Micah 3

Unjust Leaders Judged

¹Then 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

²You hate good and love evil.

You tear off people’s skin ^c

and strip their flesh from their bones.

³You 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.”

⁴Then 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

⁵This 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.

⁶Therefore, 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.

⁷Then the seers will be ashamed ^m

and the diviners disappointed. ⁿ

They will all cover their mouths ^o,^p

because there will be no answer from God. ^q

⁸As for me, however, I am filled with power ^r

by the Spirit of the Lord,

with justice and courage,

to proclaim to Jacob his rebellion

and to Israel his sin. ^s

Zion’s Destruction

⁹Listen to this, leaders of the house of Jacob, ^t

you rulers of the house of Israel,

who abhor justice ^u

and pervert everything that is right,

¹⁰who build Zion with bloodshed ^v

and Jerusalem with injustice.

¹¹Her leaders issue rulings for a bribe, ^w

her priests teach for payment, ^x

and her prophets practice divination for silver.

Yet they lean on the Lord, saying,

“Isn’t the Lord^y among us?

No disaster will overtake us.”

¹²Therefore, because of you,

Zion will be plowed like a field,

Jerusalem will become ruins, ^z

and the temple’s mountain ^aa

will be a high thicket. ^ab