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?
Then I said, “You Israeli [MTY] leaders, listen [to what I say]! You should certainly [RHQ] know what things are right [to do] [and what things are wrong],
2 Ye haters of right, and lovers of wrong, —tearing away their skin from off them, and their flesh from off their bones;
but you hate what is good and you love what is evil. [You act like butchers]: [it is as though] you strip the skin off my people and [tear] the flesh from 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.
[It is as though] you chop them into pieces like [SIM] meat [to be cooked] in a pot.
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, [when you have troubles], you plead to Yahweh [to help you], but he will not answer you. At that time, he will turn away from you because of the evil things that you have done.”
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!
This is what Yahweh says about your [false] prophets who are deceiving the people: “If someone gives them food, those prophets say that things will go well for him. But they declare war against anyone who does not give them food.
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;
So [now it is as though] [MET] night will descend on you prophets; you will not receive any [more] visions. [It is as though] [MET] the sun will set for you; the time [when you are greatly honored] will end.
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.
[Then] you (seers/people who predict what will happen in the future) [DOU] will be disgraced; you will cover your faces [because you will be ashamed], because when you ask me [what will happen], there will be no answer from me.”
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 [God’s] power, [power] from the Spirit of Yahweh. I am courageous and strong to declare to the Israeli people [MTY, DOU] that they have sinned and rebelled [against Yahweh].
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:
You leaders of the people [MTY] of Israel, listen to this! You hate [it when people do] what is just; and [when people say] what is true, you distort it, [saying it is false].
10 Building Zion, with deeds of blood, —and Jerusalem, with perversity.
[It is as though] you are building [houses in] Jerusalem on foundations that consist of murdering people and doing what is corrupt.
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.
Your leaders make [favorable] decisions [only if they receive] bribes. Your priests teach people only if [those people] pay them [well]. Your [false] prophets require people to pay them to tell people what will happen [to them] in the future. Those prophets say, “Yahweh is telling us [what we should say], and [we say that] we will not experience any disasters.”
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.
Because of what you [leaders do], Zion [Hill] will be plowed like a field; it will become a heap of ruins/rubble; the top of the hill, where the temple is [now], will be covered with bushes.
