But I will keep watching for the Lord; I will wait for the God who delivers me. My God will hear my lament. ¹ 

Nations will see this and be disappointed by ¹  all their strength, they will put their hands over their mouths, and act as if they were deaf. ² 

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 

Her ¹  leaders take bribes when they decide legal cases, ²  her priests proclaim rulings for profit, and her prophets read omens for pay. Yet they claim to trust ³  the Lord and say, “The Lord is among us. ⁴  Disaster will not overtake ⁵  us!”

Will the Lord accept a thousand rams, or ten thousand streams of olive oil? Should I give him my firstborn child as payment for my rebellion, my offspring – my own flesh and blood – for my sin? ¹ 

Look, ¹  the Lord is coming out of his dwelling place! He will descend and march on the earth’s mountaintops! ² 

But you are the ones who will be forced to leave! ¹  For this land is not secure! ²  Sin will thoroughly destroy it! ³ 

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

The prophets ¹  will be ashamed; the omen readers will be humiliated. All of them will cover their mouths, ²  for they will receive no divine oracles.” ³ 

Therefore, because of you, ¹  Zion will be plowed up like ²  a field, Jerusalem will become a heap of ruins, and the Temple Mount ³  will become a hill overgrown with brush! ⁴ 

Therefore the Lord says this: “Look, I am devising disaster for this nation! ¹  It will be like a yoke from which you cannot free your neck. ²  You will no longer ³  walk proudly, for it will be a time of catastrophe.

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 

The one who can break through barriers will lead them out ¹  they will break out, pass through the gate, and leave. ²  Their king will advance ³  before them, The Lord himself will lead them. ⁴ 

My people, recall how King Balak of Moab planned to harm you, ¹  how Balaam son of Beor responded to him. Recall how you journeyed from Shittim to Gilgal, so you might acknowledge that the Lord has treated you fairly.” ² 

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 

They are determined to be experts at doing evil; ¹  government officials and judges take bribes, ²  prominent men make demands, and they all do what is necessary to satisfy them. ³ 

All her carved idols will be smashed to pieces; all her metal cult statues will be destroyed by fire. ¹  I will make a waste heap ²  of all her images. Since ³  she gathered the metal ⁴  as a prostitute collects her wages, the idols will become a prostitute’s wages again.” ⁵