Micah 3

Leaders and Prophets Rebuked

1 Then I said, “Listen, leaders of Jacob, rulers of the house of Israel. Should you not know what justice is,

2 You hate good and love evil. You tear the skin off My people and the flesh off their bones.

3 You eat the flesh of My people, strip their skin, break their bones, and chop them up like meat for the pot, like flesh in a kettle.”

False Prophets Condemned

4 Then 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 evil they have done.

5 This is what the LORD says about the prophets who lead My people astray: when they have food to eat they shout, “Peace,” but if someone does not feed them they declare war against him.

6 So night will come over you without visions, and darkness without divination. The sun will set on the prophets, and the day will go dark for them.

7 The seers will be ashamed and the diviners embarrassed. They will all cover their mouths because there is no answer from God.

Micah’s Authority and Zion’s Judgment

8 But as for me, I am filled with power, with the Spirit of the LORD, and with justice and strength, to declare to Jacob his rebellion and to Israel his sin.

9 Hear this, leaders of the house of Jacob, rulers of the house of Israel, who hate justice and twist everything that is straight,

10 who build Zion with bloodshed and Jerusalem with injustice.

11 Her leaders judge for bribes, her priests teach for a price, and her prophets tell fortunes for money. Yet they lean on the LORD and say, “Is not the LORD among us, No disaster will come on us.”

12 Because of you, Zion will be plowed like a field, Jerusalem will become a pile of rubble, and the mountain of the temple will become a wooded hill.