Micah
Chapter 3

1

And I said: Hear, you leaders of Jacob, rulers of the house of Israel! Is it not your duty to know what is right,

2

you who hate what is good, and love evil? You who tear their skin from them, and their flesh from their bones!

3

They eat the flesh of my people, and flay their skin from them, and break their bones. They chop them in pieces like flesh in a kettle, and like meat in a caldron.

4

When they cry to the LORD, he shall not answer them; Rather shall he hide his face from them at that time, because of the evil they have done.

5

¹ Thus says the LORD regarding the prophets who lead my people astray; Who, when their teeth have something to bite, announce peace, But when one fails to put something in their mouth, proclaim war against him.

6

Therefore you shall have night, not vision, darkness, not divination; The sun shall go down upon the prophets, and the day shall be dark for them.

7

Then shall the seers be put to shame, and the diviners confounded; They shall cover their lips, all of them, because there is no answer from God.

8

But as for me, I am filled with power, with the spirit of the LORD, with authority and with might; To declare to Jacob his crimes and to Israel his sins.

9

Hear this, you leaders of the house of Jacob, you rulers of the house of Israel! You who abhor what is just, and pervert all that is right;

10

Who build up Zion with bloodshed, and Jerusalem with wickedness!

11

Her leaders render judgment for a bribe, her priests give decisions for a salary, her prophets divine for money, While they rely on the LORD, saying, "Is not the LORD in the midst of us? No evil can come upon us!"

12

Therefore, because of you, Zion shall be plowed like a field, and Jerusalem reduced to rubble, And the mount of the temple to a forest ridge.

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Footnotes

¹ [5-8] Almost all the prophetic books contain oracles against the false prophets. Here Micah accuses them of prophesying for venal motives and determining the prophecy by the price that is paid them; he contrasts his own disinterested preaching of the word of God.

New American Bible Copyright © 1991, 1986, 1970 Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Inc., Washington, DC. All rights reserved. Neither this work nor any part of it may be reproduced, distributed, performed or displayed in any medium, including electronic or digital, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

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