13 The people did not turn to him who struck them;
they did not seek the Lord of Armies.
14 So the Lord cut off Israel’s head and tail,(A)
palm branch and reed in a single day.
15 The head is the elder, the honored one;(B)
the tail is the prophet, the one teaching lies.(C)
16 The leaders of the people mislead them,
and those they mislead are swallowed up.[a]
17 Therefore the Lord does not rejoice
over[b] Israel’s young men
and has no compassion
on its fatherless and widows,
for everyone is a godless evildoer,(D)
and every mouth speaks folly.
In all this, his anger has not turned away,
and his hand is still raised to strike.

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Footnotes

  1. 9:16 Or are confused
  2. 9:17 DSS read not spare

13 For after all this punishment, the people will still not repent.
    They will not seek the Lord of Heaven’s Armies.
14 Therefore, in a single day the Lord will destroy both the head and the tail,
    the noble palm branch and the lowly reed.
15 The leaders of Israel are the head,
    and the lying prophets are the tail.
16 For the leaders of the people have misled them.
    They have led them down the path of destruction.
17 That is why the Lord takes no pleasure in the young men
    and shows no mercy even to the widows and orphans.
For they are all wicked hypocrites,
    and they all speak foolishness.
But even then the Lord’s anger will not be satisfied.
    His fist is still poised to strike.

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