Micah

Rulers and Prophets Condemned

1Then I said: “Hear now, O leaders of Jacob,you rulers of the house of Israel. Should you not know justice?

2You hate good and love evil.You tear the skin from my people and strip the flesh from their bones.

3You eat the flesh of my peopleafter stripping off their skin and breaking their bones.You chop them up like flesh for the cooking pot,like meat in a cauldron.”

4Then they will cry out to the LORD,but He will not answer them.At that time He will hide His face from thembecause of the evil they have done.

5This is what the LORD says: “As for the prophetswho lead My people astray,who proclaim peacewhile they chew with their teeth,but declare war against onewho puts nothing in their mouths:

6Therefore night will come over you without visions,and darkness without divination.The sun will set on these prophets,and the daylight will turn black over them.

7Then the seers will be ashamedand the diviners will be disgraced.They will all cover their mouthsbecause there is no answer from God.”

8As for me, however, I am filled with powerby the Spirit of the LORD,with justice and courage,to declare to Jacob his transgression and to Israel his sin.

9Now hear this, O leaders of the house of Jacoband rulers of the house of Israel,who despise justiceand pervert all that is right,

10who build Zion with bloodshedand Jerusalem with iniquity.

11Her leaders judge for a bribe,her priests teach for a price, and her prophets practice divination for money.Yet they lean upon the LORD, saying,“Is not the LORD among us? No disaster can come upon us.”

12Therefore, because of you,Zion will be plowed like a field,Jerusalem will become a heap of rubble,and the temple mount a wooded ridge.

1I said,“Please listen, you heads of Jacob,and rulers of the house of Israel: Isn’t it for you to know justice?

2You who hate the good,and love the evil; who tear off their skin, and their flesh from off their bones;

3who also eat the flesh of my people, and peel their skin from off them, and break their bones, and chop them in pieces, as for the pot, and as meat within the cauldron.

4Then they will cry to the LORD,but he will not answer them.Yes, he will hide his face from them at that time,because they made their deeds evil.”

5The LORD says concerning the prophets who lead my people astray—for those who feed their teeth, they proclaim, “Peace!” and whoever doesn’t provide for their mouths, they prepare war against him:

6“Therefore night is over you, with no vision,and it is dark to you, that you may not divine; and the sun will go down on the prophets, and the day will be black over them.

7The seers shall be disappointed,and the diviners confounded.Yes, they shall all cover their lips,for there is no answer from God.”

8But as for me, I am full of power by the LORD’s Spirit,and of judgment, and of might, to declare to Jacob his disobedience, and to Israel his sin.

9Please listen to this, you heads of the house of Jacob,and rulers of the house of Israel, who abhor justice, and pervert all equity,

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

11Her leaders judge for bribes,and her priests teach for a price, and her prophets of it tell fortunes for money;yet they lean on the LORD, and say,“Isn’t the LORD among us? No disaster will come on us.”

12Therefore Zion for your sake will be plowed like a field,and Jerusalem will become heaps of rubble, and the mountain of the temple like the high places of a forest.