For the leaders of my people— the Lord’s watchmen, his shepherds— are blind and ignorant. They are like silent watchdogs that give no warning when danger comes. They love to lie around, sleeping and dreaming.

他看守的人是瞎眼的，都没有知识，都是哑巴狗，不能叫唤；但知做梦，躺卧，贪睡，

以色列的守望者都瞎了眼，没有知识；都是哑狗，不会吠叫，只知做梦，躺卧，贪睡，

以色列的守望者都瞎了眼，没有知识；都是哑狗，不会吠叫，只知做梦，躺卧，贪睡，

以色列的守望者瞎眼无知，是不会叫的哑巴狗，只喜欢躺下睡觉做梦。

他的守望者都是瞎眼的，都没有知识；他们都是哑巴狗，不能吠；只会作梦、躺卧，贪爱睡觉。

以色列的守望者都是瞎眼的，全都无知；他们都是哑巴狗，不会叫；只会做梦、躺卧、爱打盹。

他看守的人是瞎眼的，都沒有知識，都是啞巴狗，不能叫喚；但知做夢，躺臥，貪睡，

以色列的守望者都瞎了眼，沒有知識；都是啞狗，不會吠叫，只知做夢，躺臥，貪睡，

以色列的守望者都瞎了眼，沒有知識；都是啞狗，不會吠叫，只知做夢，躺臥，貪睡，

以色列的守望者瞎眼無知，是不會叫的啞巴狗，只喜歡躺下睡覺做夢。

他的守望者都是瞎眼的，都沒有知識；他們都是啞巴狗，不能吠；只會作夢、躺臥，貪愛睡覺。

他的守望人是瞎眼的，都沒有知識；他們都是啞巴狗，不能叫喚；只是躺臥着，瞇瞇地睡，貪愛打盹。

以色列的守望者都是瞎眼的，全都無知；他們都是啞巴狗，不會叫；只會做夢、躺臥、愛打盹。

彼之守望、瞽目無知、啞犬不吠、喜夢幻、好偃臥、貪寢睡、

民之戍卒、目眯不明、守夜之犬、喑不能吠、或偃卧、或假寐。

民之守望者、皆瞽目、皆無知、皆似瘖犬不能吠、皆作夢者、偃臥者、貪寢者、

Israel’s watchmen are blind, they all lack knowledge; they are all mute dogs, they cannot bark; they lie around and dream, they love to sleep.

Israel’s prophets are blind. They don’t know the Lord. All of them are like watchdogs that can’t even bark. They just lie around and dream. They love to sleep.

His watchmen are blind; they are all without knowledge; they are all silent dogs; they cannot bark, dreaming, lying down, loving to slumber.

Israel’s watchmen are blind, all of them, they know nothing; all of them are mute dogs, they cannot bark; they dream, lie down, and love to sleep.

His watchmen are blind, All of them know nothing. All of them are mute dogs unable to bark, Dreamers lying down, who love to slumber;

His watchmen are blind, They are all ignorant; They are all dumb dogs, They cannot bark; Sleeping, lying down, loving to slumber.

His watchmen are blind, they are all without knowledge; they are all dumb dogs, they cannot bark; dreaming, lying down, loving to slumber.

Israel’s watchmen are blind, all of them, they know nothing; all of them are mute dogs, they cannot bark; they dream, lie down, and love to sleep.

His watchmen[ are] blind: they are all ignorant, they[ are] all dumb dogs, they cannot bark; sleeping, lying down, loving to slumber.

All their watchmen are blind, they are unaware. All of them are like mute dogs, unable to bark. They pant, lie down, and love to snooze.

His watchmen are blind. They are all without knowledge. They are all mute dogs. They can’t bark— dreaming, lying down, loving to slumber.

Watch out for those dogs, those people who do evil, those mutilators who say you must be circumcised to be saved.

For the Lord has poured out on you a spirit of deep sleep. He has closed the eyes of your prophets and visionaries.

so ignore them. They are blind guides leading the blind, and if one blind person guides another, they will both fall into a ditch.”

The time of Israel’s punishment has come; the day of payment is here. Soon Israel will know this all too well. Because of your great sin and hostility, you say,“ The prophets are crazy and the inspired men are fools!”The prophet is a watchman over Israel for my God, yet traps are laid for him wherever he goes. He faces hostility even in the house of God.

Your shepherds are asleep, O Assyrian king; your princes lie dead in the dust. Your people are scattered across the mountains with no one to gather them together.

They were lying prophets who claimed peace would come to Jerusalem when there was no peace. I, the Sovereign Lord, have spoken!’

“ Shout with the voice of a trumpet blast. Shout aloud! Don’t be timid. Tell my people Israel of their sins!

Then I said,“ O Sovereign Lord, their prophets are telling them,‘ All is well— no war or famine will come. The Lord will surely send you peace.’”Then the Lord said,“ These prophets are telling lies in my name. I did not send them or tell them to speak. I did not give them any messages. They prophesy of visions and revelations they have never seen or heard. They speak foolishness made up in their own lying hearts.

