The leaders of Jacob and the leaders of Israel are Leaders contemptuous of justice, who twist and distort right living, Leaders who build Zion by killing people, who expand Jerusalem by committing crimes. Judges sell verdicts to the highest bidder, priests mass-market their teaching, prophets preach for high fees, All the while posturing and pretending dependence on God: “We’ve got God on our side. He’ll protect us from disaster.” Because of people like you, Zion will be turned back into farmland, Jerusalem end up as a pile of rubble, and instead of the Temple on the mountain, a few scraggly scrub pines.

“The day is coming” —God’s Decree— “When there will be no more war. None. I’ll slaughter your war horses and demolish your chariots. I’ll dismantle military posts and level your fortifications. I’ll abolish your religious black markets, your underworld traffic in black magic. I will smash your carved and cast gods and chop down your phallic posts. No more taking control of the world, worshiping what you do or make. I’ll root out your sacred sex-and-power centers and destroy the God-defiant. In raging anger, I’ll make a clean sweep of godless nations who haven’t listened.”