Micah 3

1 And I said, Hear, I pray you, O princes of Jacob, and ye heads of the house of Israel. Did it not pertain to you to know that which is right?

2 Who hate the good, and love the evil, who steal their skin from off them, and their flesh from off their bones;

3 and eat the flesh of my people, and flay their skin from off them; and they break their bones and chop them in pieces as for the pot and as flesh within the caldron.

4 Then they shall cry unto the LORD, but he will not respond to them: he will even hide his face from them at that time because of their evil doings.

5 Thus hath the LORD said concerning the prophets that make my people err, that bite with their teeth, and cry, Peace; and he that does not give them something to eat, they even prepare war against him.

6 Therefore the vision shall be made night unto you, and darkness unto those that divine, and the sun shall go down over the prophets, and the day shall be dark over them.

7 Then the prophets shall be ashamed, and the diviners confounded; and they shall all cover their lips because they shall have no answer from God.

8 But truly I am full of power by the Spirit of the LORD, and of judgment, and of might, to declare unto Jacob his rebellion, and to Israel his sin.

9 Now hear this, ye heads of the house of Jacob and captains of the house of Israel, that abhor judgment and pervert all equity;

10 that build up Zion with blood and Jerusalem with iniquity;

11 the heads thereof judge for bribes, and the priests thereof teach for hire, and the prophets thereof divine for money: yet they come near unto the LORD, and say, Is not the LORD among us? No evil can come upon us.

12 Therefore for your sake Zion shall be plowed as a field, and Jerusalem shall become heaps of ruins and the mountain of the house as the high places of the forest.

Micah 3 Commentary

Chapter 3

The cruelty of the princes, and the falsehood of the prophets. (1-8) Their false security. (9-12)

Verses 1-8 Men cannot expect to do ill, and fare well; but to find that done to them which they did to others. How seldom do wholesome truths reach the ears of those in high stations or in authority! Those who deceive others are preparing confusion for their own faces. The prophet had ardent love to God and to the souls of men; deep concern for his glory and their salvation, and zeal against sin. The difficulties he met with did not drive him from his work. He had this strength; not from and of himself, but he was full of power by the Spirit of the Lord. Those who act honestly, may act boldly. And those who come to hear the word of God, must be willing to be told of their faults, must take it kindly, and be thankful.

Verses 9-12 Zion's walls owe no thanks to those that build them up with blood and iniquity. The sin of man works not the righteousness of God. Even when men do that which in itself is good, but do it for filthy lucre, it becomes abomination both to God and man. Faith rests in the Lord as the soul's foundation: presumption only leans upon the Lord as a prop, and would use him to serve a turn. If men's having the Lord among them will not keep them from doing evil, it never can secure them from suffering evil for so doing. See the doom of wicked Jacob; Therefore shall Zion for your sake be ploughed as a field. This was exactly fulfilled at the destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans, and is so at this day. If sacred places are polluted by sin, they will be wasted and ruined by the judgments of God.

Chapter Summary

INTRODUCTION TO MICAH 3

In this chapter the prophet reproves and threatens both princes and prophets, first separately, and then conjunctly; first the heads and princes of the people, civil magistrates, for their ignorance of justice, and hatred of good, and love of evil, and for their oppression and cruelty; and they are threatened with distress when they should cry unto the Lord, and should not be heard by him, Mic 3:1-4; next the prophets are taken to task, for their voraciousness, avarice, and false prophesying; and are threatened with darkness, with want of vision, and of an answer from the Lord, and with shame and confusion, Mic 3:5-7; and the prophet being full of the Spirit and power of God, to declare the sins and transgressions of Jacob and Israel, Mic 3:8, very freely declaims against princes, priests, and prophets, all together; who, though guilty of very notorious crimes, yet were in great security, and promised themselves impunity, Mic 3:9-11; wherefore the city and temple of Jerusalem are threatened with an utter desolation, Mic 3:12.