1Woe 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.

2And 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.

3Therefore thus saith the LORD:

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.

4In 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.’

5Therefore thou shalt have none that shall cast the line by lot

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.’

7Do I change, O house of Jacob?

Is the spirit of the LORD straitened?

Are these His doings?

Do not My words do good to him that walketh uprightly?

8But 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.

9The women of My people ye cast out from their pleasant houses;

From their young children ye take away My glory for ever.

10Arise ye, and depart; for this is not your resting-place;

Because of the uncleanness thereof, it shall destroy you, even with a sore destruction.

11If 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.

12I 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.

13The 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 the LORD at the head of them.