Micah 3

Wicked Rulers and Prophets

1 And I said:

"Hear now, O heads of Jacob,

And you *Ezek. 22:27rulers of the house of Israel:

*Ps. 82:1–5; Jer. 5:4, 5Isit not for you to know justice?

2 You who hate good and love evil;

Who strip the skin from My people,

And the flesh from their bones;

3 Who also *Ps. 14:4; 27:2; Zeph. 3:3eat the flesh of My people,

Flay their skin from them,

Break their bones,

And chop them in pieces

Like meat for the pot,

*Ezek. 11:3, 6, 7Like flesh in the caldron."

4 Then *Ps. 18:41; Prov. 1:28; Is. 1:15; Jer. 11:11they will cry to the Lord,

But He will not hear them;

He will even hide His face from them at that time,

Because they have been evil in their deeds.

5 Thus says the Lord*Is. 56:10, 11; Jer. 6:13; Ezek. 13:10, 19concerning the prophets

Who make my people stray;

Who chant "Peace"

While they *Matt. 7:15chew with their teeth,

But who prepare war against him

*Ezek. 13:18Who puts nothing into their mouths:

6 "Therefore*Is. 8:20–22; 29:10–12 you shall have night without vision,

And you shall have darkness without divination;

The sun shall go down on the prophets,

And the day shall be dark for *Is. 29:10; (Jer. 23:33–40); Ezek. 13:23them.

7 So the seers shall be ashamed,

And the diviners abashed;

Indeed they shall all cover their lips;

*Amos 8:11For thereis no answer from God."

8 But truly I am full of power by the Spirit of the Lord,

And of justice and might,

*Is. 58:1To declare to Jacob his transgression

And to Israel his sin.

9 Now hear this,

You heads of the house of Jacob

And rulers of the house of Israel,

Who abhor justice

And pervert all equity,

10 *Jer. 22:13, 17Who build up Zion with *Ezek. 22:27; Hab. 2:12bloodshed

And Jerusalem with iniquity:

11 *Is. 1:23; Mic. 7:3Her heads judge for a bribe,

*Jer. 6:13Her priests teach for pay,

And her prophets divine for money.

*Is. 48:2; Jer. 7:4Yet they lean on the Lord, and say,

"Is not the Lord among us?

No harm can come upon us."

12 Therefore because of you

Zion shall be *Jer. 26:18plowed like a field,

*Ps. 79:1; Jer. 9:11Jerusalem shall become heaps of ruins,

And *Mic. 4:1, 2the mountain of the temple

Like the bare hills of the forest.