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?

I said, "Please listen, you heads of Jacob, and rulers of the house of Israel: Isn't it for you to know justice?

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;

You who hate the good, and love the evil; who tear off their skin, and their flesh from 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.

who also eat the flesh of my people, and flay their skin from off them, and break their bones, and chop them in pieces, as for the pot, and as flesh within the caldron.

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.

Then they will cry to the LORD, but he will not answer them. Yes, he will hide his face from them at that time, because they made their deeds evil."

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 who lead my people astray; for those who feed their teeth, they proclaim, "Peace." and whoever doesn't provide for their mouths, they prepare war against him:

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 night is over you, with no vision, and it is dark to you, that you may not divine; and the sun will go down on the prophets, and the day will be black over 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.

The seers shall be disappointed, and the diviners confounded. Yes, they shall all cover their lips; for there is no answer from God."

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.

But as for me, I am full of power by the Spirit of the LORD, and of judgment, and of might, to declare to Jacob his disobedience, and to Israel his sin.

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.

Please listen to this, you heads of the house of Jacob, and rulers of the house of Israel, who abhor justice, and pervert all equity.

10 They build up Zion with blood-guiltiness, and Jerusalem with wrong.

They build up Zion 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.

Her leaders judge for bribes, and her priests teach for a price, and her prophets of it tell fortunes for money: yet they lean on the LORD, and say, "Isn't the LORD in the midst of us? No disaster will come on 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 Zion for your sake will be plowed like a field, and Jerusalem will become heaps of rubble, and the mountain of the temple like the high places of a forest.