Mic 3:1-3 | NET2full | STEP | I said , “ Listen , you leaders of Jacob , you rulers of the nation of Israel ! You ought to know what is just ,

‏ Micah 3:1-3

God Will Judge Judah’s Sinful Leaders

1 I said,
“Listen, you leaders ^{▼▼tn Heb “heads.”} of Jacob,
you rulers of the nation ^{▼▼tn Heb “house.”} of Israel!
You ought to know what is just, ^{▼▼tn Heb “Should you not know justice?” The rhetorical question expects the answer, “Of course you should!”}
2 yet you ^{▼▼tn Heb “the ones who.”} hate what is good ^{▼▼tn Or “good.”}
and love what is evil. ^{▼▼tn Or “evil.”}
You flay my people’s skin ^{▼▼tn 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.}
and rip the flesh from their bones. ^{▼▼tn 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.}
3 You ^{▼▼tn Heb “who.”} devour my people’s flesh,
strip off their skin,
and crush their bones.
You chop them up like flesh in a pot ^{▼▼tc The MT reads “and they chop up as in a pot.” The translation assumes an emendation of כַּאֲשֶׁר (ka’asher, “as”) to כִּשְׁאֵר (kishʾer, “like flesh”).} —
like meat in a kettle.