| 1. And I said: Hearken now, you heads of Jacob and officers of the house of Israel! Is it not incumbent upon you to know the judgment? |
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א. |
| 2. Those who hate good and love evil-who rob their skin from upon them and their flesh from upon their bones, |
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ב. |
| who rob their skin: [I.e., the skin] of the house of Israel, over whom they are heads and officers, as the prophet says: The heads of the house of Jacob and the officers of the house of Israel. |
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| 3. and who ate the flesh of My people and flayed their skin from upon them, and opened their bones and broke them, as in a pot, and like meat within a cauldron |
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ג. |
| the flesh of My people: Heb. שְׁאֵר עַמִּי. |
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| and opened their bones: Heb. פִצֵּחוּ. They opened [them] to take out the marrow. Cf. (Isa.14: 7) “They opened (פָצְחוּ) in song” -they opened their mouth in song. |
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| and broke [them] as in a pot: Heb. וּפָרְשׁוּ. They break the limbs as they break the cuts [of meat] in a pot to cook [them]. |
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| and broke: Heb. וּפָרְשׁוּ, an expression of breaking. Cf. (Isa. 58:7) “To share (פָרֹס) with the hungry” ; (Jer. 16:7) “And they shall not break [bread] (יִפְרְסוּ) for them” ; (Lam. 1:17) “Zion broke (פֵּרְשָה).” |
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| a cauldron: Heb. קַלַחַת, kaldere in O.F. |
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| 4. then they shall cry out to the Lord, but He shall not respond to them; and He shall hide His countenance from them at that time, as they wrought evil with their works. |
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ד. |
| Then they shall cry out to the Lord: Then, when that time mentioned above, [that] “I will surely assemble Jacob,” comes, they shall cry out to the Lord to do good for them with the will of His people and with the joy of His nation, but He shall not respond to them. |
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| 5. So said the Lord concerning the prophets who mislead my people, who bite with their teeth and herald peace, but concerning whomever does not give into their mouth, they prepare war. |
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ה. |
| who bite with their teeth: and eat the flesh of fattened animals, which my people who stray after them feed them. |
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| and herald peace: And, when they feed them, they herald and prophesy peace for them. |
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| they prepare war: Heb. וְקִדְּשׁוּ. |
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| 6. Therefore, it shall be night for you because of the vision, and it shall be dark for you because of the divination, and the sun shall set on the prophets, and the day shall be darkened about them. |
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ו. |
| 7. And the seers shall be ashamed, and the diviners shall be disgraced, and they shall all cover their upper lips, for it is not a statement of God. |
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ז. |
| statement of God: Heb. מַעֲנֵה is vowelized with a kamatz [meaning a zeirah] since it is attached to God’s Name. |
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| 8. But I am truly full of strength from the spirit of the Lord and justice and might, to tell Jacob his transgression and Israel his sin. |
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ח. |
| 9. Hearken now to this, you heads of the house of Jacob and you rulers of the house of Israel, who condemn justice and pervert all that is straight. |
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ט. |
| 10. Each one builds Zion with blood and Jerusalem with injustice. |
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י. |
| 11. Its heads judge for bribes, and its priests teach for a price; and its prophets divine for money, and they rely on the Lord, saying, "Is not the Lord in our midst? No evil shall befall us." |
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יא. |
| 12. Therefore, because of you, Zion shall be plowed as a field; Jerusalem shall become heaps, and the Temple Mount like the high places of a forest. |
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יב. |
| Jerusalem shall become heaps: Heb. עִיּין. |