The watchmen shout and sing with joy, for before their very eyes they see the Lord returning to Jerusalem.

But if the watchman sees the enemy coming and doesn’t sound the alarm to warn the people, he is responsible for their captivity. They will die in their sins, but I will hold the watchman responsible for their deaths.’

And I will make your tongue stick to the roof of your mouth so that you will be speechless and unable to rebuke them, for they are rebels.But when I give you a message, I will loosen your tongue and let you speak. Then you will say to them,‘ This is what the Sovereign Lord says!’ Those who choose to listen will listen, but those who refuse will refuse, for they are rebels.

Then I came to the colony of Judean exiles in Tel abib, beside the Kebar River. I was overwhelmed and sat among them for seven days.After seven days the Lord gave me a message. He said,“ Son of man, I have appointed you as a watchman for Israel. Whenever you receive a message from me, warn people immediately.If I warn the wicked, saying,‘ You are under the penalty of death,’ but you fail to deliver the warning, they will die in their sins. And I will hold you responsible for their deaths.

I walked by the field of a lazy person, the vineyard of one with no common sense.I saw that it was overgrown with nettles. It was covered with weeds, and its walls were broken down.Then, as I looked and thought about it, I learned this lesson:A little extra sleep, a little more slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest—then poverty will pounce on you like a bandit; scarcity will attack you like an armed robber.

My people are being destroyed because they don’t know me. Since you priests refuse to know me, I refuse to recognize you as my priests. Since you have forgotten the laws of your God, I will forget to bless your children.

“ I saw that the prophets of Samaria were terribly evil, for they prophesied in the name of Baal and led my people of Israel into sin.But now I see that the prophets of Jerusalem are even worse! They commit adultery and love dishonesty. They encourage those who are doing evil so that no one turns away from their sins. These prophets are as wicked as the people of Sodom and Gomorrah once were.”

Don’t put it off; do it now! Don’t rest until you do.Save yourself like a gazelle escaping from a hunter, like a bird fleeing from a net.Take a lesson from the ants, you lazybones. Learn from their ways and become wise!Though they have no prince or governor or ruler to make them work,they labor hard all summer, gathering food for the winter.But you, lazybones, how long will you sleep? When will you wake up?A little extra sleep, a little more slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest—

“ Blind guides! What sorrow awaits you! For you say that it means nothing to swear‘ by God’s Temple,’ but that it is binding to swear‘ by the gold in the Temple.’Blind fools! Which is more important— the gold or the Temple that makes the gold sacred?And you say that to swear‘ by the altar’ is not binding, but to swear‘ by the gifts on the altar’ is binding.How blind! For which is more important— the gift on the altar or the altar that makes the gift sacred?When you swear‘ by the altar,’ you are swearing by it and by everything on it.And when you swear‘ by the Temple,’ you are swearing by it and by God, who lives in it.And when you swear‘ by heaven,’ you are swearing by the throne of God and by God, who sits on the throne.“ What sorrow awaits you teachers of religious law and you Pharisees. Hypocrites! For you are careful to tithe even the tiniest income from your herb gardens, but you ignore the more important aspects of the law— justice, mercy, and faith. You should tithe, yes, but do not neglect the more important things.Blind guides! You strain your water so you won’t accidentally swallow a gnat, but you swallow a camel!“ What sorrow awaits you teachers of religious law and you Pharisees. Hypocrites! For you are so careful to clean the outside of the cup and the dish, but inside you are filthy— full of greed and self indulgence!You blind Pharisee! First wash the inside of the cup and the dish, and then the outside will become clean, too.

Then Jesus gave the following illustration:“ Can one blind person lead another? Won’t they both fall into a ditch?Students are not greater than their teacher. But the student who is fully trained will become like the teacher.

“ From the least to the greatest, their lives are ruled by greed. From prophets to priests, they are all frauds.They offer superficial treatments for my people’s mortal wound. They give assurances of peace when there is no peace.

“ The coming of the Son of Man can be illustrated by the story of a man going on a long trip. When he left home, he gave each of his slaves instructions about the work they were to do, and he told the gatekeeper to watch for his return.You, too, must keep watch! For you don’t know when the master of the household will return— in the evening, at midnight, before dawn, or at daybreak.Don’t let him find you sleeping when he arrives without warning.I say to you what I say to everyone: Watch for him!”

“ Get up and go to the great city of Nineveh. Announce my judgment against it because I have seen how wicked its people are.”But Jonah got up and went in the opposite direction to get away from the Lord. He went down to the port of Joppa, where he found a ship leaving for Tarshish. He bought a ticket and went on board, hoping to escape from the Lord by sailing to Tarshish.But the Lord hurled a powerful wind over the sea, causing a violent storm that threatened to break the ship apart.Fearing for their lives, the desperate sailors shouted to their gods for help and threw the cargo overboard to lighten the ship. But all this time Jonah was sound asleep down in the hold.So the captain went down after him.“ How can you sleep at a time like this?” he shouted.“ Get up and pray to your god! Maybe he will pay attention to us and spare our lives.”