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Punishment for Those Who Abuse Their Power

Doomed! You're doomed!
At night you lie in bed,
    making evil plans.
And when morning comes,
you do what you've planned
    because you have the power.
You grab any field or house
    that you want;
you cheat families
    out of homes and land.

But here is what the Lord says:
“I am planning trouble for you.
Your necks will be caught
    in a noose,
and you will be disgraced
    in this time of disaster.”

When that happens,
this sorrowful song
    will be sung about you:
“Ruined! Completely ruined!
The Lord has taken our land
    and given it to traitors.”[a]
And so you will never again
own property
    among the Lord's people.

“Enough of your preaching!”
    That's what you tell me.
“We won't be disgraced,
    so stop preaching!”

Descendants of Jacob,
    is it right for you to claim
that the Lord did what he did
    because he was angry?
Doesn't he always bless
    those who do right?
My people, you have turned against
    one another!
You have even stolen
    clothes right off the backs
of innocent neighbors
    who pass by in peace.[b]
You take over lovely homes
that belong to the women
    of my nation.
Then you cheat their children
out of the inheritance
    that comes from the Lord.[c]

10 Get out of here, you crooks!
    You'll find no rest here.
You're not fit to belong
to the Lord's people,
    and you will be destroyed.[d]
11 The only prophet you want
is a liar who will say,
    “Drink and get drunk!”

A Promise of Hope

12 I, the Lord, promise
    to bring together
the people of Israel
    who have survived.
I will gather them,
    just as a shepherd
brings sheep together,
    and there will be many.
13 I will break down the gate
and lead them out—
    then I will be their king.

Footnotes

  1. 2.4 The Lord … traitors: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text.
  2. 2.8 of innocent neighbors … peace: Or “of your unsuspecting soldiers returning home from battle.”
  3. 2.9 inheritance … Lord: The Hebrew text has “my glory,” which refers to the inheritance of land that the Lord had promised his people.
  4. 2.10 destroyed: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text.

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