Micah 3:1–12

Rulers Denounced

¹And I said,

“^aHear now, heads of Jacob

And rulers of the house of Israel.

Is it not for you to ^bknow justice?

²“You who hate good and love evil,

Who ^atear off their skin from them

And their flesh from their bones,

³Who ^aeat the flesh of my people,

Strip off their skin from them,

Break their bones

And ^bchop them up as for the pot

And as meat in a kettle.”

⁴Then they will ^acry out to the Lord,

But He will not answer them.

Instead, He will ^bhide His face from them at that time

Because they have ^cpracticed evil deeds.

⁵Thus says the Lord concerning the prophets who ^alead my people astray;

When they have something to bite with their teeth,

They ^bcry, “Peace,”

But against him who puts nothing in their mouths

They declare holy war.

⁶Therefore it will be ^anight for you—without vision,

And darkness for you—without divination.

The ^bsun will go down on the prophets,

And the day will become dark over them.

⁷The seers will be ^aashamed

And the ^bdiviners will be embarrassed.

Indeed, they will all ^ccover their ¹mouths

Because there is ^dno answer from God.

⁸On the other hand ^aI am filled with power—

With the Spirit of the Lord—

And with justice and courage

To ^bmake known to Jacob his rebellious act,

Even to Israel his sin.

⁹Now hear this, ^aheads of the house of Jacob

And rulers of the house of Israel,

Who ^babhor justice

And twist everything that is straight,

¹⁰Who ^abuild Zion with bloodshed

And Jerusalem with violent injustice.

¹¹Her leaders pronounce ^ajudgment for a bribe,

Her ^bpriests instruct for a price

And her prophets divine for money.

Yet they lean on the Lord saying,

“^cIs not the Lord in our midst?

Calamity will not come upon us.”

¹²Therefore, on account of you

^aZion will be plowed as a field,

^bJerusalem will become a heap of ruins,

And the ^cmountain of the ¹temple will become high places of a forest.