Those who devise sinful plans are as good as dead, ¹  those who dream about doing evil as they lie in bed. ²  As soon as morning dawns they carry out their plans, ³  because they have the power to do so.

but you rise up as an enemy against my people. ¹  You steal a robe from a friend, ²  from those who pass by peacefully as if returning from a war. ³ 

I will transform the lame into the nucleus of a new nation, ¹  and those far off ²  into a mighty nation. The Lord will reign over them on Mount Zion, from that day forward and forevermore.” ³ 

Listen! The Lord is calling ¹  to the city! It is wise to respect your authority, O Lord! ²  Listen, O nation, and those assembled in the city! ³ 

Does the family ¹  of Jacob say, ²  ‘The Lord’s patience ³  can’t be exhausted – he would never do such things’? ⁴  To be sure, my commands bring a reward for those who obey them, ⁵ 

There is no other God like you! ¹  You ²  forgive sin and pardon ³  the rebellion of those who remain among your people. ⁴  You do not remain angry forever, ⁵  but delight in showing loyal love.

Those survivors from ¹  Jacob will live ²  in the midst of many nations. ³  They will be like the dew the Lord sends, like the rain on the grass, that does not hope for men to come or wait around for humans to arrive. ⁴ 

I will certainly gather all of you, O Jacob, I will certainly assemble those Israelites who remain. ¹  I will bring them together like sheep in a fold, ²  like a flock in the middle of a pasture; ³  they will be so numerous that they will make a lot of noise. ⁴ 

Those survivors from Jacob will live among the nations, in the midst of many peoples. They will be like a lion among the animals of the forest, like a young lion among the flocks of sheep, which attacks when it passes through; it rips its prey ¹  and there is no one to stop it. ² 

“In that day,” says the Lord, “I will gather the lame, and assemble the outcasts whom I injured. ¹ 

The earth will become desolate ¹  because of what its inhabitants have done. ² 

You will eat, but not be satisfied. Even if you have the strength ¹  to overtake some prey, ²  you will not be able to carry it away; ³  if you do happen to carry away something, I will deliver it over to the sword.

This is what the Lord says: “The prophets who mislead my people are as good as dead. ¹  If someone gives them enough to eat, they offer an oracle of peace. ²  But if someone does not give them food, they are ready to declare war on him. ³ 

I am depressed! ¹  Indeed, ²  it is as if the summer fruit has been gathered, and the grapes have been harvested. ³  There is no grape cluster to eat, no fresh figs that I crave so much. ⁴ 

Indeed, the residents of Maroth ¹  hope for something good to happen, ²  though the Lord has sent disaster against the city of Jerusalem. ³ 

Lift your hand triumphantly against your adversaries; ¹  may all your enemies be destroyed! ² 

I do not condone the use of rigged scales, or a bag of deceptive weights. ¹ 

“As in the days when you departed from the land of Egypt, I will show you ¹  miraculous deeds.” ² 

In that day people will sing this taunt song to you – they will mock you with this lament: ¹  ‘We are completely destroyed; they sell off ²  the property of my people. How they remove it from me! ³  They assign our fields to the conqueror.’ ⁴ 

‘Don’t preach with such impassioned rhetoric,’ they say excitedly. ¹  ‘These prophets should not preach of such things; we will not be overtaken by humiliation.’ ²