Rulers and Prophets Denounced

Micah 3

1 And I said:
l Hear, you heads of Jacob
and rulers of the house of Israel!
m Is it not for you to know justice? -
2 you n who hate the good and love the evil,
o who tear the skin from off my people 1
and their flesh from off their bones,
 3 p who eat the flesh of my people,
and flay their skin from off them,
and break their bones in pieces
and chop them up like meat in a pot,
like flesh in a cauldron.

4 q Then they will cry to the Lord,
but he will not answer them;
r he will hide his face from them at that time,
because they have made their deeds evil.

5 Thus says the Lord concerning s the prophets
who lead my people astray,
t who cry "Peace"
when they have something to eat,
but declare war against him
who puts nothing into their mouths.
 6 Therefore u it shall be night to you, without vision,
and darkness to you, without divination.
v The sun shall go down on the prophets,
and the day shall be black over them;
 7 w the seers shall be disgraced,
and the diviners put to shame;
x they shall all cover their lips,
for y there is no answer from God.
 8 But as for me, z I am filled with power,
with the Spirit of the Lord,
and with justice and might,
to declare to Jacob a his transgression
and to Israel his sin.

9 b Hear this, you heads of the house of Jacob
and rulers of the house of Israel,
c who detest justice
and make crooked all that is straight,
 10 d who build Zion with blood
and Jerusalem with iniquity.
 11 e Its heads give judgment for a bribe;
f its priests teach for a price;
g its prophets practice divination for money;
h yet they lean on the Lord and i say,
"Is not the Lord in the midst of us?
j No disaster shall come upon us."
 12 Therefore because of you
k Zion shall be plowed as a field;
Jerusalem l shall become a heap of ruins,
and m the mountain of the house n a wooded height.

