Micah 3
1 And I said, Hear, I pray you, O ye heads of Jacob, and ye princes of the house of Israel! Is it not for you to know what is justice?
And he shall say, Hear now these words, you heads of the house of Jacob, and you remnant of the house of Israel; is it not for you to know judgement?
2 [But they are those] who hate the good, and love the evil; who tear their skin from off them, and their flesh from off their bones;
[who] hate good, and seek evil; [who] tear their skins off them, and their flesh off their bones:
3 Who also eat the flesh of my people, and flay their skin from off them; and who crush their bones, and chop them in pieces, as that to be put in a pot, and as flesh within a caldron.
even as they devoured the flesh of my people, and stripped their skins off them, and broke their bones, and divided [them] as flesh for the cauldron, and as meat for the pot,
4 Then will they cry unto the Lord, but he will not hear them; and he will hide his face from them at that time, as they have committed their evil deeds.
thus they shall cry to the Lord, but he shall not listen to them; and he shall turn away his face from them at that time, because they have done wickedly in their practices against themselves.
5 Thus hath said the Lord concerning the prophets that mislead my people, who, when they have something to bite with their teeth, cry, Peace; but who prepare war against him who putteth nothing in their mouth:
Thus says the Lord concerning the prophets that lead my people astray, that bit with their teeth, and proclaim peace to them; and [when] nothing was put into their mouth, they raised up war against them:
6 Therefore shall the night be unto you, without a vision; and it shall be dark unto you, without divining; and the sun shall go down around the prophets, and the day shall be obscured around them.
therefore there shall be night to you instead of a vision, and there shall be to you darkness instead of prophecy; and the sun shall go down upon the prophets, and the day shall be dark upon them.
7 Thus shall the seers be made ashamed, and the diviners be put to the blush: yea, they shall all wrap themselves up to the upper lip; for there is no answer of God.
And the seers of night-visions shall be ashamed, and the prophets shall be laughed to scorn: and all the people shall speak against them, because there shall be none to listen to them.
8 But truly I am indeed full of strength by the spirit of the Lord, and [of power] of judging, and of might, to tell unto Jacob his transgression, and to Israel his sin.
Surely I will strengthen myself with the Spirit of the Lord, and of judgement, and of power, to declare to Jacob his transgressions, and to Israel his sins.
9 Hear this, I pray you, ye heads of the house of Jacob, and ye princes of the house of Israel, that abhor justice, and make crooked all that is straight.
Hear now these words, you chiefs of the house of Jacob, and the remnant of the house of Israel, who hate judgement, and pervert all righteousness;
10 They build up Zion with blood-guiltiness, and Jerusalem with wrong.
who build up Sion with blood, and Jerusalem with iniquity.
11 Her heads judge for bribes, and her priests teach for reward, and her prophets divine for money: and yet will they lean upon the Lord, and say, Is not the Lord among us? evil cannot come over us.
The heads thereof have judged for gifts, and the priests thereof have answered for hire, and her prophets have divined for silver: and [yet] they have rested on the Lord, saying, Is not the Lord amongst us? no evil shall come upon us.
12 Therefore for your sake shall Zion be ploughed up as a field, and Jerusalem shall become ruinous heaps, and the mount of the house, forest-covered high-places.
Therefore on your account Sion shall be ploughed as a field, and Jerusalem shall be as a storehouse of fruits, and the mountain of the house as a grove of the forest.
