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, “Now listen, you leaders of Jacob and rulers of the house of Israel: Is it not right for you to understand 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 good and love evil, you who tear off their skin, their flesh from 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.
you who also eat the flesh of my people, and tear their skin off, break their bones, and chop them in pieces, just like meat for a pot, just like meat in a cauldron.
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 you rulers will cry out to Yahweh, but he will not answer you. He will hide his face from you at that time, because you have done evil deeds.”
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:
Yahweh says this, “As for the prophets who lead my people astray, if one gives them something to eat, they proclaim, 'Peace.' But if he puts nothing in their mouths, they dedicate themselves to wage war on 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, it will be night for you with no vision for you; it will be dark so that you will do no divination. The sun will go down on the prophets, and the day will be dark on 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 will be put to shame, and the diviners will be confused. All of them will cover their lips, for there is no answer from me.”
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 Yahweh, and am full of justice and might, to declare to Jacob his transgression, 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.
Now listen to this, you leaders of the house of Jacob, and rulers of the house of Israel, you who detest justice, and pervert everything right.
10 They build up Zion with blood-guiltiness, and Jerusalem with wrong.
You build 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.
Your leaders judge for a bribe, your priests teach for a price, and your prophets do divination for money. Yet you rely on Yahweh and say, “Is not Yahweh with us? No evil 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, because of you, Zion will become a plowed field, Jerusalem will become a heap of rubble, and the hill of the temple will become a thicket.
