Micah 3

1 And I say, 'Hear, I pray you, heads of Jacob, And ye judges of the house of Israel, Is it not for you to know the judgment?

And I said: Hear, O ye princes of Jacob, and ye chiefs of the house of Israel: Is it not your part to know judgment,

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

You that hate good, and love evil: that violently pluck off their skins from them, and their flesh from their bones?

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

Who have eaten the flesh of my people, and have flayed their skin from off them: and have broken, and chopped their bones as for the kettle, and as flesh in the midst of the pot.

4 Then do they cry unto Jehovah, And He doth not answer them, And hideth His face from them at that time, As they have made evil their doings.

Then shall they cry to the Lord, and he will not hear them: and he will hide his face from them at that time, as they have behaved wickedly in their devices.

5 Thus said Jehovah concerning the prophets Who are causing My people to err, Who are biting with their teeth, And have cried 'Peace,' And he who doth not give unto their mouth, They have sanctified against him war.

Thus saith the Lord concerning the prophets that make my people err: that bite with their teeth, and preach peace: and if a man give not something into their mouth, they prepare war against him.

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

Therefore night shall be to you instead of vision, and darkness to you instead of divination; and the sun shall go down upon the prophets, and the day shall be darkened over them.

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

And they shall be confounded that see visions, and the diviners shall be confounded: and they shall all cover their faces, because there is no answer of God.

8 And yet I have been 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.

But yet I am filled with the strength of the spirit of the Lord, with judgment, and power: to declare unto Jacob his wickedness, and to Israel his sin.

9 Hear this, I pray you, heads of the house of Jacob, And ye judges of the house of Israel, Who are making judgment abominable, And all uprightness do pervert.

Hear this, ye princes of the house of Jacob, and ye judges of the house of Israel: you that abhor judgment, and pervert all that is right.

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

You that build up Sion with blood, and Jerusalem with iniquity.

11 Her heads for a bribe do judge, And her priests for hire do teach, And her prophets for silver divine, And on Jehovah they lean, saying, 'Is not Jehovah in our midst? Evil doth not come in upon us.'

Her princes have judged for bribes, and her priests have taught for hire, and her prophets divined for money: and they leaned upon the Lord, saying: Is not the Lord in the midst of us? no evil shall come upon us.

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

Therefore, because of you, Sion shall be ploughed as a field, and Jerusalem shall be as a heap of stones, and the mountain of the temple as the high places of the forests.