Micah 3

1 And I say, “Now hear, O heads of Jacob, And you judges of the house of Israel, Is it not for you to know the judgment?

Then said I, Hear, I pray you, ye heads of Jacob, and ye judges of the house of Israel, —Is it not yours to know justice?

2 You who are hating good, and loving evil, Taking violently their skin from off them, And their flesh from off their bones,

Ye haters of right, and lovers of wrong, —tearing away their skin from off them, and their flesh from off their bones;

3 And who have eaten the flesh of My people, And their skin from off them have stripped, And their bones they have broken, And they have spread [them] out as in a pot, And as flesh in the midst of a cauldron.”

Who indeed have eaten the flesh of my people, and, their skin from off them, have stript, and, their bones, have they broken in pieces, —and will spread them out, as flesh with a fork, and as flesh, in the midst of a pot.

4 Then they cry to YHWH, And He does not answer them, And hides His face from them at that time, As they have made evil their doings.

Then, shall they make outcry unto Yahweh, but he will not answer them, —that he may hide his face from them, at that time, even as they have made wicked their doings.

5 Thus said YHWH concerning the prophets Who are causing My people to err, Who are biting with their teeth, And have cried “Peace,” And he who does not give to their mouth, They have sanctified against him war:

Thus, saith Yahweh, concerning the prophets who are leading astray my people, —who bite with their teeth, and then cry—Prosper! and whoso holdeth not to their mouth, they hallow against him a war!

6 “Therefore you have a night without vision, And you have darkness without divination, And the sun has gone in on the prophets, And the day has been black over them.

Therefore, shall it be night to you, for lack of vision, and darkness to you, for lack of divination, —and the sun, shall go in, over the prophets, and the day, shall be overcast because of them;

7 And the seers have been ashamed, And the diviners have been confounded, And all of them have covered their lip, For there is no answer, O God.”

And the men of vision, shall turn pale, and the diviners, shall blush, and shall put a covering upon their lip, all of them, —because there is no answer of God.

8 And yet I have been full of power by the Spirit of YHWH, And of judgment, and of might, To declare to Jacob his transgression, And to Israel his sin.

But, in very deed, I, am full of vigour, with the spirit of Yahweh, and of justice and of valour, —to declare to Jacob, his transgression, and to Israel, his sin.

9 Now hear this, O heads of the house of Jacob, And you judges of the house of Israel, Who are making judgment abominable, And pervert all uprightness.

Hear this, I pray you, ye heads of the house of Jacob, and ye judges of the house of Israel, —who abhor justice, and, all right, do pervert:

10 Building up Zion with blood, And Jerusalem with iniquity.

Building Zion, with deeds of blood, —and Jerusalem, with perversity.

11 Her heads judge for a bribe, And her priests teach for hire, And her prophets divine for silver, And on YHWH they lean, saying, “Is not YHWH in our midst? Evil does not come in on us.”

Her heads, for a bribe, pronounce sentence, and, her priests, for a price, give direction, and, her prophets, for silver, divine, —yet, on Yahweh, they lean, saying, Is not, Yahweh, in our midst? there shall not come upon us, calamity.

12 Therefore, for your sake, Zion is plowed a field, and Jerusalem is heaps, And the mountain of the house [is] for high places of a forest!

Wherefore, for your sake, Zion, as a field, shall be ploughed, and, Jerusalem, unto heaps of ruins, shall be turned, —and, the mountain of the house, shall [be] like mounds in a jungle.