Eze 22:25-29, 34:2-10, 21, Mic 3:11-12, Zep 3:3-4 | ESV | STEP | The conspiracy of her prophets in her midst is like a roaring lion tearing the prey ; they have devoured human lives ; they have taken treasure and precious things ; they have made many widows in her midst .

25 ^aThe conspiracy of her prophets in her midst is ^blike a roaring lion ^ctearing the prey; they have devoured human lives; they have taken treasure and precious things; they have made many widows in her midst. 26 ^dHer priests ^ehave done violence to my law and ^fhave profaned my holy things. ^gThey have made no distinction between the holy and the common, neither have they taught the difference between the unclean and the clean, and ^hthey have disregarded my Sabbaths, ⁱso that I am profaned among them. 27 ^jHer princes in her midst are like wolves ^ktearing the prey, ^lshedding blood, destroying lives to get dishonest gain. 28 And ^mher prophets have smeared whitewash for them, ⁿseeing false visions and divining lies for them, saying, ‘Thus says the Lord God,’ when the Lord has not spoken. 29 The people of the land ^ohave practiced extortion and committed robbery. They have oppressed the poor and needy, and ^phave extorted from the sojourner without justice.

Ezekiel 34:2-10

2 ^q“Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel; prophesy, and say to them, even to the shepherds, Thus says the Lord God: ^rAh, shepherds of Israel ^swho have been feeding yourselves! ^tShould not shepherds feed the sheep? 3 ^uYou eat the fat, you clothe yourselves with the wool, ^vyou slaughter the fat ones, but you do not feed the sheep. 4 ^wThe weak you have not strengthened, the sick you have not healed, ^xthe injured you have not bound up, ^ythe strayed you have not brought back, ^zthe lost you have not sought, and with force and ^aaharshness you have ruled them. 5 ^abSo they were scattered, because there was no shepherd, and ^acthey became food for all the wild beasts. My sheep were scattered; 6 they wandered over all the mountains and on every high hill. My sheep were scattered over all the face of the earth, ^adwith none to search or seek for them.

7 “Therefore, you shepherds, hear the word of the Lord: 8 ^aeAs I live, declares the Lord God, surely because ^afmy sheep have become a prey, and my sheep have become food for all the wild beasts, since there was no shepherd, and because my shepherds have not searched for my sheep, but the shepherds have fed themselves, and have not fed my sheep, 9 therefore, you shepherds, hear the word of the Lord: 10 Thus says the Lord God, ^agBehold, I am against the shepherds, and ^ahI will require my sheep at their hand and ^aiput a stop to their feeding the sheep. ^ajNo longer shall the shepherds feed themselves. ^akI will rescue my sheep from their mouths, that they may not be food for them.

Ezekiel 34:21

21 Because you push with side and shoulder, and ^althrust at all the ^amweak with your horns, till you have scattered them abroad,

Micah 3:11-12

11 ^anIts heads give judgment for a bribe;
^aoits priests teach for a price;
^apits prophets practice divination for money;
^aqyet they lean on the Lord and ^arsay,
“Is not the Lord in the midst of us?
^asNo disaster shall come upon us.”
12 Therefore because of you
^atZion shall be plowed as a field;
Jerusalem ^aushall become a heap of ruins,
and ^avthe mountain of the house ^awa wooded height.

Zephaniah 3:3-4

3 ^axHer officials within her
are roaring lions;
her judges are ^ayevening wolves
that leave nothing till the morning.
4 ^azHer prophets are fickle, treacherous men;
^baher priests ^bbprofane what is holy;
they do violence to the law.