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Denunciation of the Prevalent Evils
v. 1. Woe to them that devise iniquity, not on a sudden impulse, but with deliberate planning, and work evil upon their beds! using even the night-time to hatch out further schemes of wickedness. When the morning is light, as soon as the day dawns, they practice it, because it is in the power of their hand, or, "their hand is as a god"; they know no higher authority, they recognize no other power but that of their arm; they think they have a right to do what they please.
v. 2. And they covet fields, the property and inheritance of others, and take them by violence, seizing them as it suits their fancy, and houses, and take them away, oppressing the poor with a show of right. So they oppress, overwhelm and put to their own use, a man and his house, even a man and his heritage, which by the Law of God was to remain in the possession of his family. Cf Exo_20:14-17; Deu_5:18.
v. 3. Therefore, thus saith the Lord, Behold, against this family, upon this generation of evil-doers, do I devise an evil, He, in turn, planning how He may punish them adequately with a severe judgment, from which ye shall not remove your necks, like a yoke which may not be shaken off no matter how heavy it presses; neither shall ye go haughtily, walking and behaving themselves in lofty pride; for this time is evil, in which depression of spirits and gloomy silence would come upon the members of the nation on account of the yoke of oppression laid upon them by the conquest of their country and the distress of the exile.
v. 4. In that day shall one take up a parable against you, the enemies inventing bywords and mocking jingles, and lament with a doleful lamentation, for the mocking song of the enemies would be a mournful dirge in the mouths of the children of Israel, and say, We be utterly spoiled, completely destroyed!. He hath changed the portion of my people, Jehovah Himself permitting the heathen to take possession of it; how hath He removed it from me! so that it was no longer in Israel's possession. Turning away, He hath divided our fields, dealing out the portions to the invaders.
v. 5. Therefore thou shalt have none that shall cast a cord by lot in the congregation of the Lord, to cast a measuring-line on a lot of ground in the assembly of Jehovah, for the possessions of the children of Israel belonged to them only as long as they remained faithful to the God of the covenant and would be taken away when they became unfaithful.
v. 6. Prophesy not, say they to them that prophesy, literally, "Drop not," or, "drivel not, they drivel," almost like the American slang, "Dry up! they drivel," in speaking to the true prophets in a silly fashion. They shall not prophesy to them that they shall not take shame, that is: If the prophecy, which the apostate Jews regarded as drivel, would not continue, then there would be no chance for them to escape the shame which would come upon the entire nation by the conquest of the enemies. The unbelievers to this day refuse to realize that the very preaching which they consider drivel and rot is the one means of saving them from the impending Judgment.