MIC 3:1 Parallel Verse View

Note: This view shows ‘verses’ which are not natural language units and hence sometimes only part of a sentence will be visible—click on any Bible version abbreviation down the left-hand side to see the verse in more of its context. Normally the OET discourages the reading of individual ‘verses’, but this view is only designed as a tool for doing comparisons of different translations—the older translations are further down the page (so you can read up from the bottom to trace the English translation history). The OET segments on this page are still very early looks into the unfinished texts of the Open English Translation of the Bible—please double-check these texts in advance before using in public.

Text critical issues=none Clarity of original=clear Importance to us=normal (All still tentative.)

Key: khaki:verbs, red:negative.
Note: Automatic aligning of the OET-RV to the LV is done by some temporary software, hence the OET-RV alignments are incomplete (and may occasionally be wrong).

BrLXX Καὶ ἐρεῖ, ἀκούσατε δὴ ταῦτα αἱ ἀρχαὶ οἴκου Ἰακὼβ, καὶ οἱ κατάλοιποι οἴκου Ἰσραήλ· οὐχ ὑμῖν ἐστι τοῦ γνῶναι τὸ κρίμα;
(Kai erei, akousate daʸ tauta hai arⱪai oikou Yakōb, kai hoi kataloipoi oikou Israaʸl; ouⱪ humin esti tou gnōnai to krima; )

BrTr And he shall say, Hear now these words, ye heads of the house of Jacob, and ye remnant of the house of Israel; is it not for you to know judgment?

ULT And I said, “Now listen,
⇔ you leaders of Jacob
⇔ and rulers of the house of Israel:
⇔ Is it not for you to understand justice?

UST Then I said, “You Israelite leaders, listen to what I say!
⇔ You should certainly know what things are right to do
⇔ and what things are wrong,

OEB I also said:
⇔ ‘Listen now, leaders of Jacob,
⇔ judges of the house of Israel.
⇔ Is it not your duty to know what is the right?

WEBBE I said,
⇔ “Please listen, you heads of Jacob,
⇔ and rulers of the house of Israel:
⇔ Isn’t it for you to know justice?

WMBB (Same as above)

NET I said,
⇔ “Listen, you leaders of Jacob,
⇔ you rulers of the nation of Israel!
⇔ You ought to know what is just,

LSV And I say, “Now hear, O heads of Jacob,
And you judges of the house of Israel,
Is it not for you to know the judgment?

FBV Then I said, “Please listen, leaders of the descendants of Jacob, people of Israel. You are meant to know the difference between right and wrong,

T4T Then I said, “You Israeli [MTY] leaders, listen to what I say!
⇔ You should certainly [RHQ] know what things are right to do
⇔ and what things are wrong,

LEB No LEB MIC 3:1 verse available

BBE And I said, Give ear, now, you heads of Jacob and rulers of the people of Israel: is it not for you to have knowledge of what is right?

Moff I said also:
⇔ Listen, now, leaders of Jacob,
⇔ judges over the house of Israel;

JPS And I said: Hear, I pray you, ye heads of Jacob, and rulers of the house of Israel: is it not for you to know justice?

ASV And I said, Hear, I pray you, ye heads of Jacob, and rulers of the house of Israel: is it not for you to know justice?

DRA And I said: Hear, O ye princes of Jacob, and ye chiefs of the house of Israel: Is it not your part to know judgment,

YLT And I say, 'Hear, I pray you, heads of Jacob, And ye judges of the house of Israel, Is it not for you to know the judgment?

Drby And I said, Hear, I pray you, ye heads of Jacob, and princes of the house of Israel: Is it not for you to know judgment?

RV And I said, Hear, I pray you, ye heads of Jacob, and rulers of the house of Israel: is it not for you to know judgment?
(And I said, Hear, I pray you, ye/you_all heads of Jacob, and rulers of the house of Israel: is it not for you to know judgement? )

SLT And saying, Hear now, ye heads of Jacob, and ye judges of the house of Israel: Is it not for you to know judgment?

Wbstr And I said, Hear, I pray you, O heads of Jacob, and ye princes of the house of Israel: Is it not for you to know judgment?

KJB-1769 And I said, Hear, I pray you, O heads of Jacob, and ye princes of the house of Israel; Is it not for you to know judgment?
(And I said, Hear, I pray you, Oh heads of Jacob, and ye/you_all princes of the house of Israel; Is it not for you to know judgement? )

KJB-1611 ¶ And I said, Heare, I pray you, O heads of Iacob, and ye princes of the house of Israel: is it not for you to know iudgement?
(Modernised spelling is same as from KJB-1769 above, apart from marking of added words (and possibly capitalisation and punctuation))

Bshps And I saide, heare I pray you O heads of Iacob, & ye princes of the house of Israel, shoulde not ye know iudgement?
(And I said, hear I pray you Oh heads of Yacob, and ye/you_all princes of the house of Israel, should not ye/you_all know judgement?)

Gnva And I sayd, Heare, I pray you, O heads of Iaakob, and yee princes of the house of Israel: should not ye knowe iudgement?
(And I said, Hear, I pray you, Oh heads of Yacob, and ye/you_all princes of the house of Israel: should not ye/you_all know judgement? )

Cvdl Heare, o ye heades of the house of Iacob, and ye leders of the house of Israel: Shulde not ye knowe, what were laufull and right?
(Hear, o ye/you_all heads of the house of Yacob, and ye/you_all leders of the house of Israel: Should not ye/you_all know, what were lawful and right?)

