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Micah 3
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Between sectionsVerses 1 to 4
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1Then I said: “Hear now, O leaders of Jacob, you rulers of the house of Israel. Should you not know justice? 2You hate good and love evil. You tear the skin from my people and strip the flesh from their bones. 3You eat the flesh of my people after stripping off their skin and breaking their bones. You chop them up like flesh for the cooking pot, like meat in a cauldron.” 4Then they will cry out to the LORD, but He will not answer them. At that time He will hide His face from them because of the evil they have done.
Section 1: False ProphetsVerses 5 to 7
This is what the LORD says: "As for the prophets who lead My people astray, who proclaim peace while they chew with their teeth, but declare war against one who puts nothing in their mouths" (3:5).
The false prophets said what they were paid to say. Put food in their mouths and they called it peace. Give them nothing, and they declared trouble against you. The word of God was for sale.
"Therefore night will come over you without visions, and darkness without divination. The sun will set on these prophets, and the daylight will turn black over them" (3:6).
God will close the channel. No more visions. No more messages to sell. The darkness they have brought will fall on them.
"Then the seers will be ashamed and the diviners will be disgraced. They will all cover their mouths because there is no answer from God" (3:7).
The test of a prophet is simple: does God actually speak? When God goes silent, the false prophets are exposed.
5This is what the LORD says: “As for the prophets who lead My people astray, who proclaim peace while they chew with their teeth, but declare war against one who puts nothing in their mouths: 6Therefore night will come over you without visions, and darkness without divination. The sun will set on these prophets, and the daylight will turn black over them. 7Then the seers will be ashamed and the diviners will be disgraced. They will all cover their mouths because there is no answer from God.”
Section 2: True ProphetVerse 8
"As for me, however, I am filled with power by the Spirit of the LORD, with justice and courage, to declare to Jacob his transgression and to Israel his sin" (3:8).
Micah names the contrast sharply. He speaks by the Spirit — not for payment, not for popularity. His message is not peace for purchase. It is the truth about what Israel has done.
8As for me, however, I am filled with power by the Spirit of the LORD, with justice and courage, to declare to Jacob his transgression and to Israel his sin.
Section 3: Corrupt LeadersVerses 9 to 11
"Now hear this, O leaders of the house of Jacob and rulers of the house of Israel, who despise justice and pervert all that is right" (3:9).
The whole leadership class is indicted. Not just the prophets — the rulers too.
"Her leaders judge for a bribe, her priests teach for a price, and her prophets practice divination for money. Yet they lean upon the LORD" (3:11), saying, "Is not the LORD among us? No disaster can come upon us."
The corruption is deep: every pillar of the community — law, religion, prophecy — has been compromised. And yet they assume God protects them. They use God's name as a shield for what they are doing.
9Now hear this, O leaders of the house of Jacob and rulers of the house of Israel, who despise justice and pervert all that is right, 10who build Zion with bloodshed and Jerusalem with iniquity. 11Her leaders judge for a bribe, her priests teach for a price, and her prophets practice divination for money. Yet they lean upon the LORD, saying, “Is not the LORD among us? No disaster can come upon us.”
Section 4: The VerdictVerse 12
"Therefore, because of you, Zion will be plowed like a field, Jerusalem will become a heap of rubble, and the temple mount a wooded ridge" (3:12).
The unthinkable verdict. The holy city — God's city — will be destroyed. Not because God abandoned it, but because its leaders did. A century later, King Hezekiah remembered this prophecy when another prophet said the same thing, and he turned back to God (Jeremiah 26:18-19).
12Therefore, because of you, Zion will be plowed like a field, Jerusalem will become a heap of rubble, and the temple mount a wooded ridge.
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