Micah 3

1 And I said, Hear, I pray you, O heads of Jacob, and ye princes of the house of Israel; [Is it] not for you to know judgment?

I also said: ‘Listen now, leaders of Jacob, judges of the house of Israel. Is it not your duty to know what is the right?

2 Who hate the good, and love the evil; who pluck off their skin from off them, and their flesh from off their bones;

Haters of that which is good and lovers of evil!

3 Who also eat the flesh of my people, and flay their skin from off them; and they break their bones, and chop them in pieces, as for the pot, and as flesh within the caldron.

‘They devour the flesh of my people, and their hide they strip from off them, and break in pieces and serve up their bones, like meat in a pot or the cooking pan!

4 Then shall they cry unto the LORD, but he will not hear them: he will even hide his face from them at that time, as they have behaved themselves ill in their doings.

‘Then they will cry out to the Lord, but he will not pay attention to them. He will hide his face from them at that time because they have committed such crimes.’

5 Thus saith the LORD concerning the prophets that make my people err, that bite with their teeth, and cry, Peace; and he that putteth not into their mouths, they even prepare war against him.

Therefore the Lord says: ‘To the prophets who lead my people astray, who when they have food between their teeth declare peace, but against one who puts nothing in their mouths, they proclaim an open war!

6 Therefore night [shall be] unto you, that ye shall not have a vision; and it shall be dark unto you, that ye shall not divine; and the sun shall go down over the prophets, and the day shall be dark over them.

‘Night will overtake you so that you have no vision, and darkness so that there will be no divination, and the sun will go down on the prophets, and the day shall be dark over them.

7 Then shall the seers be ashamed, and the diviners confounded: yea, they shall all cover their lips; for [there is] no answer of God.

‘The seers will be ashamed, and the diviners will turn pale, all of them will cover their mouths. For there will be no answer from God.

8 But truly I am full of power by the spirit of the LORD, and of judgment, and of might, to declare unto Jacob his transgression, and to Israel his sin.

‘But I, on the contrary am full of power, and the sense of justice and strength, to make known to Jacob his crime, and to Israel his sin.

9 Hear this, I pray you, ye heads of the house of Jacob, and princes of the house of Israel, that abhor judgment, and pervert all equity.

‘Hear this, leaders of the house of Jacob, judges of the house of Israel, you who spurn justice, and make all that is straight crooked,

10 They build up Zion with blood, and Jerusalem with iniquity.

who build Zion with acts of bloodshed, and Jerusalem with crime.

11 The heads thereof judge for reward, and the priests thereof teach for hire, and the prophets thereof divine for money: yet will they lean upon the LORD, and say, [Is] not the LORD among us? none evil can come upon us.

‘The leaders render judgment for a bribe, and her priests give oracles for a reward, and her prophets divine for silver. Yet they claim to rely on the Lord, “The Lord”, they say, “is in our midst. Evil cannot overtake us.”

12 Therefore shall Zion for your sake be plowed [as] a field, and Jerusalem shall become heaps, and the mountain of the house as the high places of the forest.

‘Therefore for your sakes Zion will be plowed as a field, and Jerusalem will become a heap of ruins, and the temple mount a wooded height.’