³ For now they will say:
    ^(A)“We have no king,
for we do not fear the Lord;
    and a king—what could he do for us?”
⁴ They utter ^(B)mere words;
    with empty^[a] oaths they make covenants;
so ^(C)judgment springs up like poisonous weeds
    ^(D)in the furrows of the field.