Micah 3

1 And I said: Listen, leaders of Jacob and chiefs of the house of Israel. Does it not belong to you to know judgment,

Then I said, “You Israeli [MTY] leaders, listen [to what I say]! You should certainly [RHQ] know what things are right [to do] [and what things are wrong],

2 you who hold hatred for good, and love evil, who violently steal their skins from over them and their flesh from over their bones?

but you hate what is good and you love what is evil. [You act like butchers]: [it is as though] you strip the skin off my people and [tear] the flesh from their bones.

3 They have devoured the flesh of my people, and have stripped their skin from over them, and they have shattered and chopped their bones, as if for the kettle, and like flesh in the middle of the pot.

[It is as though] you chop them into pieces like [SIM] meat [to be cooked] in a pot.

4 Then they will cry out to the Lord, and he will not heed them. And he will hide his face from them in that time, just as they have acted wickedly with their inventions.

Then, [when you have troubles], you plead to Yahweh [to help you], but he will not answer you. At that time, he will turn away from you because of the evil things that you have done.”

5 Thus says the Lord about the prophets who seduce my people: They bite with their teeth and preach peace, and if anyone does not give something to their mouth, they sanctify a battle against him.

This is what Yahweh says about your [false] prophets who are deceiving the people: “If someone gives them food, those prophets say that things will go well for him. But they declare war against anyone who does not give them food.

6 Because of this, night will be yours for vision, and darkness yours for divination, and the sun will meet with death over the prophets, and the day will be darkened over them.

So [now it is as though] [MET] night will descend on you prophets; you will not receive any [more] visions. [It is as though] [MET] the sun will set for you; the time [when you are greatly honored] will end.

7 And those who see visions will be confounded, and the diviners will be confounded. And they will all cover their faces, because there is no response from God.

[Then] you (seers/people who predict what will happen in the future) [DOU] will be disgraced; you will cover your faces [because you will be ashamed], because when you ask me [what will happen], there will be no answer from me.”

8 Nevertheless, truly I have been filled with the strength of the Spirit of the Lord, with judgment and virtue, in order to announce to Jacob his wickedness and to Israel his sin.

But as for me, I am full of [God’s] power, [power] from the Spirit of Yahweh. I am courageous and strong to declare to the Israeli people [MTY, DOU] that they have sinned and rebelled [against Yahweh].

9 Hear this, leaders of the house of Jacob and judges of the house of Israel, you who abominate judgment and who pervert all that is right.

You leaders of the people [MTY] of Israel, listen to this! You hate [it when people do] what is just; and [when people say] what is true, you distort it, [saying it is false].

10 You build up Zion with blood, and Jerusalem with iniquity.

[It is as though] you are building [houses in] Jerusalem on foundations that consist of murdering people and doing what is corrupt.

11 Her leaders have judged for tributes, and her priests have taught for payment, and her prophets divined for money. And they leaned upon the Lord, saying: “Is not the Lord in our midst? No disaster will overcome us.”

Your leaders make [favorable] decisions [only if they receive] bribes. Your priests teach people only if [those people] pay them [well]. Your [false] prophets require people to pay them to tell people what will happen [to them] in the future. Those prophets say, “Yahweh is telling us [what we should say], and [we say that] we will not experience any disasters.”

12 For this reason, because of you, Zion will be plowed under like a field, and Jerusalem will become like a pile of stones, and the mountain of the temple like the high places of the forests.

Because of what you [leaders do], Zion [Hill] will be plowed like a field; it will become a heap of ruins/rubble; the top of the hill, where the temple is [now], will be covered with bushes.