Micah 3

Unjust Leaders Judged

1 Then I said: "Now listen, leaders of Jacob, you rulers of the house of Israel. Aren't you supposed to know what is just?

2 You hate good and love evil. You tear off the skin of people and [strip] their flesh from their bones.

3 You eat the flesh of my people after you strip their skin from them and break their bones. You chop them up like flesh for the cooking pot, like meat in a caldron."

4 Then they will cry out to the Lord, but He will not answer them. He will hide His face from them at that time^[a] because of the crimes they have committed.

False Prophets Judged

5 This is what the Lord says concerning the prophets who lead my people astray,^[b] who proclaim peace when they have [food] to sink their teeth into but declare war against the one who puts nothing in their mouths.

6 Therefore, it will be night for you- without visions; it will grow dark for you- without divination.^[c] The sun will set on these prophets, and the daylight will turn black over them.

7 Then the seers will be ashamed and the diviners disappointed. They will all cover their mouths^[d][e] because there will be no answer from God.^[f]

8 But as for me, I am filled with power by the Spirit of the Lord, with justice and courage, to proclaim to Jacob his rebellion and to Israel his sin.^[g]

Zion's Destruction

9 Listen to this, leaders of the house of Jacob, you rulers of the house of Israel, who abhor justice and pervert everything that is right,

10 who build Zion with bloodshed and Jerusalem with injustice.

11 Her leaders issue rulings for a bribe,^[h] her priests teach for payment, and her prophets practice divination for money. Yet they lean on the Lord,^[i] saying, "Isn't the Lord among us? No calamity will overtake us."

12 Therefore, because of you, Zion will be plowed like a field, Jerusalem will become ruins, and the hill of the temple mount will be a thicket.^[j]

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]. Dt 31:17
• [b]. Isa 3:12; 9:15-16
• [c]. Dt 18:10; Jos 13:22
• [d]. Lit mustache
• [e]. Lv 13:45; Lm 4:13-15; Ezk 24:17,22
• [f]. Mc 3:4; Isa 29:9-12
• [g]. Isa 58:1
• [h]. Mc 7:3
• [i]. Isa 48:2
• [j]. Jr 26:18

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.