¹Da sagde jeg: Hør dog, I Jakobs Høvdinger, I Dommere af Israels Hus!. Kan Kendskab til Ret ej ventes af eder,

¹And I say, `Hear, I pray you, heads of Jacob, And ye judges of the house of Israel, Is it not for you to know the judgment?

²I, som hader det gode og elsker. det onde, I, som flår Huden af Folk. og Kødet af deres Ben,

²Ye who are hating good, and loving evil, Taking violently their skin from off them, And their flesh from off their bones,

³æder mit Folks Kød og flænger dem Huden af Kroppen, sønderbryder deres Ben. og breder dem som Kød i en Gryde, som Suppekød i en Kedel?

³And who have eaten the flesh of My people, And their skin from off them have stript, And their bones they have broken, And they have spread [them] out as in a pot, And as flesh in the midst of a caldron.

⁴Engang skal de råbe til HERREN, han lader dem uden Svar;. da skjuler han sit Åsyn for. dem, fordi deres Gerninger er onde.

⁴Then do they cry unto Jehovah, And He doth not answer them, And hideth His face from them at that time, As they have made evil their doings.

⁵Så siger HERREN om Profeterne, de, som vildleder mit Folk, de, som råber om Fred, når kun de får noget at tygge, men ypper Krig med den, der intet giver dem i Munden:

⁵Thus said Jehovah concerning the prophets Who are causing My people to err, Who are biting with their teeth, And have cried `Peace,` And he who doth not give unto their mouth, They have sanctified against him war.

⁶Derfor skal I opleve Nat uden. Syner, Mørke, som ej bringer Spådom; Solen skal gå ned for Profeterne, Dagen skal sortne for dem.

⁶Therefore a night ye have without vision, And darkness ye have without divination, And gone in hath the sun on the prophets, And black over them hath been the day.

⁷Til Skamme skal Seeren blive, blues skal de, som spår; alle skal tilhylle Skægget, thi Svar er der ikke fra Gud.

⁷And ashamed have been the seers, And confounded have been the diviners, And covered their lip have all of them, For their is no answer, O God.

⁸Jeg derimod er ved HERRENs Ånd fuld af Styrke, af Ret og af Kraft til at forkynde Jakob dets Brøde, Israel, hvad det har syndet.

⁸And yet I have been full of power by the Spirit of Jehovah, And of judgment, and of might, To declare to Jacob his transgression, And to Israel his sin.

⁹Hør det, I Jakobs Huses Høvdinger, I Dommere af Israels Hus, I, som afskyr Ret og gør alt, som er lige, kroget,

⁹Hear this, I pray you, heads of the house of Jacob, And ye judges of the house of Israel, Who are making judgment abominable, And all uprightness do pervert.

¹⁰som bygger Zion med Blod. og Jerusalem med Uret.

¹⁰Building up Zion with blood, And Jerusalem with iniquity.

¹¹Dets Høvdinger dømmer for Gave, dets Præster kender Ret for Løn; dets Profeter spår for Sølv og støtter sig dog til HERREN: "Er HERREN ej i vor Midte? Over os kommer intet ondt."

¹¹Her heads for a bribe do judge, And her priests for hire do teach, And her prophets for silver divine, And on Jehovah they lean, saying, `Is not Jehovah in our midst? Evil doth not come in upon us.`

¹²For eders, Skyld skal derfor Zion pløjes som en Mark, Jerusalem blive til Grushobe, Tempelbjerget til Krathøj.

¹²Therefore, for your sake, Zion is ploughed a field, and Jerusalem is heaps, And the mount of the house [is] for high places of a forest!