Micah 3:9-12

Rulers and Prophets Denounced

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
    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.
  3. 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!
  4. 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.
  5. 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.
  6. 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.
  7. 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.
  8. 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.
  9. 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.
  10. 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.'
  11. 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.
  12. 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.
  13. 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.