Wycl And Y seide, Ye princis of Jacob, and duykis of the hous of Israel, here. Whether it be not youre for to knowe doom, whiche haten good,
(And I said, Ye/You_all princes of Yacob, and dukes of the house of Israel, here. Whether it be not your(pl) for to know judgement, which hate good,)

Luth Und ich sprach: Höret doch, ihr Häupter im Hause Jakob und ihr Fürsten im Hause Israel! Ihr solltet es billig sein, die das Recht wüßten.
(And I spoke: Hear though/but, you(pl)/their/her heads in_the house Yakob and you(pl)/their/her prince(s)/ruler(s) in_the house Israel! You(pl) should it cheap be, the the law/right I_would_known.)

ClVg [Et dixi: Audite, princeps Jacob, et duces domus Israël: numquid non vestrum est scire judicium,
([And I_said: Listen, prince Yacob, and leaders home Israel: is_it not/no of_you it_is to_know judgement, )

SOTN SIL Open Translator’s Notes:

Section 3:1–12: Micah rebuked the leaders of Israel

In this section, Micah is the speaker. He spoke to the leaders of the Jews and to the prophets. He rebuked (scolded) them for their wicked deeds. He also told them that God would punish the nation because of them.

The Notes will divide this section into three paragraphs:

In 3:1–4, Micah rebuked the judicial leaders.
In 3:5–8, Micah rebuked the wicked prophets.
In 3:9–12, Micah rebuked all the leaders: judges, prophets, and priests.

In each paragraph, Micah used the word “justice” (3:1, 8, 9). In each paragraph, he first rebuked the leaders for their evil deeds. Then he described what would happen as a result of their wickedness. Some versions begin a new paragraph at verse 4 or verse 8. It is recommended that you follow the paragraphs used in the Notes.

Here are some other examples of section headings:

Micah Denounces Israel’s Leaders (GNT)

Leaders and Prophets Rebuked (NIV)

Israel’s Sinful Leaders—Rulers, Prophets, and Priests (GW)

Wicked Rulers and Prophets (NRSV)

Paragraph 3:1–4

In this paragraph, Micah first spoke to the judicial leaders of Israel. He accused them of doing evil and cruel things (verses 1–3). Then he spoke about them. He said that the LORD would punish them (verse 4).

3:1a

Then I said: “Hear now, O leaders of Jacob, you rulers of the house of Israel.

¶ Then/And I said: Listen, you^(plur) leaders of the descendants of Jacob! Listen, you rulers of the people of Israel!
¶ Pay attention to what I say, you rulers of Jacob’s descendants, who serve as judges for the nation of Israel.
(combined/reordered)
¶ You who rule/lead and judge the Jewish people, listen to my message!
¶ Now I speak to you leaders of Israel. Listen to what I say.

Then I said: “Hear now, O leaders of Jacob, you rulers of the house of Israel: It is unusual for a prophet to begin his message with the words Then I said. Perhaps Micah used these words because he began a new message here. Here is another way to introduce this message:

I said (REB)

Some versions make the words Then I said implicit and begin this verse with the command to listen. For example:

Listen, you rulers of Israel! (GNT)

Introduce this message in a natural way in your language.

Hear now: In Hebrew, this is the same word as the word “hear” that Micah used in 1:2a. It means “Listen carefully!” or “Pay attention!”

O leaders…you rulers: These two words are synonyms that mean “chiefs” or “leaders.” They both refer to local leaders who did the work of judges. They listened to disputes, investigated crimes, and punished criminals.Commentaries agree that the parallel terms “heads” and “rulers” refer to officials whose duties were primarily or totally judicial in nature. A&F (page 339–340) say that they were “some kind of civil magistrates” that were ultimately responsible to the king. 2 Chronicles 19:4–11 describes how Jehoshaphat appointed judges in all the fortified towns of Judah, and according to A&F (page 351), there is no evidence “that the traditional village courts had been abolished or curtailed by Micah’s time.”

of Jacob…of the house of Israel: The name Jacob means the “descendants of Jacob.” The phrase house of Israel means the “people/nation of Israel.” Together, these parallel phrases refer to all the Jews. Micah used these same two phrases in 1:5a–b. See the Notes there.

Here are some other ways to translate the part of 3:1a that begins with the command to listen:

Listen, leaders of the people of Jacob; listen, you rulers of the nation of Israel. (NCV)

Listen, you who rule the descendants of Jacob, you who judge the country of the Jews.

General Comment on 3:1a

In some languages, it may be more natural to combine and/or reorder some of the parallel parts in this line. For example:

Listen to me, you rulers of Israel! (CEV)

3:1b

Should you not know justice?

Are you^(plur) not supposed to be skilled at ruling justly?
You know that you ought to govern fairly, do you not?
You should be fair in the way you judge legal cases/disputes.

Should you not know justice?: This is a rhetorical question that expects the answer “Yes.” Micah used this question to rebuke the leaders. His question implies that they did not rule with justice. Here are some ways to translate this rhetorical question:

Translate it as a rhetorical question. For example:
Is it not your duty to know what is right (NAB)
You should know how to rule justly, should you not?
Change the question so that it is clearly a rebuke in your language. For example:
Why do you not rule the people with fairness?
Translate this question as a statement. For example:
You should know how to decide cases fairly (NCV)
You are supposed to be concerned about justice (GNT)

Translate this question in a way that makes clear to your readers Micah’s purpose in rebuking these leaders.

know justice: In this verse, know justice does not only mean “know about justice.” It means “know how to rule in a just and fair way.” Here are some other ways to translate this phrase:

know how to rule justly

know how to be fair when you decide court cases

be skilled in leading/ruling the people fairly

Parallel MIC 3:1

Section 3:1–12: Micah rebuked the leaders of Israel

Paragraph 3:1–4

3:1a

General Comment on 3:1a

3:1b

General Information: