Ezekiel 22:27

22:27 Her officials are like wolves in her midst rending their prey – shedding blood and destroying lives – so they can get dishonest profit.

Ezekiel 22:1

The Sins of Jerusalem

22:1 The word of the Lord came to me:

Ezekiel 21:19

21:19 “You, son of man, mark out two routes for the king of Babylon’s sword to take; both of them will originate in a single land. Make a signpost and put it at the beginning of the road leading to the city.

Micah 1:1-2

Introduction

1:1 This is the prophetic message that the Lord gave to ¹  Micah of Moresheth. He delivered this message ²  during the reigns of ³  Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah. The prophecies pertain to ⁴  Samaria ⁵  and Jerusalem. ⁶ 

The Judge is Coming

1:2 Listen, all you nations! ⁷ 

Pay attention, all inhabitants of earth! ⁸ 

The sovereign Lord will testify ⁹  against you;

the Lord will accuse you ¹⁰  from his majestic palace. ¹¹ 

Micah 3:1-3

God Will Judge Judah’s Sinful Leaders

3:1 I said,

“Listen, you leaders ¹²  of Jacob,

you rulers of the nation ¹³  of Israel!

You ought to know what is just, ¹⁴ 

3:2 yet you ¹⁵  hate what is good, ¹⁶ 

and love what is evil. ¹⁷ 

You flay my people’s skin ¹⁸ 

and rip the flesh from their bones. ¹⁹ 

3:3 You ²⁰  devour my people’s flesh,

strip off their skin,

and crush their bones.

You chop them up like flesh in a pot ²¹  –

like meat in a kettle.

¹ tn Heb “The word of the Lord which came to.”

² tn The words “he delivered this message” are not in the Hebrew text, but are supplied in the translation for clarification.

³ tn Heb “in the days of” (so KJV, NASB, NRSV).

⁴ tn Heb “which he saw concerning.”

⁵ map For location see Map2-B1; Map4-D3; Map5-E2; Map6-A4; Map7-C1.

⁶ map For location see Map5-B1; Map6-F3; Map7-E2; Map8-F2; Map10-B3; JP1-F4; JP2-F4; JP3-F4; JP4-F4.

⁷ tn Heb “O peoples, all of them.”

⁸ tn Heb “O earth and all its fullness”; KJV “and all that therein is.”

⁹ tn Heb “May the sovereign Lord testify against you.” The verb וִיהִי (vihiy) is jussive, which normally conveys a volitional sense of an urgent request or prayer (“may he testify!”). However, GKC 325-26 §109.k notes that here the jussive form is used without any volitional sense for the ordinary imperfect, as a rhythmic shortening at the beginning of a sentence, thus removed as far as possible from the principal accent (cf. Gen 49:17; Deut 28:8; 1 Sam 10:5; 2 Sam 5:24; Hos 6:1; 11:4; Amos 5:14; Zeph 2:13; Zech 9:5; Pss 72:16-17; 104:31; Job 18:12; 20:23, 26, 28; 27:8; 33:21; 34:37; Ruth 3:4). Thus, the translation here renders the jussive as an ordinary imperfect. Some translations render it in a traditional jussive sense: (1) urgent request: “And let my Lord God be your accuser” (NJPS); or (2) dependent purpose/result: “that the Sovereign Lord may witness against you” (NIV).

¹⁰ tn Heb “the Lord from his majestic palace.” Since the verb is omitted it is unclear whether the implied term be supplied from the preceding line (“he will testify against you”) or the following line (“he is leaving”). So the line may be rendered “the Lord will accuse you from his majestic temple” or “the Lord will come forth from his majestic temple.” Most translations render it literally, but some remove the ambiguity: “the Lord God accuses you from his holy temple” (CEV); “He speaks from his holy temple” (TEV).

¹¹ tn Or “his holy temple” (KJV, NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV, NLT). This refers to the Lord’s dwelling in heaven, however, rather than the temple in Jerusalem (note the following verse, which describes a theophany).

¹² tn Heb “heads.”

¹³ tn Heb “house.”

¹⁴ tn Heb “Should you not know justice?” The rhetorical question expects the answer, “Of course you should!”

¹⁵ tn Heb “the ones who.”

¹⁶ tn Or “good.”

¹⁷ tn Or “evil.”

¹⁸ tn Heb “their skin from upon them.” The referent of the pronoun (“my people,” referring to Jacob and/or the house of Israel, with the Lord as the speaker) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

¹⁹ tn Heb “and their flesh from their bones.”

²⁰ tn Heb “who.”

²¹ tc The MT reads “and they chop up as in a pot.” The translation assumes an emendation of כַּאֲשֶׁר (ka’asher, “as”) to כִּשְׁאֵר (kish’er, “like flesh”).