beds! When the morning is light, they execute it, because it is in the power of their hand.

1  They meditated troubles, and wrought wickedness on their beds, and they put it in execution with the daylight; for they have not lifted up their hands to God.

1  Woe to you who devise useless things and who work evil in your beds. In the morning light, they undertake it, because their hand is against God.

2  And they covet fields, and seize them; and houses, and take them away; thus they oppress a man and his house, even a man and his heritage.

2  And they desired fields, and plundered orphans, and oppressed families, and spoiled a man and his house, even a man and his inheritance.

2  They covet fields and houses, and seize them by force; they oppress a man, taking away from him his possessions and his inheritance.

3  Therefore thus saith YHWH: Behold, against this family do I devise an evil, from which ye shall not remove your necks, neither shall ye walk upright; for it shall be an evil time.

3  For this reason, thus says the Lord: Behold, I devise an evil against this family, from which you will not steal away your necks. And you will not walk in arrogance, because this is a most wicked time.

4  In that day shall they take up a parable against you, and lament with a doleful lamentation, and say: 'We are utterly ruined; he changeth the portion of my people; how doth he remove it from me! Instead of restoring our fields, he divideth them.'

4  In that day shall a parable be taken up against you, and a plaintive lamentation shall be uttered, saying, We are thoroughly miserable: the portion of my people has been measured out with a line, and there was none to hinder him so as to turn him back; your fields have been divided.

4  In that day, a parable will be taken up about you, and a song will be sung with sweetness, saying: “We have been devastated by depopulation.” The fate of my people has been altered. How can he withdraw from me, when he might be turned back, he who might tear apart our country?

5  Therefore thou shalt have none that shall cast the line by lot in the congregation of YHWH.

5  Because of this, there will be for you no casting of the cord of fate in the assembly of the Lord.

5  Therefore you shall have none that shall measure by the measuring line and divide by casting the lots in the congregation of the LORD.

6  'Preach ye not', they preach; 'They shall not preach of these things, that they shall not take shame.'

6  Weep not with tears in the assembly of the Lord, neither let any weep for these things; for he shall not remove the reproaches,

6  Shed not tears, and weep not over these things,

7  Do I change, O house of Jacob? Is the spirit of YHWH straitened? Are these His doings? Do not My words do good to him that walketh uprightly?

7  That the shame which is spoken against the house of Jacob may not overtake you; for the spirit of the LORD is angry at these devices; behold, my words are good to him who walked uprightly.

8  But of late My people is risen up as an enemy; with the garment ye strip also the mantle from them that pass by securely, so that they are as men returning from war.

8  Even beforetime my people withstood him as an enemy against his peace; they have stripped off his skin to remove hope in the conflict of war.

9  The women of My people ye cast out from their pleasant houses; from their young children ye take away My glory for ever.

9  The leaders of my people shall be cast forth from their luxurious houses; they are rejected because of their evil practices; draw ye near to the everlasting mountains.

9  You have evicted the women among my people from their delicate houses. You have taken my praise forever from their little ones.

10  Arise ye, and depart; for this is not your resting-place; because of the uncleanness thereof, it shall destroy you, even with a sore destruction.

10  Arise thou, and depart; for this is not thy rest because of uncleanness: ye have been utterly destroyed;

11  If a man walking in wind and falsehood do lie: 'I will preach unto thee of wine and of strong drink'; he shall even be the preacher of this people.

11  ye have fled, no one pursuing you: thy spirit has framed falsehood, it has dropped on thee for wine and strong drink. But it shall come to pass, that out of the dropping of this people,

11  I wish that I were not a man who has breath, and that I rather spoke a lie. I will drop it down to you in wine and in drunkenness. And it will be this people on whom it will rain down.

12  I will surely assemble, O Jacob, all of thee; I will surely gather the remnant of Israel; I will render them all as sheep in a fold; as a flock in the midst of their pasture; they shall make great noise by reason of the multitude of men.

12  I will gather together in a congregation all of you, Jacob. I will lead together as one, the remnant of Israel. I will set them together like a flock in the fold, like a sheep in the midst of the sheep pen. They will cause a tumult before the multitude of men.

13  The breaker is gone up before them; they have broken forth and passed on, by the gate, and are gone out thereat; and their king is passed on before them, and YHWH at the head of them.

13  they have broken through, and passed the gate, and gone out by it: and their king has gone out before them, and the Lord shall lead them.

