The Word Am I

The Prophet Micah

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- Chapter 3 -

1
And I said: Listen, leaders of Jacob and chiefs of the house of Israel. Does it not belong to you to know judgment,
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you who hold hatred for good, and love evil, who violently steal their skins from over them and their flesh from over their bones?
3
They have devoured the flesh of my people, and have stripped their skin from over them, and they have shattered and chopped their bones, as if for the kettle, and like flesh in the middle of the pot.
4
Then they will cry out to the Lord, and he will not heed them. And he will hide his face from them in that time, just as they have acted wickedly with their inventions.
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Thus says the Lord about the prophets who seduce my people: They bite with their teeth and preach peace, and if anyone does not give something to their mouth, they sanctify a battle against him.
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Because of this, night will be yours for vision, and darkness yours for divination, and the sun will meet with death over the prophets, and the day will be darkened over them.(a)
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And those who see visions will be confounded, and the diviners will be confounded. And they will all cover their faces, because there is no response from God.
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Nevertheless, truly I have been filled with the strength of the Spirit of the Lord, with judgment and virtue, in order to announce to Jacob his wickedness and to Israel his sin.
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Hear this, leaders of the house of Jacob and judges of the house of Israel, you who abominate judgment and who pervert all that is right.
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You build up Zion with blood, and Jerusalem with iniquity.
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Her leaders have judged for tributes, and her priests have taught for payment, and her prophets divined for money. And they leaned upon the Lord, saying: “Is not the Lord in our midst? No disaster will overcome us.”
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For this reason, because of you, Zion will be plowed under like a field, and Jerusalem will become like a pile of stones, and the mountain of the temple like the high places of the forests.

Footnotes

(a)3:6 The word ‘occumbet’ means to meet with death or to meet ones death. Translators should not soften or weaken the sharp rebukes often found in Scripture. Of course, this phrase is metaphorical, the sun does not literally die. But it is a sharply phrased correction of false prophets and Pharisee-like spiritual leaders. It also refers to the three hours of darkness when Jesus was on the Cross, and to the three days of darkness at the end of the first part of the tribulation.(Conte)
1
I said, “Please listen, you heads of Jacob, and rulers of the house of Israel: Isn’t it for you to know justice?
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You who hate the good, and love the evil; who tear off their skin, and their flesh from off their bones;
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who 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.
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Then 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.”
5
The 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:
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“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.
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The seers shall be disappointed, and the diviners confounded. Yes, they shall all cover their lips, for there is no answer from God.”(a)
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But 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.
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Please listen to this, you heads of the house of Jacob, and rulers of the house of Israel, who abhor justice, and pervert all equity,
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who build up Zion with blood, and Jerusalem with iniquity.
11
Her 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.”
12
Therefore 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.

Footnotes

(a)3:7 The Hebrew word rendered “God” is “אֱלֹהִ֑ים” (Elohim).
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