Their horses also are swifter than the leopards, and are more fierce than the evening wolves: and their horsemen shall spread themselves, and their horsemen shall come from far; they shall fly as the eagle {that} hasteth to eat. {fierce: Heb. sharp}

Wherefore a lion out of the forest shall slay them, {and} a wolf of the evenings shall spoil them, a leopard shall watch over their cities: every one that goeth out thence shall be torn in pieces: because their transgressions are many, {and} their backslidings are increased. {evenings: or, deserts} {are increased: Heb. are strong}

{There is} a conspiracy of her prophets in the midst thereof, like a roaring lion ravening the prey; they have devoured souls; they have taken the treasure and precious things; they have made her many widows in the midst thereof.

Even as I have seen, they that plow iniquity, and sow wickedness, reap the same.

Hear this, I pray you, ye heads of the house of Jacob, and princes of the house of Israel, that abhor judgment, and pervert all equity.

Thy princes {are} rebellious, and companions of thieves: every one loveth gifts, and followeth after rewards: they judge not the fatherless, neither doth the cause of the widow come unto them.

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

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?

{As} a roaring lion, and a ranging bear; {so is} a wicked ruler over the poor people.

He sitteth in the lurking places of the villages: in the secret places doth he murder the innocent: his eyes are privily set against the poor. {are...: Heb. hide themselves}

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}

Woe be unto the pastors that destroy and scatter the sheep of my pasture! saith the LORD.

Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel, prophesy, and say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD unto the shepherds; Woe {be} to the shepherds of Israel that do feed themselves! should not the shepherds feed the flocks?

Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves.

All their wickedness {is} in Gilgal: for there I hated them: for the wickedness of their doings I will drive them out of mine house, I will love them no more: all their princes {are} revolters.

Wherefore a lion out of the forest shall slay them, {and} a wolf of the evenings shall spoil them, a leopard shall watch over their cities: every one that goeth out thence shall be torn in pieces: because their transgressions are many, {and} their backslidings are increased. {evenings: or, deserts} {are increased: Heb. are strong}

Their horses also are swifter than the leopards, and are more fierce than the evening wolves: and their horsemen shall spread themselves, and their horsemen shall come from far; they shall fly as the eagle {that} hasteth to eat. {fierce: Heb. sharp}

Ye stand upon your sword, ye work abomination, and ye defile every one his neighbour's wife: and shall ye possess the land?

And the Lord said unto him, Now do ye Pharisees make clean the outside of the cup and the platter; but your inward part is full of ravening and wickedness.

Go your ways: behold, I send you forth as lambs among wolves.

And as troops of robbers wait for a man, {so} the company of priests murder in the way by consent: for they commit lewdness. {by...: Heb. with one shoulder, or, to Shechem} {lewdness: or, enormity}

And moreover I saw under the sun the place of judgment, {that} wickedness {was} there; and the place of righteousness, {that} iniquity {was} there.

The princes of Judah, and the princes of Jerusalem, the eunuchs, and the priests, and all the people of the land, which passed between the parts of the calf;

For from the least of them even unto the greatest of them every one {is} given to covetousness; and from the prophet even unto the priest every one dealeth falsely.

For the rich men thereof are full of violence, and the inhabitants thereof have spoken lies, and their tongue {is} deceitful in their mouth.

Ye have multiplied your slain in this city, and ye have filled the streets thereof with the slain.

Then say thou, Thus saith the Lord GOD, The city sheddeth blood in the midst of it, that her time may come, and maketh idols against herself to defile herself.

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.

Her priests have violated my law, and have profaned mine holy things: they have put no difference between the holy and profane, neither have they shewed {difference} between the unclean and the clean, and have hid their eyes from my sabbaths, and I am profaned among them. {violated: Heb. offered violence to}

Her princes in the midst thereof {are} like wolves ravening the prey, to shed blood, {and} to destroy souls, to get dishonest gain.

That pant after the dust of the earth on the head of the poor, and turn aside the way of the meek: and a man and his father will go in unto the {same} maid, to profane my holy name: {maid: or, young woman}

Who hate the good, and love the evil; who pluck off their skin from off them, and their flesh from off their bones;

Who also eat the flesh of my people, and flay their skin from off them; and they break their bones, and chop them in pieces, as for the pot, and as flesh within the caldron.

They build up Zion with blood, and Jerusalem with iniquity. {blood: Heb. bloods}

Benjamin shall ravin {as} a wolf: in the morning he shall devour the prey, and at night he shall divide the spoil.

Where {is} the dwelling of the lions, and the feedingplace of the young lions, where the lion, {even} the old lion, walked, {and} the lion's whelp, and none made {them} afraid?

{There is} a voice of the howling of the shepherds; for their glory is spoiled: a voice of the roaring of young lions; for the pride of Jordan is spoiled.

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}

Then his master shall bring him unto the judges; he shall also bring him to the door, or unto the door post; and his master shall bore his ear through with an aul; and he shall serve him for ever.

Thou shalt not wrest judgment; thou shalt not respect persons, neither take a gift: for a gift doth blind the eyes of the wise, and pervert the words of the righteous. {words: or, matters}

And the king said to Doeg, Turn thou, and fall upon the priests. And Doeg the Edomite turned, and he fell upon the priests, and slew on that day fourscore and five persons that did wear a linen ephod.

Moreover all the chief of the priests, and the people, transgressed very much after all the abominations of the heathen; and polluted the house of the LORD which he had hallowed in Jerusalem.

Behold, {as} wild asses in the desert, go they forth to their work; rising betimes for a prey: the wilderness {yieldeth} food for them {and} for {their} children.

For they eat the bread of wickedness, and drink the wine of violence.

{There is} a generation, whose teeth {are as} swords, and their jaw teeth {as} knives, to devour the poor from off the earth, and the needy from {among} men.

Their roaring {shall be} like a lion, they shall roar like young lions: yea, they shall roar, and lay hold of the prey, and shall carry {it} away safe, and none shall deliver {it}.

Their webs shall not become garments, neither shall they cover themselves with their works: their works {are} works of iniquity, and the act of violence {is} in their hands.

I will get me unto the great men, and will speak unto them; for they have known the way of the LORD, {and} the judgment of their God: but these have altogether broken the yoke, {and} burst the bonds.

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}

For the sins of her prophets, {and} the iniquities of her priests, that have shed the blood of the just in the midst of her,

Make a chain: for the land is full of bloody crimes, and the city is full of violence.

And he said unto them, Go ye, and tell that fox, Behold, I cast out devils, and I do cures to day and to morrow, and the third {day} I shall be perfected.

For I know this, that after my departing shall grievous wolves enter in among you, not sparing the flock.

All that ever came before me are thieves and robbers: but the sheep did not hear them.

Ye eat the fat, and ye clothe you with the wool, ye kill them that are fed: {but} ye feed not the flock.