Micah 3:1–4:13
3 Then I said,
“Listen, you leaderss of Jacob,
you rulers of Israel.
Should you not embrace justice,
2 you who hate good and love evil;
who tear the skin from my people
and the flesh from their bones;t
3 who eat my people’s flesh,u
strip off their skin
and break their bones in pieces;v
who chopw them up like meat for the pan,
like flesh for the pot?x”
4 Then they will cry out to the Lord,
but he will not answer them.y
At that time he will hide his facez from them
because of the evil they have done.a
“As for the prophets
who lead my people astray,b
they proclaim ‘peace’c
if they have something to eat,
but prepare to wage war against anyone
who refuses to feed them.
6 Therefore night will come over you, without visions,
and darkness, without divination.d
The sun will set for the prophets,e
and the day will go dark for them.f
7 The seers will be ashamedg
and the diviners disgraced.h
They will all coveri their facesj
because there is no answer from God.k”
8 But as for me, I am filled with power,
with the Spirit of the Lord,
and with justice and might,
to declare to Jacob his transgression,
to Israel his sin.l
9 Hear this, you leaders of Jacob,
you rulers of Israel,
who despise justice
and distort all that is right;m
10 who buildn Zion with bloodshed,o
and Jerusalem with wickedness.p
11 Her leaders judge for a bribe,q
her priests teach for a price,r
and her prophets tell fortunes for money.s
Yet they lookt for the Lord’s support and say,
“Is not the Lord among us?
No disaster will come upon us.”u
Zion will be plowed like a field,
Jerusalem will become a heap of rubble,v
the templew hill a mound overgrown with thickets.x
4 In the last days
the mountainy of the Lord’s temple will be established
as the highest of the mountains;
it will be exalted above the hills,z
and peoples will stream to it.a
2 Many nations will come and say,
“Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord,b
to the temple of the God of Jacob.c
so that we may walk in his paths.”
The lawf will go out from Zion,
the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.
3 He will judge between many peoples
and will settle disputes for strong nations far and wide.g
They will beat their swords into plowshares
and their spears into pruning hooks.h
Nation will not take up sword against nation,
nor will they train for wari anymore.j
4 Everyone will sit under their own vine
and under their own fig tree,k
and no one will make them afraid,l
for the Lord Almighty has spoken.m
in the name of their gods,n
but we will walk in the name of the Lord
our God for ever and ever.o
6 “In that day,” declares the Lord,
“I will gather the lame;p
I will assemble the exilesq
and those I have brought to grief.r
7 I will make the lame my remnant,s
those driven away a strong nation.t
The Lord will rule over them in Mount Zionu
from that day and forever.v
8 As for you, watchtower of the flock,
strongholda of Daughter Zion,
the former dominion will be restoredw to you;
kingship will come to Daughter Jerusalem.x”
Has your rulerc perished,
that pain seizes you like that of a woman in labor?z
10 Writhe in agony, Daughter Zion,
like a woman in labor,
for now you must leave the city
to camp in the open field.
You will go to Babylon;a
there you will be rescued.
There the Lord will redeemb you
out of the hand of your enemies.
are gathered against you.
They say, “Let her be defiled,
let our eyes gloatc over Zion!”
the thoughts of the Lord;
they do not understand his plan,d
that he has gathered them like sheaves to the threshing floor.
13 “Rise and thresh,e Daughter Zion,
for I will give you horns of iron;
I will give you hooves of bronze,
and you will break to pieces many nations.”f
You will devote their ill-gotten gains to the Lord,g
their wealth to the Lord of all the earth.