Wicked Rulers and Prophets

And I said:

“Hear now, O heads of Jacob,
And you (A)rulers of the house of Israel:
(B)Is it not for you to know justice?
You who hate good and love evil;
Who strip the skin from [a]My people,
And the flesh from their bones;
Who also (C)eat the flesh of My people,
Flay their skin from them,
Break their bones,
And chop them in pieces
Like meat for the pot,
(D)Like flesh in the caldron.”

Then (E)they will cry to the Lord,
But He will not hear them;
He will even hide His face from them at that time,
Because they have been evil in their deeds.

Thus says the Lord (F)concerning the prophets
Who make my people stray;
Who chant [b]“Peace”
[c]While they (G)chew with their teeth,
But who prepare war against him
(H)Who puts nothing into their mouths:
“Therefore(I) you shall have night without [d]vision,
And you shall have darkness without divination;
The sun shall go down on the prophets,
And the day shall be dark for (J)them.
So the seers shall be ashamed,
And the diviners abashed;
Indeed they shall all cover their lips;
(K)For there is no answer from God.”

But truly I am full of power by the Spirit of the Lord,
And of justice and might,
(L)To declare to Jacob his transgression
And to Israel his sin.
Now hear this,
You heads of the house of Jacob
And rulers of the house of Israel,
Who abhor justice
And [e]pervert all equity,
10 (M)Who build up Zion with (N)bloodshed
And Jerusalem with iniquity:
11 (O)Her heads judge for a bribe,
(P)Her priests teach for pay,
And her prophets divine for [f]money.
(Q)Yet they lean on the Lord, and say,
“Is not the Lord among us?
No harm can come upon us.”
12 Therefore because of you
Zion shall be (R)plowed like a field,
(S)Jerusalem shall become heaps of ruins,
And (T)the mountain of the [g]temple
Like the bare hills of the forest.

The Lord’s Reign in Zion(U)

Now (V)it shall come to pass in the latter days
That the mountain of the Lord’s house
Shall be established on the top of the mountains,
And shall be exalted above the hills;
And peoples shall flow to it.
Many nations shall come and say,
“Come, and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord,
To the house of the God of Jacob;
He will teach us His ways,
And we shall walk in His paths.”
For out of Zion the law shall go forth,
And the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.
He shall judge between many peoples,
And rebuke strong nations afar off;
They shall beat their swords into (W)plowshares,
And their spears into [h]pruning hooks;
Nation shall not lift up sword against nation,
(X)Neither shall they learn war anymore.

(Y)But everyone shall sit under his vine and under his fig tree,
And no one shall make them afraid;
For the mouth of the Lord of hosts has spoken.
For all people walk each in the name of his god,
But (Z)we will walk in the name of the Lord our God
Forever and ever.

Zion’s Future Triumph

“In that day,” says the Lord,
(AA)“I will assemble the lame,
(AB)I will gather the outcast
And those whom I have afflicted;
I will make the lame (AC)a remnant,
And the outcast a strong nation;
So the Lord (AD)will reign over them in Mount Zion
From now on, even forever.
And you, O tower of the flock,
The stronghold of the daughter of Zion,
To you shall it come,
Even the former dominion shall come,
The kingdom of the daughter of Jerusalem.”

Now why do you cry aloud?
(AE)Is there no king in your midst?
Has your counselor perished?
For (AF)pangs have seized you like a woman in [i]labor.
10 Be in pain, and labor to bring forth,
O daughter of Zion,
Like a woman in birth pangs.
For now you shall go forth from the city,
You shall dwell in the field,
And to (AG)Babylon you shall go.
There you shall be delivered;
There the (AH)Lord will (AI)redeem you
From the hand of your enemies.

11 (AJ)Now also many nations have gathered against you,
Who say, “Let her be defiled,
And let our eye (AK)look upon Zion.”
12 But they do not know (AL)the thoughts of the Lord,
Nor do they understand His counsel;
For He will gather them (AM)like sheaves to the threshing floor.

13 “Arise(AN) and (AO)thresh, O daughter of Zion;
For I will make your horn iron,
And I will make your hooves bronze;
You shall (AP)beat in pieces many peoples;
(AQ)I will consecrate their gain to the Lord,
And their substance to (AR)the Lord of the whole earth.”

