Hear this, you leaders of Jacob,
    you rulers of Israel,
who despise justice
    and distort all that is right;(A)
10 who build(B) Zion with bloodshed,(C)
    and Jerusalem with wickedness.(D)
11 Her leaders judge for a bribe,(E)
    her priests teach for a price,(F)
    and her prophets tell fortunes for money.(G)
Yet they look(H) for the Lord’s support and say,
    “Is not the Lord among us?
    No disaster will come upon us.”(I)
12 Therefore because of you,
    Zion will be plowed like a field,
Jerusalem will become a heap of rubble,(J)
    the temple(K) hill a mound overgrown with thickets.(L)

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(A)Hear this, you heads of the house of Jacob
    and rulers of the house of Israel,
(B)who detest justice
    and make crooked all that is straight,
10 (C)who build Zion with blood
    and Jerusalem with iniquity.
11 (D)Its heads give judgment for a bribe;
    (E)its priests teach for a price;
    (F)its prophets practice divination for money;
(G)yet they lean on the Lord and (H)say,
    “Is not the Lord in the midst of us?
    (I)No disaster shall come upon us.”
12 Therefore because of you
    (J)Zion shall be plowed as a field;
Jerusalem (K)shall become a heap of ruins,
    and (L)the mountain of the house (M)a wooded height.

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Now hear this, you (A)heads of the house of Jacob
And rulers of the house of Israel,
Who (B)despise justice
And twist everything that is straight,
10 Who (C)build Zion with bloodshed,
And Jerusalem with malice.
11 Her leaders pronounce (D)judgment for a bribe,
Her (E)priests teach for pay,
And her prophets divine for money.
Yet they lean on the Lord, saying,
(F)Is the Lord not in our midst?
Catastrophe will not come upon us.”
12 Therefore on account of you,
(G)Zion will be plowed like a field,
(H)Jerusalem will become a heap of ruins,
And the (I)mountain of the [a]temple will become high places of a forest.

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Footnotes

  1. Micah 3:12 Lit house

Hear this, leaders of the house of Jacob,
        rulers of the house of Israel,
    you who reject justice and make crooked all that is straight,
10         who build Zion with bloodshed and Jerusalem with injustice!
11 Her officials give justice for a bribe,
        and her priests teach for hire.
Her prophets offer divination for silver,
        yet they rely on the Lord, saying,
            “Isn’t the Lord in our midst?
                Evil won’t come upon us!”
12 Therefore, because of you, Zion will be plowed like a field,
        Jerusalem will become piles of rubble,
            and the temple mount will become an overgrown mound.

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So listen to my message,
    you rulers of Israel!
You hate justice
    and twist the truth.
10 You make cruelty and murder
    a way of life in Jerusalem.
11 You leaders accept bribes
    for dishonest decisions.
You priests and prophets
teach and preach,
    but only for money.

Then you say,
“The Lord is on our side.
    No harm will come to us.”
12 (A) And so, because of you,
Jerusalem will be plowed under
    and left in ruins.
Thorns will cover the mountain
    where the temple now stands.

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