2:1–5 This prophecy has three parts: (a) the accusation—evil and violent men unethically seize sacred property and destroy its owners (vv. 1, 2); (b) the sentence—the Lord sentences them to exile (v. 3) and loss of their lands to invaders (v. 4); (c) the conclusion—the robbers are cut off from the covenant people (v. 5). The accusation and sentence are linked by a play on words involving “who devise wickedness” (v. 1) and “I am devising disaster” (v. 3), which are virtually identical expressions in Hebrew. As the powerful took fields away from Israel’s men (vv. 1, 2), so the Lord will send an enemy army to wrest the Promised Land from them (vv. 4, 5).