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1Those who devise sinful plans are as good as dead,[#tn Heb “Woe to those who plan sin.” The Hebrew term הוֹי (hoy, “woe”; “ah”) was a cry used in mourning the dead.]
those who dream about doing evil as they lie in bed.
As soon as morning dawns they carry out their plans,
because they have the power to do so.
2They confiscate the fields they desire,
and seize the houses they want.
They defraud people of their homes,
and deprive people of the land they have inherited.
3Therefore the Lord says this: “Look, I am devising disaster for this nation![#tn Heb “clan” or “extended family.”]
It will be like a yoke from which you cannot free your neck.
You will no longer walk proudly,
for it will be a time of catastrophe.
4In that day people will sing this taunt song to you –
they will mock you with this lament:
‘We are completely destroyed;
they sell off the property of my people.
How they remove it from me!
They assign our fields to the conqueror.’
5Therefore no one will assign you land in the Lord ’s community.[#tn Heb “therefore you will not have one who strings out a measuring line by lot in the assembly of the Lord.”sn No one will assign you land in the Lord’s community. When judgment passes and the people are restored to the land, those greedy ones who disregarded the ancient land allotments will not be allowed to participate in the future redistribution of the land.]
6‘Don’t preach with such impassioned rhetoric,’ they say excitedly.[#tn Heb “‘Do not foam at the mouth,’ they foam at the mouth.” The verb נָטַף (nataf) means “to drip.” When used of speech it probably has the nuance “to drivel, to foam at the mouth” (HALOT 694 s.v. נטף). The sinful people tell the Lord’s prophets not to “foam at the mouth,” which probably refers in a derogatory way to their impassioned style of delivery. But the Lord (who is probably still speaking here, see v. 3) sarcastically refers to their impassioned exhortation as “foaming at the mouth.”]
‘These prophets should not preach of such things;
we will not be overtaken by humiliation.’
7Does the family of Jacob say,[#tn Heb “house” (so many English versions); CEV “descendants.’; #tc The MT has אָמוּר (’amur), an otherwise unattested passive participle, which is better emended to אָמוֹר (’amor), an infinitive absolute functioning as a finite verb (see BDB 55 s.v. אָמַר).]
‘The Lord ’s patience can’t be exhausted –
he would never do such things’?
To be sure, my commands bring a reward
for those who obey them,
8but you rise up as an enemy against my people.[#tc Heb “Recently my people rise up as an enemy.” The MT is problematic in light of v. 9, where “my people” are the object of oppression, not the perpetrators of it. The form וְאֶתְמוּל (vÿ’etmul, “and recently”) is probably the product of fusion and subsequent suppression of an (ע) ayin. The translation assumes an emendation to וְאַתֶּם עַל (vÿ’attem ’al, “and you against [my people]”). The second person plural pronoun fits well with the second plural verb forms of vv. 8b-10. If this emendation is accepted, then יְקוֹמֵם (yÿqomem, the imperfect of קוּם [qum]) should be emended to קָמִים (qamim; a participle from the same root).]
You steal a robe from a friend,
from those who pass by peacefully as if returning from a war.
9You wrongly evict widows among my people from their cherished homes.[#tn Heb “women.” This may be a synecdoche of the whole (women) for the part (widows).]
You defraud their children of their prized inheritance.
10But you are the ones who will be forced to leave![#tn Heb “Arise and go!” These imperatives are rhetorical. Those who wrongly drove widows and orphans from their homes and land inheritances will themselves be driven out of the land (cf. Isa 5:8-17). This is an example of poetic justice.]
For this land is not secure!
Sin will thoroughly destroy it!
11If a lying windbag should come and say,[#tn Heb “if a man, coming [as] wind and falsehood, should lie”; NASB “walking after wind and falsehood”; NIV “a liar and a deceiver.”]
‘I’ll promise you blessings of wine and beer,’
he would be just the right preacher for these people!
12I will certainly gather all of you, O Jacob,
I will certainly assemble those Israelites who remain.
I will bring them together like sheep in a fold,
like a flock in the middle of a pasture;
they will be so numerous that they will make a lot of noise.
13The one who can break through barriers will lead them out[#tn Heb “the one who breaks through goes up before them.” The verb form is understood as a perfect of certitude, emphasizing the certainty of this coming event.]
they will break out, pass through the gate, and leave.
Their king will advance before them,
The Lord himself will lead them.