1Then I said, ‘Listen, you leaders of Jacob’s people! Pay attention, you rulers of Israel! You should want to judge others fairly.2But you hate what is good. And you love what is evil. You are like someone who tears the skin off my people. You pull the meat off their bones.3You eat my people’s bodies. You strip off their skin. You break their bones in pieces. You chop them up like meat. You put them in a cooking pot.’4The time will come when Israel will cry out to the LORD. But he won’t answer them. In fact, he’ll turn his face away from them. They have done what is evil.5The LORD says, ‘The prophets are those who lead my people astray. If my people feed them, the prophets promise them peace. If my people do not feed them, the prophets prepare to go to war against them.6So night will come on the prophets. But they will not have any visions. Darkness will cover them. But they will not be able to figure out what is going to happen. The sun will set on the prophets. The day will become dark for them.7Those who see visions will be put to shame. Those who try to figure out what is going to happen will be dishonoured. All of them will cover their faces. I will not answer them.’8The Spirit of the LORD has filled me with power. He helps me do what is fair. He makes me brave. Now I’m prepared to tell Jacob’s people what they’ve done wrong. I’m ready to tell Israel they’ve sinned.9Listen to me, you leaders of Jacob’s people! Pay attention, you rulers of Israel! You hate to do what is fair. You twist everything that is right.10You build up Zion by spilling the blood of others. You build Jerusalem by doing what is evil.11Your judges take money from people who want special favours. Your priests teach only if they get paid for it. Your prophets won’t tell fortunes unless they receive money. But you still look for the LORD’s help. You say, ‘The LORD is with us. No trouble will come on us.’12So because of what you have done, Zion will be ploughed up like a field. Jerusalem will be turned into a pile of rubble. The temple hill will be covered with bushes and weeds.
Micah 3
English Standard Version
Rulers and Prophets Denounced
1And I said: Hear, you heads of Jacob and rulers of the house of Israel! Is it not for you to know justice?— (Jer 5:5; Eze 22:6; Eze 22:27; Mic 1:2)2you who hate the good and love the evil, who tear the skin from off my people[1] and their flesh from off their bones, (Eze 34:3; Mic 3:9)3who eat the flesh of my people, and flay their skin from off them, and break their bones in pieces and chop them up like meat in a pot, like flesh in a cauldron. (Ps 14:4; Isa 3:15)4Then they will cry to the Lord, but he will not answer them; he will hide his face from them at that time, because they have made their deeds evil. (De 31:17; Pr 1:28; Isa 1:15)5Thus says the Lord concerning the prophets who lead my people astray, who cry “Peace” when they have something to eat, but declare war against him who puts nothing into their mouths. (Jer 6:14; Jer 23:13; Jer 23:32; Eze 13:10)6Therefore it shall be night to you, without vision, and darkness to you, without divination. The sun shall go down on the prophets, and the day shall be black over them; (Eze 12:24; Eze 13:23; Am 8:9)7the seers shall be disgraced, and the diviners put to shame; they shall all cover their lips, for there is no answer from God. (Le 13:45; Jer 37:19; Am 8:11; Zec 13:4)8But 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 and to Israel his sin. (Isa 58:1; Jer 6:11; Eze 23:36; Mic 1:5)9Hear this, you heads of the house of Jacob and rulers of the house of Israel, who detest justice and make crooked all that is straight, (Mic 1:2; Mic 3:2)10who build Zion with blood and Jerusalem with iniquity. (Jer 22:13; Eze 22:27; Hab 2:12)11Its heads give judgment for a bribe; its priests teach for a price; its prophets practice divination for money; yet they lean on the Lord and say, “Is not the Lord in the midst of us? No disaster shall come upon us.” (Isa 1:23; Isa 48:2; Jer 6:13; Jer 7:4; Jer 23:17; Eze 22:25; Am 5:14; Am 9:10; Mic 3:5; Mic 7:3)12Therefore because of you Zion shall be plowed as a field; Jerusalem shall become a heap of ruins, and the mountain of the house a wooded height. (Jer 26:18; Mic 1:6; Mic 4:2; Lu 13:35)