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?
I also said: “Listen now, leaders of Jacob, judges of the house of Israel. Is it not your duty to know what is the right?
2 Ye haters of right, and lovers of wrong, —tearing away their skin from off them, and their flesh from off their bones;
Haters of that which is good and lovers of evil!
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.
“They devour the flesh of my people, and their hide they strip from off them, and break in pieces and serve up their bones, like meat in a pot or the cooking pan!
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 will cry out to the Lord, but he will not pay attention to them. He will hide his face from them at that time because they have committed such crimes.”
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!
Therefore the Lord says: “To the prophets who lead my people astray, who when they have food between their teeth declare peace, but against one who puts nothing in their mouths, they proclaim an open war!
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;
“Night will overtake you so that you have no vision, and darkness so that there will be no divination, and the sun will go down on the prophets, and the day shall be dark 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.
“The seers will be ashamed, and the diviners will turn pale, all of them will cover their mouths. For there will be 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 I, on the contrary am full of power, and the sense of justice and strength, to make known to Jacob his crime, 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, leaders of the house of Jacob, judges of the house of Israel, you who spurn justice, and make all that is straight crooked,
10 Building Zion, with deeds of blood, —and Jerusalem, with perversity.
who build Zion with acts of bloodshed, and Jerusalem with crime.
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 leaders render judgment for a bribe, and her priests give oracles for a reward, and her prophets divine for silver. Yet they claim to rely on the Lord, ‘The Lord’, they say, ‘is in our midst. Evil cannot overtake 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 sakes Zion will be plowed as a field, and Jerusalem will become a heap of ruins, and the temple mount a wooded height.”
