Micah 3

The Lord Warns Israel’s Leaders and Prophets

3Then I said,

“Listen, you leaders of Jacob’s people!

Pay attention, you rulers of Israel!

You should know how to judge others fairly.

²But you hate what is good.

And you love what is evil.

You are like someone

who tears the skin off my people.

You pull the meat off their bones.

³You eat my people’s bodies.

You strip their skin off.

You break their bones in pieces.

You chop them up like meat.

You put them in a cooking pot.”

⁴The time will come when Israel

will cry out to the Lord.

But he won’t answer them.

In fact, he’ll turn his face away from them.

They have done what is evil.

⁵The Lord says,

“You prophets are leading my people

down the wrong path.

If they feed you,

you promise them peace.

If they do not,

you prepare to go to war against them.

⁶So night will come on you.

But you will not have any visions.

Darkness will cover you.

But you will not be able

to figure out what is going to happen.

The sun will set on you prophets.

The day will become dark for you.

⁷You who see visions will be put to shame.

You who try to figure out what is going to happen

will be dishonored.

All of you will cover your faces.

I will not answer you.”

⁸The Spirit of the Lord

has filled me with power.

He helps me do what is fair.

He makes me brave.

Now I’m prepared to tell Jacob’s people

what they’ve done wrong.

I’m ready to tell Israel they’ve sinned.

⁹Listen to me, you leaders of Jacob’s people!

Pay attention, you rulers of Israel!

You hate to do what is fair.

You twist everything that is right.

¹⁰You build up Zion by spilling the blood of others.

You build Jerusalem by doing what is evil.

¹¹Your judges take money from people

who want special favors.

Your priests teach only if they get paid for it.

Your prophets won’t tell fortunes

unless they receive money.

But you still claim to depend on the Lord.

You say, “The Lord is with us.

No trouble will come on us.”

¹²So because of what you have done,

Zion will be plowed up like a field.

Jerusalem will be turned into a pile of trash.

The temple hill will be covered with bushes and weeds.