“And it will be at that time That I will search Jerusalem with lamps, And I will punish the men Who are stagnant in spirit, Who say in their hearts, ‘Yahweh will not do good or evil!’
Who say, “Let Him hurry, let Him hasten His work, that we may see it; And let the counsel of the Holy One of Israel draw near And come to pass, that we may know it!”
“Like a scarecrow in a cucumber field are they, And they cannot speak; They must be carried Because they cannot take a step! Do not fear them, For they can do no harm, Nor can they do any good.”
¶“Moab has been at ease since his youth; He has also had quiet, like wine on its dregs, And he has not been emptied from vessel to vessel, Nor has he gone into exile. Therefore he retains his flavor, And his aroma has not changed.
Then He said to me, “Son of man, do you see what the elders of the house of Israel are doing in the dark, each man in the room of his carved images? For they say, ‘Yahweh does not see us; Yahweh has forsaken the land.’ ”
Yahweh said to him, “Go through the midst of the city, even through the midst of Jerusalem, and put a mark on the foreheads of the men who sigh and groan over all the abominations which are being done in its midst.”
Then He said to me, “The iniquity of the house of Israel and Judah is very, very great, and the land is filled with bloodshed, and the city is full of perversion; for they say, ‘Yahweh has forsaken the land, and Yahweh does not see!’
Woe to those who are at ease in Zion And to those who feel secure in the mountain of Samaria, The distinguished men of the first of the nations, To whom the house of Israel comes.
You have wearied Yahweh with your words. But you say, “How have we wearied Him?” In that you say, “Everyone who does evil is good in the sight of Yahweh, and He delights in them,” or, “Where is the God of justice?”
And I will kill her children with pestilence, and all the churches will know that I am He who searches the minds and hearts; and I will give to each one of you according to your deeds.