Micah 3

Berean Standard Bible

Chapter summary

The prophet Micah addresses the leaders and rulers of Jacob and Israel, condemning them for hating good, loving evil, and mistreating the people with extreme violence. Because of these wicked deeds, the LORD declares that He will not answer when they cry out to Him. Micah also rebukes the false prophets who lead the people astray for material gain, announcing that they will face divine darkness, shame, and silence. Empowered by the Spirit of the LORD, Micah denounces the corrupt leaders, priests, and prophets of Jerusalem who build the city with bloodshed and exact payments for their services while falsely claiming the LORD is among them. Consequently, the chapter concludes with the pronouncement that Zion will be plowed like a field, Jerusalem reduced to rubble, and the temple mount transformed into a wooded ridge.

Summary automatically generated from the Bible text.

Words of Jesus in red

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 people after 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 them because of the evil they have done. ⁵This is what the LORD says: “As for the prophets who lead My people astray, who proclaim peace while they chew with their teeth, but declare war against one who 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 ashamed and the diviners will be disgraced. They will all cover their mouths because there is no answer from God.” ⁸As for me, however, I am filled with power by 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 Jacob and rulers of the house of Israel, who despise justice and pervert all that is right, ¹⁰who build Zion with bloodshed and 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.

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Louis Segond 1910 and Berean Standard Bible: public domain. Cross references: open-cross-ref, Creative Commons BY 4.0.