Micah 3:10-12

3:10 You ¹  build Zion through bloody crimes, ² 

Jerusalem ³  through unjust violence.

3:11 Her ⁴  leaders take bribes when they decide legal cases, ⁵ 

her priests proclaim rulings for profit,

and her prophets read omens for pay.

Yet they claim to trust ⁶  the Lord and say,

“The Lord is among us. ⁷ 

Disaster will not overtake ⁸  us!”

3:12 Therefore, because of you, ⁹  Zion will be plowed up like ¹⁰  a field,

Jerusalem will become a heap of ruins,

and the Temple Mount ¹¹  will become a hill overgrown with brush! ¹² 

¹ tn Heb “who.”

² tn Heb “bloodshed” (so NAB, NASB, NIV); NLT “murder.”

³ map For location see Map5-B1; Map6-F3; Map7-E2; Map8-F2; Map10-B3; JP1-F4; JP2-F4; JP3-F4; JP4-F4.

⁴ sn The pronoun Her refers to Jerusalem (note the previous line).

⁵ tn Heb “judge for a bribe.”

⁶ tn Heb “they lean upon” (so KJV, NIV, NRSV); NAB “rely on.”

⁷ tn Heb “Is not the Lord in our midst?” The rhetorical question expects the answer, “Of course he is!”

⁸ tn Or “come upon” (so many English versions); NCV “happen to us”; CEV “come to us.”

⁷ tn The plural pronoun refers to the leaders, priests, and prophets mentioned in the preceding verse.

⁸ tn Or “into” (an adverbial accusative of result).

⁹ tn Heb “the mountain of the house” (so KJV, ASV, NRSV).

¹⁰ tn Heb “a high place of overgrowth.”