And they bend their tongues {like} their bow {for} lies: but they are not valiant for the truth upon the earth; for they proceed from evil to evil, and they know not me, saith the LORD.

And I will come near to you to judgment; and I will be a swift witness against the sorcerers, and against the adulterers, and against false swearers, and against those that oppress the hireling in {his} wages, the widow, and the fatherless, and that turn aside the stranger {from his right}, and fear not me, saith the LORD of hosts. {oppress: or, defraud}

And he went up from thence unto Bethel: and as he was going up by the way, there came forth little children out of the city, and mocked him, and said unto him, Go up, thou bald head; go up, thou bald head.

But thine eyes and thine heart {are} not but for thy covetousness, and for to shed innocent blood, and for oppression, and for violence, to do {it}. {violence: or, incursion}

Thou shalt rise up before the hoary head, and honour the face of the old man, and fear thy God: I {am} the LORD.

And when they had blindfolded him, they struck him on the face, and asked him, saying, Prophesy, who is it that smote thee?

But now {they that are} younger than I have me in derision, whose fathers I would have disdained to have set with the dogs of my flock. {younger...: Heb. of fewer days than I}

There is an evil {which} I have seen under the sun, as an error {which} proceedeth from the ruler: {from: Heb. from before}

And I said, Hear, I pray you, O heads of Jacob, and ye princes of the house of Israel; {Is it} not for you to know judgment?

And they stripped him, and put on him a scarlet robe.

Behold, the princes of Israel, every one were in thee to their power to shed blood. {power: Heb. arm}

Thus speaketh the LORD of hosts, saying, Execute true judgment, and shew mercy and compassions every man to his brother: {Execute...: Heb. Judge judgment of truth}

The heads thereof judge for reward, and the priests thereof teach for hire, and the prophets thereof divine for money: yet will they lean upon the LORD, and say, {Is} not the LORD among us? none evil can come upon us. {and say: Heb. saying}

But ye have despised the poor. Do not rich men oppress you, and draw you before the judgment seats?

The envy also of Ephraim shall depart, and the adversaries of Judah shall be cut off: Ephraim shall not envy Judah, and Judah shall not vex Ephraim.

Through the wrath of the LORD of hosts is the land darkened, and the people shall be as the fuel of the fire: no man shall spare his brother. {fuel: Heb. meat}

Behold, the hire of the labourers who have reaped down your fields, which is of you kept back by fraud, crieth: and the cries of them which have reaped are entered into the ears of the Lord of sabaoth. {sabaoth: Heb. hosts}

Ah sinful nation, a people laden with iniquity, a seed of evildoers, children that are corrupters: they have forsaken the LORD, they have provoked the Holy One of Israel unto anger, they are gone away backward. {laden: Heb. of heaviness} {gone...: Heb. alienated, or, separated}

Hear this word, ye kine of Bashan, that {are} in the mountain of Samaria, which oppress the poor, which crush the needy, which say to their masters, Bring, and let us drink.

And when king David came to Bahurim, behold, thence came out a man of the family of the house of Saul, whose name {was} Shimei, the son of Gera: he came forth, and cursed still as he came. {he came forth...: or, he still came forth and cursed}

In thee have they taken gifts to shed blood; thou hast taken usury and increase, and thou hast greedily gained of thy neighbours by extortion, and hast forgotten me, saith the Lord GOD.

Saying, Prophesy unto us, thou Christ, Who is he that smote thee?

And some began to spit on him, and to cover his face, and to buffet him, and to say unto him, Prophesy: and the servants did strike him with the palms of their hands.

That they may do evil with both hands earnestly, the prince asketh, and the judge {asketh} for a reward; and the great {man}, he uttereth his mischievous desire: so they wrap it up. {his...: Heb. the mischief of his soul}

Thou shalt rise up before the hoary head, and honour the face of the old man, and fear thy God: I {am} the LORD.

{He is} a merchant, the balances of deceit {are} in his hand: he loveth to oppress. {a merchant: or, Canaan} {oppress: or, deceive}

And he went up from thence unto Bethel: and as he was going up by the way, there came forth little children out of the city, and mocked him, and said unto him, Go up, thou bald head; go up, thou bald head.

Yea, young children despised me; I arose, and they spake against me. {young...: or, the wicked}

But now {they that are} younger than I have me in derision, whose fathers I would have disdained to have set with the dogs of my flock. {younger...: Heb. of fewer days than I}

Delight is not seemly for a fool; much less for a servant to have rule over princes.

The ancient and honourable, he {is} the head; and the prophet that teacheth lies, he {is} the tail.

For I will no more pity the inhabitants of the land, saith the LORD: but, lo, I will deliver the men every one into his neighbour's hand, and into the hand of his king: and they shall smite the land, and out of their hand I will not deliver {them}. {deliver: Heb. make to be found}

Upon {my} right {hand} rise the youth; they push away my feet, and they raise up against me the ways of their destruction.

And Moses sent to call Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab: which said, We will not come up:

Doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil;