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I said,

“Please listen, you heads of Jacob,
    and rulers of the house of Israel:
    Isn’t it for you to know justice?
You who hate the good,
    and love the evil;
    who tear off their skin,
    and their flesh from off their bones;
    who also eat the flesh of my people,
    and peel their skin from off them,
    and break their bones,
    and chop them in pieces, as for the pot,
    and as meat within the cauldron.
Then they will cry to Yahweh,
    but he will not answer them.
Yes, he will hide his face from them at that time,
    because they made their deeds evil.”

Yahweh says concerning the prophets who lead my people astray; for those who feed their teeth, they proclaim, “Peace!” and whoever doesn’t provide for their mouths, they prepare war against him:

“Therefore night is over you, with no vision,
    and it is dark to you, that you may not divine;
    and the sun will go down on the prophets,
    and the day will be black over them.
The seers shall be disappointed,
    and the diviners confounded.
Yes, they shall all cover their lips;
    for there is no answer from God.”[a]
But as for me, I am full of power by Yahweh’s Spirit,
    and of judgment, and of might,
    to declare to Jacob his disobedience,
    and to Israel his sin.
Please listen to this, you heads of the house of Jacob,
    and rulers of the house of Israel,
    who abhor justice,
    and pervert all equity.
10 They build up Zion with blood,
    and Jerusalem with iniquity.
11 Her leaders judge for bribes,
    and her priests teach for a price,
    and her prophets of it tell fortunes for money:
yet they lean on Yahweh, and say,
    “Isn’t Yahweh among us?
    No disaster will come on us.”
12 Therefore Zion for your sake will be plowed like a field,
    and Jerusalem will become heaps of rubble,
    and the mountain of the temple like the high places of a forest.

Footnotes

  1. 3:7 The Hebrew word rendered “God” is “אֱלֹהִ֑ים” (Elohim).

“He will say, ‘Listen, you leaders of Jacob,
you officials of the house of Israel!
You should know justice, should you not?—
you who despise good and love evil,
    who tear off the skin of my people,[a]
        along with the flesh from their bones.
You eat the flesh of my people,
    flaying their skin from them.
You break their bones,
    chopping them in pieces like meat[b] for a pot,
        like meat destined for a soup kettle.’

“Then they will cry to the Lord,
    but he will not listen to them.
In fact, he will hide his face from them at that time,
    because they were so wicked in what they were doing.”

God’s Judgment against False Prophets

“This is what the Lord says about the prophets
    who are causing my people to go astray,
who are calling out ‘Peace’ when they’re being fed,[c]
    but who declare war against those who won’t feed them:[d]
‘You will have nights without visions,
    and darkness without prophecy.
The sun will set on the prophets,
    and the day will darken for them.
Those who see visions will be put to shame,
    and the diviners will be disgraced—every one of them—
they will cover their faces,[e]
    because there will be no answer from God.’”

The Message of God’s Prophet

“As for me, I am truly filled with power by the Spirit of the Lord,
    filled[f] with judgment and power
to announce to Jacob his transgression,
    and to Israel his sin.
Please listen to this, you leaders of the house of Jacob,
    you officials of the house of Israel,
you who hate administering justice,
    who pervert the very meaning of[g] equity,
10 who are building up Zion by means of bloodshed,
    and Jerusalem by means of iniquity.
11 Her leaders judge for the money,
    her priests teach only when they’re paid,
        and her prophets prophesy for cash.
Even so, don’t they all rely on the Lord as they ask,
    ‘The Lord is among us, is he not?
        Nothing bad can possibly happen to us!’
12 “Therefore, because of you, Zion will be plowed up like a field,
    and Jerusalem will become heaps of rubble,
        and the Temple Mount like a forest high place.”

Footnotes

  1. Micah 3:2 The Heb. lacks of my people
  2. Micah 3:3 The Heb. lacks meat
  3. Micah 3:5 Lit. who bite with their teeth, crying out “Peace”
  4. Micah 3:5 Lit. against him who puts nothing in their mouths
  5. Micah 3:7 Lit. beard
  6. Micah 3:8 The Heb. lacks filled
  7. Micah 3:9 Lit. pervert all