3:6 Therefore night will fall, and you will receive no visions; 1
it will grow dark, and you will no longer be able to read the omens. 2
The sun will set on these prophets,
and the daylight will turn to darkness over their heads. 3
3:7 The prophets 4 will be ashamed;
the omen readers will be humiliated.
All of them will cover their mouths, 5
for they will receive no divine oracles.” 6
3:11 Her 7 leaders take bribes when they decide legal cases, 8
her priests proclaim rulings for profit,
and her prophets read omens for pay.
Yet they claim to trust 9 the Lord and say,
“The Lord is among us. 10
Disaster will not overtake 11 us!”
1 tn Heb “it will be night for you without a vision.”
sn The coming of night (and darkness in the following line) symbolizes the cessation of revelation.
2 tn Heb “it will be dark for you without divination.”
sn The reading of omens (Heb “divination”) was forbidden in the law (Deut 18:10), so this probably reflects the prophets’ view of how they received divine revelation.
3 tn Heb “and the day will be dark over them.”
4 tn Or “seers.”
5 tn Or “the mustache,” or perhaps “the beard.” Cf. KJV, NAB, NRSV “cover their lips.”
6 tn Heb “for there will be no answer from God.”
7 sn The pronoun Her refers to Jerusalem (note the previous line).
8 tn Heb “judge for a bribe.”
9 tn Heb “they lean upon” (so KJV, NIV, NRSV); NAB “rely on.”
10 tn Heb “Is not the
11 tn Or “come upon” (so many English versions); NCV “happen to us”; CEV “come to us.”