And I will give children {to be} their princes, and babes shall rule over them.

Behold, thy people in the midst of thee {are} women: the gates of thy land shall be set wide open unto thine enemies: the fire shall devour thy bars.

Wherefore hear the word of the LORD, ye scornful men, that rule this people which {is} in Jerusalem.

And when Athaliah the mother of Ahaziah saw that her son was dead, she arose and destroyed all the seed royal. {seed...: Heb. seed of the kingdom}

The ancient and honourable, he {is} the head; and the prophet that teacheth lies, he {is} the tail.

Speak unto Aaron and unto his sons, saying, On this wise ye shall bless the children of Israel, saying unto them,

Let them alone: they be blind leaders of the blind. And if the blind lead the blind, both shall fall into the ditch.

The prophets prophesy falsely, and the priests bear rule by their means; and my people love {to have it} so: and what will ye do in the end thereof? {bear...: or, take into their hands}

But woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye shut up the kingdom of heaven against men: for ye neither go in {yourselves}, neither suffer ye them that are entering to go in.

Woe to thee, O land, when thy king {is} a child, and thy princes eat in the morning!

My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge: because thou hast rejected knowledge, I will also reject thee, that thou shalt be no priest to me: seeing thou hast forgotten the law of thy God, I will also forget thy children. {destroyed: Heb. cut off}

For the leaders of this people cause {them} to err; and {they that are} led of them {are} destroyed. {the leaders: or, they that call them blessed} {led of: or, called blessed of} {destroyed: Heb. swallowed up}

Brethren, if any of you do err from the truth, and one convert him;

Behold, I {am} against them that prophesy false dreams, saith the LORD, and do tell them, and cause my people to err by their lies, and by their lightness; yet I sent them not, nor commanded them: therefore they shall not profit this people at all, saith the LORD.

But they also have erred through wine, and through strong drink are out of the way; the priest and the prophet have erred through strong drink, they are swallowed up of wine, they are out of the way through strong drink; they err in vision, they stumble {in} judgment.

The prince that wanteth understanding {is} also a great oppressor: {but} he that hateth covetousness shall prolong {his} days.

Thy first father hath sinned, and thy teachers have transgressed against me. {teachers: Heb. interpreters}

Thus saith the LORD concerning the prophets that make my people err, that bite with their teeth, and cry, Peace; and he that putteth not into their mouths, they even prepare war against him.

But into the second {went} the high priest alone once every year, not without blood, which he offered for himself, and {for} the errors of the people:

They mar my path, they set forward my calamity, they have no helper.

Manasseh {was} twelve years old when he began to reign, and he reigned fifty and five years in Jerusalem:

And if thou sell ought unto thy neighbour, or buyest {ought} of thy neighbour's hand, ye shall not oppress one another:

Behold, the ark of the covenant of the Lord of all the earth passeth over before you into Jordan.

Because my people hath forgotten me, they have burned incense to vanity, and they have caused them to stumble in their ways {from} the ancient paths, to walk in paths, {in} a way not cast up;