All her carved images will be smashed to pieces;
all her wages will be burned in the fire,
and I will destroy all her idols.
Since she collected the wages of a prostitute,
they will be used again for a prostitute.

Shave yourselves bald and cut off your hair
in sorrow for your precious children;
make yourselves as bald as an eagle,
for they have been taken from you into exile.

Woe to those who dream up wickedness
and prepare evil plans on their beds!
At morning light they accomplish it
because the power is in their hands.

They covet fields and seize them;
they also take houses.
They deprive a man of his home,
a person of his inheritance.

“Quit your preaching,” they preach.
“They should not preach these things;
shame will not overtake us.”

One who breaks open the way
will advance before them;
they will break out, pass through the gate,
and leave by it.
Their King will pass through before them,
the Lord as their leader.

Then they will cry out to the Lord,
but He will not answer them.
He will hide His face from them at that time
because of the crimes they have committed.

This is what the Lord says
concerning the prophets
who lead my people astray,
who proclaim peace
when they have food to sink their teeth into
but declare war against the one
who puts nothing in their mouths.

Then the seers will be ashamed
and the diviners disappointed.
They will all cover their mouths
because there will be no answer from God.

Her leaders issue rulings for a bribe,
her priests teach for payment,
and her prophets practice divination for money.
Yet they lean on the Lord, saying,
“Isn’t the Lord among us?
No disaster will overtake us.”

He will settle disputes among many peoples
and provide arbitration for strong nations
that are far away.
They will beat their swords into plows,
and their spears into pruning knives.
Nation will not take up the sword against nation,
and they will never again train for war.

Many nations have now assembled against you;
they say, “Let her be defiled,
and let us feast our eyes on Zion.”

But they do not know the Lord’s intentions
or understand His plan,
that He has gathered them
like sheaves to the threshing floor.

Rise and thresh, Daughter Zion,
for I will make your horns iron
and your hooves bronze,
so you can crush many peoples.
Then you will set apart their plunder
to the Lord for destruction,
their wealth to the Lord of all the earth.

Now, daughter who is under attack,
you slash yourself in grief;
a siege is set against us!
They are striking the judge of Israel
on the cheek with a rod.

He will stand and shepherd them
in the strength of Yahweh,
in the majestic name of Yahweh His God.
They will live securely,
for then His greatness will extend
to the ends of the earth.

They will shepherd the land of Assyria with the sword,
the land of Nimrod with a drawn blade.
So He will rescue us from Assyria
when it invades our land,
when it marches against our territory.

Godly people have vanished from the land;
there is no one upright among the people.
All of them wait in ambush to shed blood;
they hunt each other with a net.

Both hands are good at accomplishing evil:
the official and the judge demand a bribe;
when the powerful man communicates his evil desire,
they plot it together.

Shepherd Your people with Your staff,
the flock that is Your possession.
They live alone in a woodland
surrounded by pastures.
Let them graze in Bashan and Gilead
as in ancient times.

Nations will see and be ashamed
of all their power.
They will put their hands over their mouths,
and their ears will become deaf.

They will lick the dust like a snake;
they will come trembling out of their hiding places
like reptiles slithering on the ground.
They will tremble in the presence of Yahweh our God;
they will stand in awe of You.