Font Size
Micah 3
Living Bible
Micah 3
Living Bible
3 Listen, you leaders of Israel—you are supposed to know right from wrong, 2 yet you are the very ones who hate good and love evil; you skin my people and strip them to the bone.
3 You devour them, flog them, break their bones, and chop them up like meat for the cooking pot— 4 and then you plead with the Lord for his help in times of trouble! Do you really expect him to listen? He will look the other way! 5 You false prophets! You who lead his people astray! You who cry “Peace” to those who give you food and threaten those who will not pay!
This is God’s message to you: 6 “The night will close about you and cut off all your visions; darkness will cover you with never a word from God. The sun will go down upon you, and your day will end. 7 Then at last you will cover your faces in shame and admit that your messages were not from God.”
8 But as for me, I am filled with power, with the Spirit of the Lord, fearlessly announcing God’s punishment on Israel for her sins.
9 Listen to me, you leaders of Israel who hate justice and love unfairness 10 and fill Jerusalem with murder and sin of every kind— 11 you leaders who take bribes; you priests and prophets who won’t preach and prophesy until you’re paid. (And yet you fawn upon the Lord and say, “All is well—the Lord is here among us. No harm can come to us.”) 12 It is because of you that Jerusalem will be plowed like a field and become a heap of rubble; the mountaintop where the Temple stands will be overgrown with brush.
Micah 3
Common English Bible
Micah 3
Common English Bible
Micah justifies the coming destruction
3 But I said:
Hear, leaders of Jacob,
rulers of the house of Israel!
Isn’t it your job to know justice?—
2 you who hate good and love evil,
who tear the skin off them, and the flesh off their bones,
3 who devour the flesh of my people,
tear off their skin,
break their bones in pieces,
and spread them out as if in a pot,
like meat in a kettle.
4 Then they will cry out to the Lord,
but he won’t answer them.
He will hide his face from them at that time,
because of their evil deeds.
5 The Lord proclaims concerning the prophets,
those who lead my people astray,
those who chew with their teeth
and then proclaim “Peace!”
but stir up war against the one who puts nothing in their mouths:
6 Therefore, it will become night for you,
without vision, only darkness
without divination!
The sun will set on the prophets;
the day will be dark upon them.
7 Those seeing visions will be ashamed,
and the diviners disgraced;
they will all cover their upper lips,[a]
for there will be no answer from God.
8 But me! I am filled with power,
with the spirit of the Lord,
with justice and might,
to declare to Jacob his wrongdoing and to Israel his sin!
9 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.
Footnotes
- Micah 3:7 Or mustache or beard
Micah 3
New Catholic Bible
Micah 3
New Catholic Bible
Chapter 3
The Leader Devours the Chair of My People
1 Then I said:
Listen, you leaders of the house of Jacob,
you rulers of the house of Israel.
Should you not be responsible
to know what is right?
2 And yet you hate what is good
and love what is evil.
3 You eat the flesh of my people
and strip off their skin;
you break their bones into pieces
like flesh for the pot,
like meat in a cauldron.
4 Then they will cry out to the Lord,
but he will not answer them.
He will conceal his face from them at that time
because of the evil they have done.
Against Prophets Who Lead the People Astray
5 Thus says the Lord about the prophets
who lead my people astray,
who promise prosperity
when they have something to eat,
but who declare war against those
who put no food into their mouths.
6 Therefore, you will have night without vision
and darkness without divination.
The sun will go down on the prophets;
for them the daytime will be black.
7 Then the seers will be disgraced
and the diviners will be put to shame.
They will all cover their lips,
for there is no answer from God.
8 But as for me, I am filled with strength,
with the Spirit of the Lord,
with justice and might
to declare to Jacob his crime
and to Israel his sin.
A Civilization Built on Injustice
9 Listen to this,
you leaders of the house of Jacob,
you rulers of the house of Israel,
who despise justice
and pervert what is right,
10 who build Zion through bloodshed
and Jerusalem through wickedness.
11 Her leaders accept bribes for favorable judgments,
her priests render judgments for a fee,
her prophets practice divination for money.
And yet they rely upon the Lord, saying,
“Isn’t the Lord in our midst?
No harm can come upon us.”
12 Therefore, because of you,
Zion will be plowed like a field.
Jerusalem will be reduced to a heap of rubble,
and the temple mount to a height
overgrown with thickets.
Micah 3
New International Version
Micah 3
New International Version
Leaders and Prophets Rebuked
3 Then I said,
“Listen, you leaders(A) of Jacob,
you rulers of Israel.
Should you not embrace justice,
2 you who hate good and love evil;
who tear the skin from my people
and the flesh from their bones;(B)
3 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)”
4 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)
5 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.
6 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)
7 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)”
8 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)
9 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)
Living Bible (TLB)
The Living Bible copyright © 1971 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Common English Bible (CEB)
Copyright © 2011 by Common English Bible
New International Version (NIV) 
Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
NIV Reverse Interlinear Bible: English to Hebrew and English to Greek. Copyright © 2019 by Zondervan.