Notas al pie

  1. Micah 3:2 Lit. them
  2. Micah 3:5 All is well
  3. Micah 3:5 For those who feed them
  4. Micah 3:6 Prophetic revelation
  5. Micah 3:9 Lit. twist
  6. Micah 3:11 Lit. silver
  7. Micah 3:12 Lit. house
  8. Micah 4:3 pruning knives
  9. Micah 4:9 childbirth

Leaders and Prophets Rebuked

Then I said,

“Listen, you leaders(A) of Jacob,
    you rulers of Israel.
Should you not embrace justice,
    you who hate good and love evil;
who tear the skin from my people
    and the flesh from their bones;(B)
who eat my people’s flesh,(C)
    strip off their skin
    and break their bones in pieces;(D)
who chop(E) them up like meat for the pan,
    like flesh for the pot?(F)

Then they will cry out to the Lord,
    but he will not answer them.(G)
At that time he will hide his face(H) from them
    because of the evil they have done.(I)

This is what the Lord says:

“As for the prophets
    who lead my people astray,(J)
they proclaim ‘peace’(K)
    if they have something to eat,
but prepare to wage war against anyone
    who refuses to feed them.
Therefore night will come over you, without visions,
    and darkness, without divination.(L)
The sun will set for the prophets,(M)
    and the day will go dark for them.(N)
The seers will be ashamed(O)
    and the diviners disgraced.(P)
They will all cover(Q) their faces(R)
    because there is no answer from God.(S)
But as for me, I am filled with power,
    with the Spirit of the Lord,
    and with justice and might,
to declare to Jacob his transgression,
    to Israel his sin.(T)

Hear this, you leaders of Jacob,
    you rulers of Israel,
who despise justice
    and distort all that is right;(U)
10 who build(V) Zion with bloodshed,(W)
    and Jerusalem with wickedness.(X)
11 Her leaders judge for a bribe,(Y)
    her priests teach for a price,(Z)
    and her prophets tell fortunes for money.(AA)
Yet they look(AB) for the Lord’s support and say,
    “Is not the Lord among us?
    No disaster will come upon us.”(AC)
12 Therefore because of you,
    Zion will be plowed like a field,
Jerusalem will become a heap of rubble,(AD)
    the temple(AE) hill a mound overgrown with thickets.(AF)

The Mountain of the Lord(AG)

In the last days

the mountain(AH) of the Lord’s temple will be established
    as the highest of the mountains;
it will be exalted above the hills,(AI)
    and peoples will stream to it.(AJ)

Many nations will come and say,

“Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord,(AK)
    to the temple of the God of Jacob.(AL)
He will teach us(AM) his ways,(AN)
    so that we may walk in his paths.”
The law(AO) will go out from Zion,
    the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.
He will judge between many peoples
    and will settle disputes for strong nations far and wide.(AP)
They will beat their swords into plowshares
    and their spears into pruning hooks.(AQ)
Nation will not take up sword against nation,
    nor will they train for war(AR) anymore.(AS)
Everyone will sit under their own vine
    and under their own fig tree,(AT)
and no one will make them afraid,(AU)
    for the Lord Almighty has spoken.(AV)
All the nations may walk
    in the name of their gods,(AW)
but we will walk in the name of the Lord
    our God for ever and ever.(AX)

The Lord’s Plan

“In that day,” declares the Lord,

“I will gather the lame;(AY)
    I will assemble the exiles(AZ)
    and those I have brought to grief.(BA)
I will make the lame my remnant,(BB)
    those driven away a strong nation.(BC)
The Lord will rule over them in Mount Zion(BD)
    from that day and forever.(BE)
As for you, watchtower of the flock,
    stronghold[a] of Daughter Zion,
the former dominion will be restored(BF) to you;
    kingship will come to Daughter Jerusalem.(BG)

Why do you now cry aloud—
    have you no king[b](BH)?
Has your ruler[c] perished,
    that pain seizes you like that of a woman in labor?(BI)
10 Writhe in agony, Daughter Zion,
    like a woman in labor,
for now you must leave the city
    to camp in the open field.
You will go to Babylon;(BJ)
    there you will be rescued.
There the Lord will redeem(BK) you
    out of the hand of your enemies.

11 But now many nations
    are gathered against you.
They say, “Let her be defiled,
    let our eyes gloat(BL) over Zion!”
12 But they do not know
    the thoughts of the Lord;
they do not understand his plan,(BM)
    that he has gathered them like sheaves to the threshing floor.
13 “Rise and thresh,(BN) Daughter Zion,
    for I will give you horns of iron;
I will give you hooves of bronze,
    and you will break to pieces many nations.”(BO)
You will devote their ill-gotten gains to the Lord,(BP)
    their wealth to the Lord of all the earth.

Notas al pie

  1. Micah 4:8 Or hill
  2. Micah 4:9 Or King
  3. Micah 4:9 Or Ruler