Micah 3

Israel’s Leaders Denounced

1 And I said, "Listen, O heads of Jacob and leaders of the house of Israel! [Is it] not for you to know justice?

2 [Those of you who are] haters of good and lovers of evil, [who] tear their skin from them and their flesh from their bones,

3 and who eat the flesh of my people, and strip their skin from them, and break their bones, and chop [them] like meat in the pot, and like flesh in the midst of a cooking pot."

4 Then they will cry to Yahweh, but he will not answer them. He will hide his face from them at that time, when they have made their deeds evil.

5 Thus says Yahweh concerning the prophets who are leading my people astray, who are biting with their teeth and proclaim, "Peace," but whoever puts nothing into their mouths they declare war against.

6 Therefore [it will be as] night to you, without vision, and darkness to you, without divination. And the sun will set on the prophets, and the day will grow dark over them.

7 Then the seers will be disgraced, and those practicing divination will be put to shame. All of them will cover their lips, for there is no reply from God.

8 But I, I am filled [with] power, with the Spirit of Yahweh, and with justice and might, to declare to Jacob his rebellion, and to Israel his sin.

9 Hear this, O rulers of the house of Jacob and leaders of the house of Israel, those detesting justice and perverting all that [is] right,

10 he who builds Zion with blood and Jerusalem with wickedness.

11 Its rulers judge for a bribe; its priests teach for a price; its prophets practice divination for money. But they lean on Yahweh, saying, "[Is] not Yahweh in our midst? Disaster will not come upon us."

12 Therefore on account of you Zion will be plowed [as] a field, and Jerusalem will be a heap of rubble, and {the temple mount} as a high place [in] a 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.

Footnotes

• [a]. Literally "the mountain of the house"

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.