57
Evil Leaders Rebuked
1 The righteous man perishes, and no man
Atakes it to heart;
And devout men are taken away, while no one understands.
For the righteous man is taken away from
Bevil,
2 He enters into peace;
They rest in their
1beds,
Each one who
Awalked in his upright way.
3 “But come here, you sons of a
Asorceress,
BOffspring of an adulterer and
1a
Cprostitute.
4 “Against whom do you jest?
Against whom do you open wide your mouth
And stick out your tongue?
Are you not children of
Arebellion,
Offspring of deceit,
5 Who inflame yourselves among the
1Aoaks,
BUnder every luxuriant tree,
Who
Cslaughter the children in the
2ravines,
Under the clefts of the crags?
6 “Among the
1Asmooth
stones of the
2ravine
Is your portion,
3they are your lot;
Even to them you have
Bpoured out a drink offering,
You have made a grain offering.
Shall I
4Crelent concerning these things?
7 “Upon a
Ahigh and lofty mountain
You also went up there to offer sacrifice.
8 “Behind the door and the doorpost
You have set up your sign;
Indeed, far removed from Me, you have
Auncovered yourself,
And have gone up and made your bed wide.
And you have made an agreement for yourself with them,
You have loved their
1bed,
You have looked on
their 2manhood.
9 “You have journeyed to the king with oil
And increased your perfumes;
You have
Asent your envoys a great distance
And made
them go down to
1Sheol.
10 “You were tired out by the length of your road,
Yet you did not say, ‘
AIt is hopeless.’
You found
1renewed strength,
Therefore you did not
2faint.
11 “Of
Awhom were you worried and fearful
When you lied, and did
Bnot remember Me
Was I not silent even for a long time
So you do not fear Me?
12 “I will
Adeclare your righteousness and your
Bdeeds,
But they will not profit you.
13 “When you cry out,
Alet your collection
of idols deliver you.
But the wind will carry all of them up,
And a breath will take them away.
But he who
Btakes refuge in Me will
Cinherit the land
And will
Dpossess My holy mountain.”
14 And it will be said,
“
ABuild up, build up, prepare the way,
Remove every obstacle out of the way of My people.”
15 For thus says the
Ahigh and exalted One
Who
1Blives forever, whose name is Holy,
“I
Cdwell
on a high and holy place,
And
also with the
Dcontrite and lowly of spirit
In order to
Erevive the spirit of the lowly
And to revive the heart of the contrite.
16 “For I will
Anot contend forever,
BNor will I always be angry;
For the spirit would grow faint before Me,
And the
Cbreath
of those whom I have made.
17 “Because of the iniquity of his
Aunjust gain I was angry and struck him;
I hid My face and was angry,
And he went on
Bturning away, in the way of his heart.
18 “I have seen his ways, but I will
Aheal him;
I will
Blead him and
Crestore comfort to him and to his mourners,
19 Creating the
1Apraise of the lips.
BPeace, peace to him who is
Cfar and to him who is near,”
Says the Loʀᴅ, “and I will heal him.”
20 But the
Awicked are like the tossing sea,
For it cannot be quiet,
And its waters toss up refuse and mud.
21 “
AThere is no peace,” says
Bmy God, “for the wicked.”