Micah 3

1 Then said I, Hear, I pray you, ye heads of Jacob, and ye judges of the house of Israel, —Is it not yours to know justice?

And he shall say, Hear now these words, you heads of the house of Jacob, and you remnant of the house of Israel; is it not for you to know judgement?

2 Ye haters of right, and lovers of wrong, —tearing away their skin from off them, and their flesh from off their bones;

[who] hate good, and seek evil; [who] tear their skins off them, and their flesh off their bones:

3 Who indeed have eaten the flesh of my people, and, their skin from off them, have stript, and, their bones, have they broken in pieces, —and will spread them out, as flesh with a fork, and as flesh, in the midst of a pot.

even as they devoured the flesh of my people, and stripped their skins off them, and broke their bones, and divided [them] as flesh for the cauldron, and as meat for the pot,

4 Then, shall they make outcry unto Yahweh, but he will not answer them, —that he may hide his face from them, at that time, even as they have made wicked their doings.

thus they shall cry to the Lord, but he shall not listen to them; and he shall turn away his face from them at that time, because they have done wickedly in their practices against themselves.

5 Thus, saith Yahweh, concerning the prophets who are leading astray my people, —who bite with their teeth, and then cry—Prosper! and whoso holdeth not to their mouth, they hallow against him a war!

Thus says the Lord concerning the prophets that lead my people astray, that bit with their teeth, and proclaim peace to them; and [when] nothing was put into their mouth, they raised up war against them:

6 Therefore, shall it be night to you, for lack of vision, and darkness to you, for lack of divination, —and the sun, shall go in, over the prophets, and the day, shall be overcast because of them;

therefore there shall be night to you instead of a vision, and there shall be to you darkness instead of prophecy; and the sun shall go down upon the prophets, and the day shall be dark upon them.

7 And the men of vision, shall turn pale, and the diviners, shall blush, and shall put a covering upon their lip, all of them, —because there is no answer of God.

And the seers of night-visions shall be ashamed, and the prophets shall be laughed to scorn: and all the people shall speak against them, because there shall be none to listen to them.

8 But, in very deed, I, am full of vigour, with the spirit of Yahweh, and of justice and of valour, —to declare to Jacob, his transgression, and to Israel, his sin.

Surely I will strengthen myself with the Spirit of the Lord, and of judgement, and of power, to declare to Jacob his transgressions, and to Israel his sins.

9 Hear this, I pray you, ye heads of the house of Jacob, and ye judges of the house of Israel, —who abhor justice, and, all right, do pervert:

Hear now these words, you chiefs of the house of Jacob, and the remnant of the house of Israel, who hate judgement, and pervert all righteousness;

10 Building Zion, with deeds of blood, —and Jerusalem, with perversity.

who build up Sion with blood, and Jerusalem with iniquity.

11 Her heads, for a bribe, pronounce sentence, and, her priests, for a price, give direction, and, her prophets, for silver, divine, —yet, on Yahweh, they lean, saying, Is not, Yahweh, in our midst? there shall not come upon us, calamity.

The heads thereof have judged for gifts, and the priests thereof have answered for hire, and her prophets have divined for silver: and [yet] they have rested on the Lord, saying, Is not the Lord amongst us? no evil shall come upon us.

12 Wherefore, for your sake, Zion, as a field, shall be ploughed, and, Jerusalem, unto heaps of ruins, shall be turned, —and, the mountain of the house, shall [be] like mounds in a jungle.

Therefore on your account Sion shall be ploughed as a field, and Jerusalem shall be as a storehouse of fruits, and the mountain of the house as a grove of the forest.