  1. Cross References
    Micah 1:2
    Hear, you peoples, all of you; pay attention, O earth, and all that is in it, and let the Lord God be a witness against you, the Lord from his holy temple.
  2. Cross References
    Jeremiah 5:5
    I will go to the great and will speak to them, for they know the way of the Lord, the justice of their God." But they all alike had broken the yoke; they had burst the bonds.
    Ezekiel 22:6
    Behold, the princes of Israel in you, every one according to his power, have been bent on shedding blood.
    Ezekiel 22:27
    Her princes in her midst are like wolves tearing the prey, shedding blood, destroying lives to get dishonest gain.
  3. Cross References
    Micah 3:9
    Hear this, you heads of the house of Jacob and rulers of the house of Israel, who detest justice and make crooked all that is straight.
  4. Cross References
    Ezekiel 34:3
    You eat the fat, you clothe yourselves with the wool, you slaughter the fat ones, but you do not feed the sheep.
  5. Cross References
    Psalms 14:4
    Have they no knowledge, all the evildoers who eat up my people as they eat bread and do not call upon the Lord ?
    Isaiah 3:15
    What do you mean by crushing my people, by grinding the face of the poor?" declares the Lord God of hosts.
  6. Cross References
    Proverbs 1:28
    Then they will call upon me, but I will not answer; they will seek me diligently but will not find me.
  7. Cross References
    Isaiah 1:15
    When you spread out your hands, I will hide my eyes from you; even though you make many prayers, I will not listen; your hands are full of blood.
    Deuteronomy 31:17
    Then my anger will be kindled against them in that day, and I will forsake them and hide my face from them, and they will be devoured. And many evils and troubles will come upon them, so that they will say in that day, 'Have not these evils come upon us because our God is not among us?
  8. Cross References
    Jeremiah 23:13
    In the prophets of Samaria I saw an unsavory thing: they prophesied by Baal and led my people Israel astray.
    Jeremiah 23:32
    Behold, I am against those who prophesy lying dreams, declares the Lord, and who tell them and lead my people astray by their lies and their recklessness, when I did not send them or charge them. So they do not profit this people at all, declares the Lord.
    Ezekiel 13:10
    Precisely because they have misled my people, saying, 'Peace,' when there is no peace, and because, when the people build a wall, these prophets smear it with whitewash.
  9. Cross References
    Jeremiah 6:14
    They have healed the wound of my people lightly, saying, 'Peace, peace,' when there is no peace.
  10. Cross References
    Ezekiel 12:24
    For there shall be no more any false vision or flattering divination within the house of Israel.
    Ezekiel 13:23
    Therefore you shall no more see false visions nor practice divination. I will deliver my people out of your hand. And you shall know that I am the Lord.
  11. Cross References
    Amos 8:9
    And on that day," declares the Lord God, "I will make the sun go down at noon and darken the earth in broad daylight.
  12. Cross References
    Zechariah 13:4
    On that day every prophet will be ashamed of his vision when he prophesies. He will not put on a hairy cloak in order to deceive.
    Jeremiah 37:19
    Where are your prophets who prophesied to you, saying, 'The king of Babylon will not come against you and against this land'?
  13. Cross References
    Leviticus 13:45
    "The leprous person who has the disease shall wear torn clothes and let the hair of his head hang loose, and he shall cover his upper lip and cry out, 'Unclean, unclean.'
  14. Cross References
    Amos 8:11
    Behold, the days are coming," declares the Lord God, "when I will send a famine on the land - not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the Lord.
  15. Cross References
    Jeremiah 6:11
    Therefore I am full of the wrath of the Lord ; I am weary of holding it in. "Pour it out upon the children in the street, and upon the gatherings of young men, also; both husband and wife shall be taken, the elderly and the very aged.
  16. Cross References
    Micah 1:5
    All this is for the transgression of Jacob and for the sins of the house of Israel. What is the transgression of Jacob? Is it not Samaria? And what is the high place of Judah? Is it not Jerusalem?
    Isaiah 58:1
    Cry aloud; do not hold back; lift up your voice like a trumpet; declare to my people their transgression, to the house of Jacob their sins.
    Ezekiel 23:36
    The Lord said to me: "Son of man, will you judge Oholah and Oholibah? Declare to them their abominations.
  17. Cross References
    Micah 1:2
    Hear, you peoples, all of you; pay attention, O earth, and all that is in it, and let the Lord God be a witness against you, the Lord from his holy temple.
  18. Cross References
    Micah 3:2
    You who hate the good and love the evil, who tear the skin from off my people and their flesh from off their bones.
  19. Cross References
    Jeremiah 22:13
    Woe to him who builds his house by unrighteousness, and his upper rooms by injustice, who makes his neighbor serve him for nothing and does not give him his wages.
    Ezekiel 22:27
    Her princes in her midst are like wolves tearing the prey, shedding blood, destroying lives to get dishonest gain.
    Habakkuk 2:12
    Woe to him who builds a town with blood and founds a city on iniquity!
  20. Cross References
    Micah 7:3
    Their hands are on what is evil, to do it well; the prince and the judge ask for a bribe, and the great man utters the evil desire of his soul; thus they weave it together.
    Isaiah 1:23
    Your princes are rebels and companions of thieves. Everyone loves a bribe and runs after gifts. They do not bring justice to the fatherless, and the widow's cause does not come to them.
  21. Cross References
    Jeremiah 6:13
    For from the least to the greatest of them, everyone is greedy for unjust gain; and from prophet to priest, everyone deals falsely.
  22. Cross References
    Micah 3:5
    Thus says the Lord concerning the prophets who lead my people astray, who cry "Peace" when they have something to eat, but declare war against him who puts nothing into their mouths.
    Ezekiel 22:25
    The conspiracy of her prophets in her midst is like a roaring lion tearing the prey; they have devoured human lives; they have taken treasure and precious things; they have made many widows in her midst.
  23. Cross References
    Isaiah 48:2
    For they call themselves after the holy city, and stay themselves on the God of Israel; the Lord of hosts is his name.
  24. Cross References
    Jeremiah 7:4
    Do not trust in these deceptive words: 'This is the temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord.
    Amos 5:14
    Seek good, and not evil, that you may live; and so the Lord, the God of hosts, will be with you, as you have said.
  25. Cross References
    Jeremiah 23:17
    They say continually to those who despise the word of the Lord, 'It shall be well with you'; and to everyone who stubbornly follows his own heart, they say, 'No disaster shall come upon you.'
    Amos 9:10
    All the sinners of my people shall die by the sword, who say, 'Disaster shall not overtake or meet us.
  26. Cross References
    Jeremiah 26:18
    "Micah of Moresheth prophesied in the days of Hezekiah king of Judah, and said to all the people of Judah: 'Thus says the Lord of hosts, "'Zion shall be plowed as a field; Jerusalem shall become a heap of ruins, and the mountain of the house a wooded height.'
  27. Cross References
    Micah 1:6
    Therefore I will make Samaria a heap in the open country, a place for planting vineyards, and I will pour down her stones into the valley and uncover her foundations.
  28. Cross References
    Micah 4:2
    And many nations shall come, and say: "Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob, that he may teach us his ways and that we may walk in his paths." For out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.
  29. Cross References
    Luke 13:35
    Behold, your house is forsaken. And I tell you, you will not see me until you say, 'Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!'
English Standard Version (ESV) The Holy Bible, English Standard Version Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers.
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