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?

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

Haters of that which is good and lovers of evil!

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.

‘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 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 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 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.

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 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.

‘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 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.

‘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 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 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, 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, 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 up Zion with blood, And Jerusalem with iniquity.

who build Zion with acts of bloodshed, and Jerusalem with crime.

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.'

‘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 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 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.’