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, O ye heads of Jacob, and ye princes of the house of Israel! Is it not for you to know what is justice?
2 Ye haters of right, and lovers of wrong, —tearing away their skin from off them, and their flesh from off their bones;
[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;
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 who crush their bones, and chop them in pieces, as that to be put in a pot, and as flesh within a 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 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.
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 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:
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 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.
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.
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.
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 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.
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 ye princes of the house of Israel, that abhor justice, and make crooked all that is straight.
10 Building Zion, with deeds of blood, —and Jerusalem, with perversity.
They build up Zion with blood-guiltiness, and Jerusalem with wrong.
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.
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.
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 shall Zion be ploughed up as a field, and Jerusalem shall become ruinous heaps, and the mount of the house, forest-covered high-places.
