Micah 3

Micah warns Israel's wicked leaders

1 Then I said,

‘Listen to me, leaders of Jacob's people!

You are the rulers of Israel.

You ought to know what is right

and what is wrong.

2 But you hate what is good,

and you love what is evil.

You are cruel to my people,

as if you are tearing the skin off their bones.

3 You are like butchers who think that my people are meat.

You want to remove their skin and break their bones.

You cut them into pieces like meat,

so that you can cook it in a pot.’

4 One day, the wicked people will call to the Lord for help,

but he will not answer them.

He will not listen to their prayers,

because of the evil things that they have done.

5 The Lord says, ‘I say this about the false prophets who are deceiving my people:

If someone gives them food,

they promise that person will have peace.

But if someone does not feed them,

they say that war will bring trouble to that person.

6 Because of that, it will become like night for you prophets.

You will not receive any more visions.

You will be completely in the dark.

You will no longer see signs about future times.

The sun will no longer shine on you.

Even in the daytime, you will be in the dark.

7 Then the prophets and diviners will all be ashamed.

They will shut their mouths

because they have no message from me.’

8 But as for me, the Lord's Spirit fills me with power.

He helps me to know what is right.

So I am brave enough to warn Israel's people about their sins.

Jacob's descendants have turned against the Lord.

9 So listen to this, you leaders of Jacob's people.

You are the rulers of Israel.

But you hate justice.

You take what is right and you make it seem wrong.

10 You use murder and violence

to build Jerusalem, the city of Zion.

11 Jerusalem's leaders accept bribes

when they judge people in court.

Jerusalem's priests only teach people

who give them money.

The prophets only speak messages

to people who pay them.

But they all say that they trust the Lord.

They say, ‘The Lord is with us.

Nothing bad will happen to us.’

12 Because of how you live, this is what will happen.

Zion will become like a field that a farmer has ploughed.

Jerusalem will become a heap of stones.

Trees will cover the hill where the temple is now.