- 1
- ¶ WOE to those who devise iniquity, and work evil upon their beds!
They rise up early every morning and practice what they have devised; then they lift up their hands toward God to pray.
- 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 says the LORD God: Behold, against this people do I devise a disaster from which you shall not lift up your necks, neither shall you walk haughtily;
for this is an evil time.
- 4
- In that day shall one take up a proverb against you, and lament with a wailing melody, and say, The robber has plundered us;
the portion of my people he has divided with a measuring line; there is none to restore our fields with the measuring line.
- 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
- ¶ Shed not tears, and weep not over these things,
- 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
- My people stood up like a thief against his own peace;
you strip the skin from the poor that they may lose their hope; you invite war.
- 9
- The women of my people you have driven out from their pleasant houses;
from their children you have taken away the glory for ever.
- 10
- Arise and go away;
for this is no place for your rest, because the pollution will bring destruction, and the destruction will be grievous.
- 11
- When a man walks in the spirit of falsehood and deception, overwhelmed with wine and drunkenness, he does so because of the anguish of this people.
- 12
- ¶ I will surely gather you, O Jacob, all of you;
I will surely bring you together, O remnant of Israel; I will keep them like sheep when they are in danger, like a flock in the midst of their fold, which are protected from thieves.
- 13
- The pathbreaker is come up before them;
they have made a breach and have passed through the gate, and are gone out by it; and their king shall pass before them, and the LORD at the head of them.
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