Hear this, priests! Pay attention, house of Israel! Listen, royal house! For the judgement applies to you because you have been a snare at Mizpah and a net spread out on Tabor.
Listen to this message, you cows of Bashan who are on the hill of Samaria, women who oppress the poor and crush the needy, who say to their husbands, ‘Bring us something to drink.’
‘Appoint judges and officials for your tribes in all your towns the Lord your God is giving you. They are to judge the people with righteous judgement.
He answered me, ‘The iniquity of the house of Israel and Judah is extremely great; the land is full of bloodshed, and the city full of perversity. For they say, “The Lord has abandoned the land; he does not see.”
‘Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel. Prophesy, and say to them, “This is what the Lord God says to the shepherds: Woe to the shepherds of Israel, who have been feeding themselves! Shouldn’t the shepherds feed their flock?
One who breaks open the way will advance before them; they will break out, pass through the city gate, and leave by it. Their King will pass through before them, the Lord as their leader.
to keep the poor from getting a fair trial and to deprive the needy among my people of justice, so that widows can be their spoil and they can plunder the fatherless.
Woe to those who are at ease in Zion and to those who feel secure on the hill of Samaria – the notable people in this first of the nations, those the house of Israel comes to.