Therefore, I give their wives to others, Their fields to dispossessors, For from the least even unto the greatest, Every one is gaining dishonest gain, From prophet even unto priest, every one is dealing falsely.
Yea, ye pierce Me concerning My people, For handfuls of barley, And for pieces of bread, to put to death Souls that should not die, And to keep alive souls that should not live, By your lying to My people -- hearkening to lies.
So that thou dost remember, And thou hast been ashamed, And there is not to thee any more an opening of the mouth because of thy shame, In My receiving atonement for thee, For all that thou hast done, An affirmation of the Lord Jehovah!'
Her 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.'
Thus 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.
`Wo to you, Scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! because ye shut up the reign of the heavens before men, for ye do not go in, nor those going in do ye suffer to enter.
and the hireling, and not being a shepherd, whose own the sheep are not, doth behold the wolf coming, and doth leave the sheep, and doth flee; and the wolf catcheth them, and scattereth the sheep;
And we have known that as many things as the law saith, to those in the law it doth speak, that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may come under judgment to God;
and at the same time also, they learn `to be' idle, going about the houses; and not only idle, but also tattlers and busybodies, speaking the things they ought not;
and if any widow have children or grandchildren, let them learn first to their own house to show piety, and to give back a recompense to the parents, for this is right and acceptable before God.
for it behoveth the overseer to be blameless, as God's steward, not self-pleased, nor irascible, not given to wine, not a striker, not given to filthy lucre;