Micah 3

Unjust Leaders Judged

¹Then I said, “Now listen, leaders of Jacob, you rulers of the house of Israel. Aren’t you supposed to know what is just?²

³You hate good and love evil. You tear off people’s skin and strip their flesh from their bones.⁴

⁵You eat the flesh of my people after you strip their skin from them and break their bones. You chop them up like flesh for the cooking pot, like meat in a cauldron.”⁶

⁷Then they will cry out to the Lord, but he will not answer them. He will hide his face from them at that time because of the crimes they have committed.⁸

False Prophets Judged

⁹This is what the Lord says concerning the prophets who lead my people astray, who proclaim peace when they have food to sink their teeth into but declare war against the one who puts nothing in their mouths.¹⁰

¹¹Therefore, it will be night for you — without visions; it will grow dark for you — without divination. The sun will set on these prophets, and the daylight will turn black over them.¹²

¹³Then the seers will be ashamed and the diviners disappointed. They will all cover their mouths because there will be no answer from God.¹⁴

¹⁵As for me, however, I am filled with power by the Spirit of the Lord, with justice and courage, to proclaim to Jacob his rebellion and to Israel his sin.¹⁶

Zion’s Destruction

¹⁷Listen to this, leaders of the house of Jacob, you rulers of the house of Israel, who abhor justice and pervert everything that is right,¹⁸

¹⁹who build Zion with bloodshed and Jerusalem with injustice.²⁰

²¹Her leaders issue rulings for a bribe, her priests teach for payment, and her prophets practice divination for silver. Yet they lean on the Lord, saying, “Isn’t the Lord among us? No disaster will overtake us.”²²

²³Therefore, because of you, Zion will be plowed like a field, Jerusalem will become ruins, and the temple’s mountain will be a high thicket.²⁴