Micah 3

Leaders and Prophets Rebuked

3Then I said,

“Listen, you leaders^s of Jacob,

you rulers of Israel.

Should you not embrace justice,

²you who hate good and love evil;

who tear the skin from my people

and the flesh from their bones;^t

³who eat my people’s flesh,^u

strip off their skin

and break their bones in pieces;^v

who chop^w them up like meat for the pan,

like flesh for the pot?^x”

⁴Then they will cry out to the Lord,

but he will not answer them.^y

At that time he will hide his face^z from them

because of the evil they have done.^a

⁵This is what the Lord says:

“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.

⁶Therefore 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

⁷The seers will be ashamed^g

and the diviners disgraced.^h

They will all coverⁱ their faces^j

because there is no answer from God.^k”

⁸But 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

⁹Hear this, you leaders of Jacob,

you rulers of Israel,

who despise justice

and distort all that is right;^m

¹⁰who buildⁿ Zion with bloodshed,^o

and Jerusalem with wickedness.^p

¹¹Her leaders judge for a bribe,^q

her priests teach for a price,^r

and her prophets tell fortunes for money.^s

Yet they look^t for the Lord’s support and say,

“Is not the Lord among us?

No disaster will come upon us.”^u

¹²Therefore because of you,

Zion will be plowed like a field,

Jerusalem will become a heap of rubble,^v

the temple^w hill a mound overgrown with thickets.^x