"For wicked men are found among My people; / They lie in wait like fowlers crouching; / They set a trap, / They catch men" (v. 26). These wicked men set up a "net" to catch their prey. This is a matter not only of lying but also of stealing and greed. They certainly were lawbreakers.
"Like a cage full of birds, / So their houses are full of deceit; / Therefore they have become great and rich" (v. 27). This refers to their gain from deceiving others. Their houses were full of what they had gained through deceit.
"Indeed they surpass in deeds of wickedness; / They do not judge the cause, / The cause of the orphan, but they prosper; / And the right of the needy they do not judge" (v. 28). They did not judge in a just way the cases of ordinary people; neither did they treat the orphans justly and rightly.
"The prophets prophesy falsely, / And the priests rule by their own authority; / And My people love it this way" (v. 31). The priests actually were judges, and they should have judged the cases of the people according to God's law. However, they judged, ruled, by their own authority. This means that they ruled according to their opinion. The people loved it this way. This may indicate that the people were bribing the priests.
Chapter six describes Jehovah the Husband's determination in correcting His wife.
Jehovah said, "Evil looks down from the north, / And great destruction. / The comely and delicate one, / The daughter of Zion, I will cut off" (6:1b-2). The word evil here refers to calamities, and the word north refers to Babylon. God was about to send calamities and destruction from the north (vv. 22-26).