Jeremiah 2:8

2:8 Your priests ¹  did not ask, ‘Where is the Lord?’ ² 

Those responsible for teaching my law ³  did not really know me. ⁴ 

Your rulers rebelled against me.

Your prophets prophesied in the name of the god Baal. ⁵ 

They all worshiped idols that could not help them. ⁶ 

Jeremiah 5:31

5:31 The prophets prophesy lies.

The priests exercise power by their own authority. ⁷ 

And my people love to have it this way.

But they will not be able to help you when the time of judgment comes! ⁸ 

Micah 3:11

3:11 Her ⁹  leaders take bribes when they decide legal cases, ¹⁰ 

her priests proclaim rulings for profit,

and her prophets read omens for pay.

Yet they claim to trust ¹¹  the Lord and say,

“The Lord is among us. ¹² 

Disaster will not overtake ¹³  us!”

Micah 3:2

3:2 yet you ¹⁴  hate what is good, ¹⁵ 

and love what is evil. ¹⁶ 

You flay my people’s skin ¹⁷ 

and rip the flesh from their bones. ¹⁸ 

Micah 2:3

2:3 Therefore the Lord says this: “Look, I am devising disaster for this nation! ¹⁹ 

It will be like a yoke from which you cannot free your neck. ²⁰ 

You will no longer ²¹  walk proudly,

for it will be a time of catastrophe.

[2:8]  ¹ tn Heb “The priests…the ones who grasp my law…the shepherds…the prophets…they…”

[2:8]  ² sn See the study note on 2:6.

[2:8]  ³ tn Heb “those who handle my law.”

[2:8]  ⁴ tn Or “were not committed to me.” The Hebrew verb rendered “know” refers to more than mere intellectual knowledge. It carries also the ideas of emotional and volitional commitment as well intimacy. See for example its use in contexts like Hos 4:1; 6:6.

[2:8]  ⁵ tn Heb “by Baal.”

[2:8]  ⁶ tn Heb “and they followed after those things [the word is plural] which do not profit.” The poetic structure of the verse, four lines in which a distinct subject appears at the beginning followed by a fifth line beginning with a prepositional phrase and no distinct subject, argues that this line is climactic and refers to all four classes enumerated in the preceding lines. See W. L. Holladay, Jeremiah (Hermeneia), 1:88-89. There may be a play or pun in the Hebrew text on the name for the god Baal (בַּעַל, ba’al) and the verb “cannot help you” (Heb “do not profit”) which is spelled יַעַל (ya’al).

[5:31]  ⁷ tn Heb “they shall rule at their hands.” Since the word “hand” can be used figuratively for authority or mean “side” and the pronoun “them” can refer to the priests themselves or the prophets, the following translations have also been suggested: “the priests rule under their [the prophets’] directions,” or “the priests rule in league with them [the prophets].” From the rest of the book it would appear that the prophets did not exercise authority over the priests nor did they exercise the same authority over the people that the priests did. Hence it probably mean “by their own hand/power/authority.”

[5:31]  ⁸ tn Heb “But what will you do at its end?” The rhetorical question implies a negative answer: “Nothing!”

[3:11]  ⁹ sn The pronoun Her refers to Jerusalem (note the previous line).

[3:11]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “judge for a bribe.”

[3:11]  ¹¹ tn Heb “they lean upon” (so KJV, NIV, NRSV); NAB “rely on.”

[3:11]  ¹² tn Heb “Is not the Lord in our midst?” The rhetorical question expects the answer, “Of course he is!”

[3:11]  ¹³ tn Or “come upon” (so many English versions); NCV “happen to us”; CEV “come to us.”

[3:2]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “the ones who.”

[3:2]  ¹⁵ tn Or “good.”

[3:2]  ¹⁶ tn Or “evil.”

[3:2]  ¹⁷ 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.

[3:2]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “and their flesh from their bones.”

[2:3]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “clan” or “extended family.”

[2:3]  ²⁰ tn Heb “from which you will not remove your neck.” The words “It will be like a yoke” are supplied in the translation for clarification.

[2:3]  ²¹ tn Or “you will not.”