Micah 3

1 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?

And I said, Hear, I pray you, ye heads of Jacob, and rulers of the house of Israel. Is it not for you to know justice?

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

Ye who hate the good, and love the evil, who pluck off their skin from off them, and their flesh from off their bones,

3 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.

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, 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.

Then they shall cry to Jehovah, but he will not answer them. Yea, he will hide his face from them at that time, according as they have wrought evil in their doings.

5 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!

Thus says Jehovah concerning the prophets who make my people to err, who bite with their teeth, and cry, Peace. And he who does not put into their mouths, they even prepare war against him.

6 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;

Therefore it shall be night to you, that ye shall have no vision. And it shall be dark to you, that ye shall not divine. And the sun shall go down upon the prophets, and the day shall be black over them.

7 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.

And the seers shall be put to shame, and the diviners confounded. Yea, they shall all cover their lips, for there is no answer from God.

8 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.

But as for me, I am full of power by the Spirit of Jehovah, and of judgment, and of 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 judges of the house of Israel, —who abhor justice, and, all right, do pervert:

Hear this, I pray you, ye heads of the house of Jacob, and rulers of the house of Israel, who abhor justice, and pervert all equity.

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

They build up Zion with blood, and Jerusalem with iniquity.

11 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.

The heads of it judge for a bribe, and the priests of it teach for a wage, and the prophets of it divine for money. Yet they lean upon Jehovah, and say, Is not Jehovah in the midst of us? No evil shall come upon us.

12 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.

Therefore for your sake Zion shall be plowed as a field, and Jerusalem shall become heaps, and the mountain of the house as the high places of a forest.