1. “Listen to this, you priests! Pay attention, people of Israel! Listen, you that belong to the royal family! You are supposed to judge with justice — so judgement will fall on you! You have become a trap at Mizpah, a net spread on Mount Tabor,
2. a deep pit at Acacia City, and I will punish all of you.
3. I know what Israel is like — she cannot hide from me. She has been unfaithful, and her people are unfit to worship me.”
4. The evil that the people have done prevents them from returning to their God. Idolatry has a powerful hold on them, and they do not acknowledge the Lord.
5. The arrogance of the people of Israel cries out against them. Their sins make them stumble and fall, and the people of Judah fall with them.
6. They take their sheep and cattle to offer as sacrifices to the Lord, but it does them no good. They cannot find him, for he has left them.
7. They have been unfaithful to the Lord; their children do not belong to him. So now they and their lands will soon be destroyed.
8. Blow the war trumpets in Gibeah! Sound the alarm in Ramah! Raise the war cry at Bethaven! Into battle, men of Benjamin!