13  For he will ascend, opening the way before them. They will separate, and they will cross the gate and enter through it. And their king will pass by, before their very eyes, and the Lord will be at their head.

3:1  And I said: Hear, I pray you, ye heads of Jacob, and rulers of the house of Israel: is it not for you to know justice?

1  And he shall say, Hear now these words, ye heads of the house of Jacob, and ye remnant of the house of Israel; is it not for you to know judgement?

3:2  Who hate the good, and love the evil; who rob their skin from off them, and their flesh from off their bones;

2  you who hold hatred for good, and love evil, who violently steal their skins from over them and their flesh from over their bones?

3:3  Who also eat the flesh of my people, and flay their skin from off them, and break their bones; yea, they chop them in pieces, as that which is in the pot, and as flesh within the caldron.

3  even as they devoured the flesh of my people, and stripped their skins off them, and broke their bones, and divided them as flesh for the caldron, and as meat for the pot,

3:4  Then shall they cry unto YHWH, but He will not answer them; yea, He will hide His face from them at that time, according as they have wrought evil in their doings.

4  thus they shall cry to the Lord, but he shall not hearken to them; and he shall turn away his face from them at that time, because they have done wickedly in their practices against themselves.

4  Then they will cry out to the Lord, and he will not heed them. And he will hide his face from them in that time, just as they have acted wickedly with their inventions.

3:5  Thus saith YHWH concerning the prophets that make my people to err; that cry: 'Peace', when their teeth have any thing to bite; and whoso putteth not into their mouths, they even prepare war against him

5  Thus says the Lord about the prophets who seduce my people: They bite with their teeth and preach peace, and if anyone does not give something to their mouth, they sanctify a battle against him.

3:6  Therefore it shall be night unto you, that ye shall have no vision; and it shall be dark unto you, that ye shall not divine; and the sun shall go down upon the prophets, and the day shall be black over them.

6  therefore there shall be night to you instead of a vision, and there shall be to you darkness instead of prophecy; and the sun shall go down upon the prophets, and the day shall be dark upon them.

6  Because of this, night will be yours for vision, and darkness yours for divination, and the sun will meet with death over the prophets, and the day will be darkened over them.

3:7  And the seers shall be put to shame, and the diviners confounded; yea, they shall all cover their upper lips; for there shall be no answer of God.

7  And the seers of night-visions shall be ashamed, and the prophets shall be laughed to scorn: and all the people shall speak against them, because there shall be none to hearken to them.

7  And those who see visions will be confounded, and the diviners will be confounded. And they will all cover their faces, because there is no response from God.

3:8  But I truly am full of power by the spirit of YHWH, and of justice, and of might, to declare unto Jacob his transgression, and to Israel his sin.

8  Surely I will strengthen myself with the Spirit of the Lord, and of judgement, and of power, to declare to Jacob his transgressions, and to Israel his sins.

8  Nevertheless, truly I have been filled with the strength of the Spirit of the Lord, with judgment and virtue, in order to announce to Jacob his wickedness and to Israel his sin.

3:9  Hear this, I pray you, ye heads of the house of Jacob, and rulers of the house of Israel, that abhor justice, and pervert all equity;

9  Hear now these words, ye chiefs of the house of Jacob, and the remnant of the house of Israel, who hate judgement, and pervert all righteousness;

9  Now hear this, O you chiefs of the house of Jacob and princes of the house of Israel, who abhor justice and pervert all equity;

3:10  That build up Zion with blood, and Jerusalem with iniquity.

10  Who build Zion with blood and Jerusalem with iniquity;

3:11  The heads thereof judge for reward, and the priests thereof teach for hire, and the prophets thereof divine for money; yet will they lean upon YHWH, and say: 'Is not the YHWH in the midst of us? No evil shall come upon us'?

11  Her leaders have judged for tributes, and her priests have taught for payment, and her prophets divined for money. And they leaned upon the Lord, saying: “Is not the Lord in our midst? No disaster will overcome us.”

11  The chiefs thereof judge for a bribe, and its priests teach for hire, and its prophets divine for money; yet they rely upon the LORD, saying, The LORD is among us, no evil can come upon us;

3:12  Therefore shall Zion for your sake be plowed as a field, and Jerusalem shall become heaps, and the mountain of the house as the high places of a forest.

12  For this reason, because of you, Zion will be plowed under like a field, and Jerusalem will become like a pile of stones, and the mountain of the temple like the high places of the forests.