Micah 3 (NET)

God Will Judge Judah’s Sinful Leaders

1 I said,

“Listen, you leaders1 of Jacob,

you rulers of the nation2 of Israel!

You ought to know what is just,3

2 yet you4 hate what is good,5

and love what is evil.6

You flay my people’s skin7

and rip the flesh from their bones.8

3 You9 devour my people’s flesh,

strip off their skin,

and crush their bones.

You chop them up like flesh in a pot10 –

like meat in a kettle.

4 Someday these sinners will cry to the Lord for help,11

but he will not answer them.

He will hide his face from them at that time,

because they have done such wicked deeds.”

5 This is what the Lord says: “The prophets who mislead my people

are as good as dead.12

If someone gives them enough to eat,

they offer an oracle of peace.13

But if someone does not give them food,

they are ready to declare war on him.14

6 Therefore night will fall, and you will receive no visions;15

it will grow dark, and you will no longer be able to read the omens.16

The sun will set on these prophets,

and the daylight will turn to darkness over their heads.17

7 The prophets18 will be ashamed;

the omen readers will be humiliated.

All of them will cover their mouths,19

for they will receive no divine oracles.”20

8 But I21 am full of the courage that the Lord’s Spirit gives,

and have a strong commitment to justice.22

This enables me to confront Jacob with its rebellion,

and Israel with its sin.23

9 Listen to this, you leaders of the family24 of Jacob,

you rulers of the nation25 of Israel!

You26 hate justice

and pervert all that is right.

10 You27 build Zion through bloody crimes,28

Jerusalem29 through unjust violence.

11 Her30 leaders take bribes when they decide legal cases,31

her priests proclaim rulings for profit,

and her prophets read omens for pay.

Yet they claim to trust32 the Lord and say,

“The Lord is among us.33

Disaster will not overtake34 us!”

12 Therefore, because of you,35 Zion will be plowed up like36 a field,

Jerusalem will become a heap of ruins,

and the Temple Mount37 will become a hill overgrown with brush!38

1tn Heb “heads.” 2tn Heb “house.” 3tn Heb “Should you not know justice?” The rhetorical question expects the answer, “Of course you should!” 4tn Heb “the ones who.” 5tn Or “good.” 6tn Or “evil.” 7tn Heb “their skin from upon them.” The referent of the pronoun (“my people,” referring to Jacob and/or the house of Israel, with the Lord as the speaker) has been specified in the translation for clarity. 8tn Heb “and their flesh from their bones.”sn Micah compares the social injustice perpetrated by the house of Jacob/Israel to cannibalism, because it threatens the very lives of the oppressed. 9tn Heb “who.” 10tc The MT reads “and they chop up as in a pot.” The translation assumes an emendation of כַּאֲשֶׁר (ka’asher, “as”) to כִּשְׁאֵר (kish’er, “like flesh”). 11tn Heb “then they will cry out to the Lord.” The words “Someday these sinners” have been supplied in the translation for clarification. 12tn Heb “concerning the prophets, those who mislead my people.” The first person pronominal suffix is awkward in a quotation formula that introduces the words of the Lord. For this reason some prefer to begin the quotation after “the Lord says” (cf. NIV), but this leaves “concerning the prophets” hanging very awkwardly at the beginning of the quotation. It is preferable to add הוֹי (hoy, “woe, ah”) at the beginning of the quotation, right after the graphically similar יְהוָה (yÿhvah; see D. R. Hillers, Micah [Hermeneia], 44). The phrase הוֹי עַל (hoy ’al, “woe upon”) occurs in Jer 50:27 and Ezek 13:3 (with “the prophets” following the preposition in the latter instance). 13tn Heb “those who bite with their teeth and cry out, ‘peace.’” The phrase “bite with the teeth” is taken here as idiomatic for eating. Apparently these prophets were driven by mercenary motives. If they were paid well, they gave positive oracles to their clients, but if someone could not afford to pay them, they were hostile and delivered oracles of doom. 14tn Heb “but [as for the one] who does not place [food] in their mouths, they prepare for war against him.” 15tn Heb “it will be night for you without a vision.”sn The coming of night (and darkness in the following line) symbolizes the cessation of revelation. 16tn Heb “it will be dark for you without divination.”sn The reading of omens (Heb “divination”) was forbidden in the law (Deut 18:10), so this probably reflects the prophets’ view of how they received divine revelation. 17tn Heb “and the day will be dark over them.” 18tn Or “seers.” 19tn Or “the mustache,” or perhaps “the beard.” Cf. KJV, NAB, NRSV “cover their lips.” 20tn Heb “for there will be no answer from God.” 21sn The prophet Micah speaks here and contrasts himself with the mercenaries just denounced by the Lord in the preceding verses. 22tn Heb “am full of power, the Spirit of the Lord, and justice and strength.” The appositional phrase “the Spirit of the Lord” explains the source of the prophet’s power. The phrase “justice and strength” is understood here as a hendiadys, referring to the prophet’s strong sense of justice. 23tn Heb “to declare to Jacob his rebellion and to Israel his sin.” The words “this enables me” are supplied in the translation for clarification. 24tn Heb “house.” 25tn Heb “house.” 26tn Heb “who.” A new sentence was begun here in the translation for stylistic reasons (also at the beginning of v. 10). 27tn Heb “who.” 28tn Heb “bloodshed” (so NAB, NASB, NIV); NLT “murder.” 29map For location see Map5-B1; Map6-F3; Map7-E2; Map8-F2; Map10-B3; JP1-F4; JP2-F4; JP3-F4; JP4-F4. 30sn The pronoun Her refers to Jerusalem (note the previous line). 31tn Heb “judge for a bribe.” 32tn Heb “they lean upon” (so KJV, NIV, NRSV); NAB “rely on.” 33tn Heb “Is not the Lord in our midst?” The rhetorical question expects the answer, “Of course he is!” 34tn Or “come upon” (so many English versions); NCV “happen to us”; CEV “come to us.” 35tn The plural pronoun refers to the leaders, priests, and prophets mentioned in the preceding verse. 36tn Or “into” (an adverbial accusative of result). 37tn Heb “the mountain of the house” (so KJV, ASV, NRSV). 38tn Heb “a high place of overgrowth.”