Micah 6:12

12 Whose rich ones have been full of violence, And its inhabitants have spoken falsehood, And their tongue [is] deceitful in their mouth.

Micah 6:12 Meaning and Commentary

Micah 6:12

For the rich men thereof are full of violence
That is, the rich men of the city, to whom the voice of the Lord cried, ( Micah 6:9 ) . Jerusalem or Samaria, or any or all the cities of Israel and Judah; the rich men of these cities, who had enough of the world, and were under no temptation to do an ill thing, to get money; and yet their hands and their houses, and their treasuries, as the Targum, were full of goods gotten by violent measures, by the oppression of the poor and needy: and the inhabitants thereof have spoken lies;
the rest of the inhabitants, who were not so rich as others, and who had it not in the power of their hands to oppress as others had; yet used deceitful and fraudulent methods to cheat their neighbours in buying and selling; and, to do this, did not stick to tell downright deliberate lies: and their tongue [is] deceitful in their mouth;
say one thing, and mean another; deceive their neighbours with their tongues in trade and commerce; averting things for truth they know to be false.

Micah 6:12 In-Context

10 Are there yet [in] the house of the wicked Treasures of wickedness, And the abhorred scanty ephah?
11 Do I reckon [it] pure with balances of wickedness? And with a bag of deceitful stones?
12 Whose rich ones have been full of violence, And its inhabitants have spoken falsehood, And their tongue [is] deceitful in their mouth.
13 And I also, I have begun to smite thee, To make desolate, because of thy sins.
14 Thou -- thou eatest, and thou art not satisfied, And thy pit [is] in thy midst, And thou removest, and dost not deliver, And that which thou deliverest, to a sword I give.
Young's Literal Translation is in the public domain.