Micah 3

Leaders and Prophets Rebuked

Then I said,

“Listen, you leaders^a of Jacob,

you rulers of the house of Israel.

Should you not know justice,

you who hate good and love evil;

who tear the skin from my people

and the flesh from their bones;^b

who eat my people’s flesh,^c

strip off their skin

and break their bones in pieces;^d

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

like flesh for the pot?^f”

Then they will cry out to the Lord,

but he will not answer them.^g

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

because of the evil they have done.ⁱ

This is what the Lord says:

“As for the prophets

who lead my people astray,^j

if you feed them,

they proclaim ‘peace’;^k

if you do not,

they prepare to wage war against you.

Therefore night will come over you, without visions,

and darkness, without divination.^l

The sun will set for the prophets,^m

and the day will go dark for them.ⁿ

The seers will be ashamed^o

and the diviners disgraced.^p

They will all cover^q their faces^r

because there is no answer from God.^s”

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.^t

Hear this, you leaders of the house of Jacob,

you rulers of the house of Israel,

who despise justice

and distort all that is right;^u

who build^v Zion with bloodshed,^w

and Jerusalem with wickedness.^x

Her leaders judge for a bribe,^y

her priests teach for a price,^z

and her prophets tell fortunes for money.^a

Yet they lean^b upon the Lord and say,

“Is not the Lord among us?

No disaster will come upon us.”^c

Therefore because of you,

Zion will be plowed like a field,

Jerusalem will become a heap of rubble,^d

the temple^e hill a mound overgrown with thickets.^f