Woe to the Oppressors
1
l Woe to those who devise wickedness
and work evil m on their beds!
When the morning dawns, they perform it,
because it is in the power of their hand.
2
They covet fields and n seize them,
and houses, and take them away;
they oppress a man and his house,
a man and his inheritance.
3
Therefore thus says the Lord:
behold, against o this family I am devising disaster,
from which you cannot remove your necks,
and you p shall not walk haughtily,
q for it will be a time of disaster.
4
In that day r they shall take up a taunt song against you
and moan bitterly,
and say, "We are utterly ruined;
s he changes the portion of my people;
s how he removes it from me!
t To an apostate he allots our fields."
5
Therefore you will have none u to cast the line by lot
in the assembly of the Lord.
6
v "Do not preach" - thus they preach -
w "one should not preach of such things;
x disgrace will not overtake us."
7
Should this be said, O house of Jacob?
v Has the Lord grown impatient?
Are these his deeds?
Do not my words do good
to him who walks uprightly?
8
But lately y my people have risen up as an enemy;
you strip the rich robe from those who pass by trustingly
with no thought of war.
9
The women of my people you drive out
from their delightful houses;
from their young children you take away
my splendor forever.
10
z Arise and go,
for this is no a place to rest,
because of b uncleanness that destroys
with a grievous destruction.
11
If a man should go about and c utter wind and lies,
saying, "I will preach to you d of wine and strong drink,"
he would be the preacher for this people!
12
I will surely assemble all of you, O Jacob;
e I will gather f the remnant of Israel;
I will set them together
like sheep in a fold,
h like a flock in its pasture,
a noisy multitude of men.
13
i He who opens the breach goes up before them;
they break through and pass the gate,
j going out by it.
Their king passes on before them,
k the Lord at their head.
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Cross References
Isaiah 10:1 - 2
Woe to those who decree iniquitous decrees, and the writers who keep writing oppression.
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Cross References
Psalms 36:4
He plots trouble while on his bed; he sets himself in a way that is not good; he does not reject evil.
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Cross References
Isaiah 5:8
Woe to those who join house to house, who add field to field, until there is no more room, and you are made to dwell alone in the midst of the land.
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Cross References
Jeremiah 8:3
Death shall be preferred to life by all the remnant that remains of this evil family in all the places where I have driven them, declares the Lord of hosts.
Amos 3:1 - 2
Hear this word that the Lord has spoken against you, O people of Israel, against the whole family that I brought up out of the land of Egypt:
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Cross References
Isaiah 2:11
The haughty looks of man shall be brought low, and the lofty pride of men shall be humbled, and the Lord alone will be exalted in that day.
Isaiah 2:17
And the haughtiness of man shall be humbled, and the lofty pride of men shall be brought low, and the Lord alone will be exalted in that day.
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Cross References
Amos 5:13
Therefore he who is prudent will keep silent in such a time, for it is an evil time.
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Cross References
Habakkuk 2:6
Shall not all these take up their taunt against him, with scoffing and riddles for him, and say, "Woe to him who heaps up what is not his own - for how long? - and loads himself with pledges!
Numbers 23:7
And Balaam took up his discourse and said, "From Aram Balak has brought me, the king of Moab from the eastern mountains: 'Come, curse Jacob for me, and come, denounce Israel!
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Cross References
Micah 1:15
I will again bring a conqueror to you, inhabitants of Mareshah; the glory of Israel shall come to Adullam.
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Cross References
Micah 1:15
I will again bring a conqueror to you, inhabitants of Mareshah; the glory of Israel shall come to Adullam.
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Cross References
Psalms 68:6
God settles the solitary in a home; he leads out the prisoners to prosperity, but the rebellious dwell in a parched land.
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Cross References
Deuteronomy 32:8 - 9
When the Most High gave to the nations their inheritance, when he divided mankind, he fixed the borders of the peoples according to the number of the sons of God.
Joshua 14:1 - 2
These are the inheritances that the people of Israel received in the land of Canaan, which Eleazar the priest and Joshua the son of Nun and the heads of the fathers' houses of the tribes of the people of Israel gave them to inherit.
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Cross References
Amos 2:12
"But you made the Nazirites drink wine, and commanded the prophets, saying, 'You shall not prophesy.'
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Cross References
Amos 8:11 - 12
Behold, the days are coming," declares the Lord God, "when I will send a famine on the land - not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the Lord.
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Cross References
Amos 8:10
I will turn your feasts into mourning and all your songs into lamentation; I will bring sackcloth on every waist and baldness on every head; I will make it like the mourning for an only son and the end of it like a bitter day.
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Cross References
Micah 2:6
"Do not preach" - thus they preach - "one should not preach of such things; disgrace will not overtake us."
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Cross References
2 Chronicles 28:8
The men of Israel took captive 200,000 of their relatives, women, sons, and daughters. They also took much spoil from them and brought the spoil to Samaria.
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Cross References
Micah 1:11
Pass on your way, inhabitants of Shaphir, in nakedness and shame; the inhabitants of Zaanan do not come out; the lamentation of Beth-ezel shall take away from you its standing place.
Micah 1:16
Make yourselves bald and cut off your hair, for the children of your delight; make yourselves as bald as the eagle, for they shall go from you into exile.
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Cross References
Deuteronomy 12:9
For you have not as yet come to the rest and to the inheritance that the Lord your God is giving you.
Hebrews 13:14
For here we have no lasting city, but we seek the city that is to come.
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Cross References
Leviticus 18:25
And the land became unclean, so that I punished its iniquity, and the land vomited out its inhabitants.
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Cross References
Jeremiah 5:13
The prophets will become wind; the word is not in them. Thus shall it be done to them!'
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Cross References
Amos 2:12
"But you made the Nazirites drink wine, and commanded the prophets, saying, 'You shall not prophesy.'
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Cross References
2 Kings 25:11
And the rest of the people who were left in the city and the deserters who had deserted to the king of Babylon, together with the rest of the multitude, Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard carried into exile.
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Cross References
Micah 4:7
And the lame I will make the remnant, and those who were cast off, a strong nation; and the Lord will reign over them in Mount Zion from this time forth and forevermore.
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Cross References
Jeremiah 31:10
"Hear the word of the Lord, O nations, and declare it in the coastlands far away; say, 'He who scattered Israel will gather him, and will keep him as a shepherd keeps his flock.'
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Cross References
2 Kings 25:10
And all the army of the Chaldeans, who were with the captain of the guard, broke down the walls around Jerusalem.
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Cross References
Micah 4:10
Writhe and groan, O daughter of Zion, like a woman in labor, for now you shall go out from the city and dwell in the open country; you shall go to Babylon. There you shall be rescued; there the Lord will redeem you from the hand of your enemies.
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Cross References
Isaiah 52:12
For you shall not go out in haste, and you shall not go in flight, for the Lord will go before you, and the God of Israel will be your rear guard.
English Standard Version (ESV) The Holy Bible, English Standard Version Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers.