Mic 3 | NASB2020 | STEP | And I said , “ Hear now , you leaders of Jacob And rulers of the house of Israel : Is it not for you to know justice ?

Micah 3

Rulers Denounced

1 And I said,

“ ^aHear now, you ^{▼▼Lit heads}leaders of Jacob
And rulers of the house of Israel:
Is it not for you to ^cknow justice?
2 “You who hate good and love evil,
Who ^dtear off their skin from them
And their flesh from their bones,
3 Who ^eeat the flesh of my people,
Strip off their skin from them,
Smash their bones,
And ^fchop them up as for the pot,
And as meat in a cauldron!”
4 Then they will ^gcry out to the Lord,
But He will not answer them.
Instead, He will ^hhide His face from them at that time
Because they have ⁱpracticed evil deeds.
5 This is what the Lord says concerning the prophets who ^jlead my people astray:

When they have something to bite with their teeth,
They ^kcry out, “Peace!”
But against him who puts nothing in their mouths
They declare holy war.
6 Therefore it will be ^lnight for you --without vision,
And darkness for you --without divination.
The ^msun will go down on the prophets,
And the day will become dark over them.
7 The seers will be ⁿput to shame,
And the ^odiviners will be ashamed.
Indeed, they will all ^pcover their ^{▼▼Lit mustache}lips
Because there is ^rno answer from God.
8 On the other hand, ^sI am filled with power--
With the Spirit of the Lord--
And with justice and courage
To ^tmake known to Jacob his rebellious act,
And to Israel his sin.
9 Now hear this, you ^uheads of the house of Jacob
And rulers of the house of Israel,
Who ^vdespise justice
And twist everything that is straight,
10 Who ^wbuild Zion with bloodshed,
And Jerusalem with malice.
11 Her leaders pronounce ^xjudgment for a bribe,
Her ^ypriests teach for pay,
And her prophets divine for money.
Yet they lean on the Lord, saying,
“ ^zIs the Lord not in our midst?
Catastrophe will not come upon us.”
12 Therefore on account of you,
^aaZion will be plowed like a field,
^abJerusalem will become a heap of ruins,
And the ^acmountain of the ^{▼▼Lit house}temple will become high places of a forest.