³ Both their hands are equally skilled at doing evil!
    Officials and judges alike demand bribes.
The people with influence get what they want,
    and together they scheme to twist justice.

2 What sorrow awaits you who lie awake at night,
    thinking up evil plans.
You rise at dawn and hurry to carry them out,
    simply because you have the power to do so.

¹⁶ For I will not fight against you forever;
    I will not always be angry.
If I were, all people would pass away—
    all the souls I have made.

3 What sorrow awaits rebellious, polluted Jerusalem,
    the city of violence and crime!
² No one can tell it anything;
    it refuses all correction.
It does not trust in the Lord
    or draw near to its God.
³ Its leaders are like roaring lions
    hunting for their victims.
Its judges are like ravenous wolves at evening time,
    who by dawn have left no trace of their prey.
⁴ Its prophets are arrogant liars seeking their own gain.
    Its priests defile the Temple by disobeying God’s instructions.
⁵ But the Lord is still there in the city,
    and he does no wrong.
Day by day he hands down justice,
    and he does not fail.
    But the wicked know no shame.