3:4 Someday these sinners will cry to the Lord for help, 1
but he will not answer them.
He will hide his face from them at that time,
because they have done such wicked deeds.”
3:5 This is what the Lord says: “The prophets who mislead my people
are as good as dead. 2
If someone gives them enough to eat,
they offer an oracle of peace. 3
But if someone does not give them food,
they are ready to declare war on him. 4
3:6 Therefore night will fall, and you will receive no visions; 5
it will grow dark, and you will no longer be able to read the omens. 6
The sun will set on these prophets,
and the daylight will turn to darkness over their heads. 7
3:7 The prophets 8 will be ashamed;
the omen readers will be humiliated.
All of them will cover their mouths, 9
for they will receive no divine oracles.” 10
3:8 But I 11 am full of the courage that the Lord’s Spirit gives,
and have a strong commitment to justice. 12
This enables me to confront Jacob with its rebellion,
and Israel with its sin. 13
3:9 Listen to this, you leaders of the family 14 of Jacob,
you rulers of the nation 15 of Israel!
You 16 hate justice
and pervert all that is right.
3:10 You 17 build Zion through bloody crimes, 18
Jerusalem 19 through unjust violence.
3:11 Her 20 leaders take bribes when they decide legal cases, 21
her priests proclaim rulings for profit,
and her prophets read omens for pay.
Yet they claim to trust 22 the Lord and say,
“The Lord is among us. 23
Disaster will not overtake 24 us!”
3:12 Therefore, because of you, 25 Zion will be plowed up like 26 a field,
Jerusalem will become a heap of ruins,
and the Temple Mount 27 will become a hill overgrown with brush! 28
1 tn Heb “then they will cry out to the
2 tn Heb “concerning the prophets, those who mislead my people.” The first person pronominal suffix is awkward in a quotation formula that introduces the words of the
3 tn Heb “those who bite with their teeth and cry out, ‘peace.’” The phrase “bite with the teeth” is taken here as idiomatic for eating. Apparently these prophets were driven by mercenary motives. If they were paid well, they gave positive oracles to their clients, but if someone could not afford to pay them, they were hostile and delivered oracles of doom.
4 tn Heb “but [as for the one] who does not place [food] in their mouths, they prepare for war against him.”
5 tn Heb “it will be night for you without a vision.”
6 tn Heb “it will be dark for you without divination.”
7 tn Heb “and the day will be dark over them.”
8 tn Or “seers.”
9 tn Or “the mustache,” or perhaps “the beard.” Cf. KJV, NAB, NRSV “cover their lips.”
10 tn Heb “for there will be no answer from God.”
11 sn The prophet Micah speaks here and contrasts himself with the mercenaries just denounced by the
12 tn Heb “am full of power, the Spirit of the
13 tn Heb “to declare to Jacob his rebellion and to Israel his sin.” The words “this enables me” are supplied in the translation for clarification.
14 tn Heb “house.”
15 tn Heb “house.”
16 tn Heb “who.” A new sentence was begun here in the translation for stylistic reasons (also at the beginning of v. 10).
17 tn Heb “who.”
18 tn Heb “bloodshed” (so NAB, NASB, NIV); NLT “murder.”
19 map For location see Map5-B1; Map6-F3; Map7-E2; Map8-F2; Map10-B3; JP1-F4; JP2-F4; JP3-F4; JP4-F4.
20 sn The pronoun Her refers to Jerusalem (note the previous line).
21 tn Heb “judge for a bribe.”
22 tn Heb “they lean upon” (so KJV, NIV, NRSV); NAB “rely on.”
23 tn Heb “Is not the
24 tn Or “come upon” (so many English versions); NCV “happen to us”; CEV “come to us.”
25 tn The plural pronoun refers to the leaders, priests, and prophets mentioned in the preceding verse.
26 tn Or “into” (an adverbial accusative of result).
27 tn Heb “the mountain of the house” (so KJV, ASV, NRSV).
28 tn Heb “a high place of overgrowth.”