Unjust Leaders Judged
3 Then I said, “Now listen,(A) leaders of Jacob,
you rulers of the house of Israel.
Aren’t you supposed to know what is just?(B)
2 You hate good and love evil.
You tear off people’s skin(C)
and strip their flesh from their bones.
3 You eat the flesh(D) of my people
after you strip their skin from them
and break their bones.
You chop them up(E)
like flesh for the cooking pot,
like meat in a cauldron.”
4 Then they will cry out(F) to the Lord,
but He will not answer them.
He will hide His face from them at that time(G)
because of the crimes they have committed.
False Prophets Judged
5 This is what the Lord says
concerning the prophets
who lead my people astray,(H)
who proclaim(I) peace
when they have food to sink their teeth into
but declare war against the one
who puts nothing in their mouths.
6 Therefore, it will be night(J) for you—
without visions;
it will grow dark for you—
without divination.(K)
The sun will set(L) on these prophets,
and the daylight will turn black over them.
7 Then the seers will be ashamed(M)
and the diviners disappointed.(N)
They will all cover their mouths[a](O)
because there will be no answer from God.(P)
8 As for me, however, I am filled with power(Q)
by the Spirit of the Lord,
with justice and courage,
to proclaim to Jacob his rebellion
and to Israel his sin.(R)
Zion’s Destruction
9 Listen to this, leaders of the house of Jacob,(S)
you rulers of the house of Israel,
who abhor justice(T)
and pervert everything that is right,
10 who build Zion with bloodshed(U)
and Jerusalem with injustice.
11 Her leaders issue rulings for a bribe,(V)
her priests teach for payment,(W)
and her prophets practice divination for money.
Yet they lean on the Lord, saying,
“Isn’t the Lord(X) among us?
No disaster will overtake us.”
12 Therefore, because of you,
Zion will be plowed like a field,
Jerusalem will become ruins,(Y)
and the hill of the temple mount(Z)
will be a thicket.(AA)
Footnotes
- Micah 3:7 Lit mustache
Cross references
- 3:1 : Is 1:10; Mc 3:9
- 3:1 : Ps 82:1-5; Jr 5:5
- 3:2 : Ps 53:4; Ezk 22:27; Mc 2:8; 7:2-3
- 3:3 : Ps 14:4; 27:2; Zph 3:3
- 3:3 : Ezk 11:3, 6-7
- 3:4 : Ps 18:41; Pr 1:28; Is 1:15; Jr 11:11
- 3:4 : Dt 31:17; Is 59:2
- 3:5 : Is 3:12; 9:15-16; Jr 14:14-15
- 3:5 : Jr 6:14
- 3:6 : Is 8:20-22; 29:10-12
- 3:6 : Dt 18:10; Jos 13:22
- 3:6 : Is 59:10
- 3:7 : Zch 13:4
- 3:7 : Is 44:25; 47:12-14
- 3:7 : Lv 13:45; Lm 4:13-15; Ezk 24:17, 22; Mc 7:16
- 3:7 : 1Sm 28:6; Is 29:9-12; Mc 3:4
- 3:8 : Is 61:1-2; Jr 1:18
- 3:8 : Is 58:1
- 3:9 : Mc 3:1
- 3:9 : Ps 58:1-2; Is 1:23
- 3:10 : Jr 22:13, 17; Hab 2:12
- 3:11 : Is 1:23; Mc 7:3
- 3:11 : Jr 6:13
- 3:11 : Is 48:2
- 3:12 : Jr 9:11
- 3:12 : Mc 4:1
- 3:12 : Jr 26:18