UST MIC Chapter 3

◄ MIC 3 ► ║ ═ ©

3 Then I said,

“You leaders of the people of Jacob

and you rulers of the people of Israel, listen to me!

You are the ones who should know all about how to treat people fairly.

2 Yet you hate what is right and love what is evil!

You violently rob my people

as though you are stripping off their skin and flesh.

3 You greedily strip my people of everything that they have

as though you are a butcher who strips off their skin,

breaks their bones,

chops them up,

puts them into a cooking pot,

and eats them.”

4 Someday, when bad things happen to those leaders, they will call out for Yahweh to help them,

but he will not help them.

He will be as diligent to ignore them at that time,

as they were to do evil deeds.

5 This is what Yahweh says,

“This is about the prophets who are misleading my people.

They prophesy good things for anyone giving them something to eat.

However, they declare holy war against anyone who does not give them food.

6 Because of that, it will be as though it is always night for you prophets because you will no longer be able to see visions,

and you will no longer be able to practice divination.

Yes, it will be as though the sun has set for you prophets even during the day,

because I will show you nothing.

7 Those who claim to see the future will feel ashamed,

and those who practice divination will feel disgraced.

They will all cover their faces to express how ashamed they are,

because God will not answer them.

8 But as for me, Yahweh’s Spirit greatly empowers me

to do what is right and to be strong

so that I can tell the people of Jacob how they have rebelled against God

and tell the people of Israel how they have sinned.

9 You leaders of the people of Jacob

and you rulers of the people of Israel, listen to this!

You are the ones who hate it when people do what is right,

and when people say what is true, you change it into something false.

10 You are getting the wealth to build up Jerusalem

by murdering people and treating people unjustly.

11 The city’s leaders decide cases favorably only for those who give them bribes.

The city’s priests teach only when people pay them well.

The city’s prophets require people to pay them money in order to tell them what they think will happen to them.

Yet those same leaders trust in Yahweh and say,

“Yahweh is among us,

so nothing bad will happen to us.”

12 So, because of what you leaders are doing,

enemies will make Mount Zion look like a field that a farmer has plowed.

Jerusalem will become a pile of rubble,

and the temple hill will become an overgrown forest.

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