Micah 3:9-11

Context

3:9 Listen to this, you leaders of the family¹ of Jacob,

you rulers of the nation² of Israel!

You³ hate justice

and pervert all that is right.

3:10 You⁴ build Zion through bloody crimes,⁵

Jerusalem⁶ through unjust violence.

3:11 Her⁷ leaders take bribes when they decide legal cases,⁸

her priests proclaim rulings for profit,

and her prophets read omens for pay.

Yet they claim to trust⁹ the Lord and say,

“The Lord is among us.¹⁰

Disaster will not overtake¹¹ us!”

[3:9] ¹tn Heb “house.”

[3:9] ²tn Heb “house.”

[3:9] ³tn Heb “who.” A new sentence was begun here in the translation for stylistic reasons (also at the beginning of v. 10).

[3:10] ⁴tn Heb “who.”

[3:10] ⁵tn Heb “bloodshed” (so NAB, NASB, NIV); NLT “murder.”

[3:11] ⁷sn The pronoun Her refers to Jerusalem (note the previous line).

[3:11] ⁸tn Heb “judge for a bribe.”

[3:11] ⁹tn Heb “they lean upon” (so KJV, NIV, NRSV); NAB “rely on.”

[3:11] ¹⁰tn Heb “Is not the Lord in our midst?” The rhetorical question expects the answer, “Of course he is!”

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