2  ^gHear, O heavens, and give ear, O earth;

for the Lord has spoken:

^h“Children¹ have I reared and brought up,

but they have rebelled against me.

3  ⁱThe ox knows its owner,

and the donkey its master’s crib,

but Israel does not know,

my people do not understand.”

4  Ah, sinful nation,

a people laden with iniquity,

^joffspring of evildoers,

children who deal corruptly!

They have ^kforsaken the Lord,

they have ^ldespised the Holy One of Israel,

they are utterly ^mestranged.

1  Woe to those who decree iniquitous decrees,

and the writers who keep writing oppression,

2  to turn aside the needy from justice

and to rob the poor of my people of their right,

that widows may be their spoil,

and that they may make the fatherless their prey!

3  What will you do on the day of punishment,

in the ruin that will come from afar?

To whom will you flee for help,

and where will you leave your wealth?

4  Nothing remains but to crouch among the prisoners

or fall among the slain.

ⁿFor all this his anger has not turned away,

and his hand is stretched out still.