23 (A)Your princes are rebellious,
And (B)companions of thieves;
(C)Everyone loves bribes,
And follows after rewards.
They (D)do not defend the fatherless,
Nor does the cause of the widow come before them.

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23 Your rulers are rebels,(A)
    partners with thieves;(B)
they all love bribes(C)
    and chase after gifts.
They do not defend the cause of the fatherless;
    the widow’s case does not come before them.(D)

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“Look, (A)the princes of Israel: each one has used his [a]power to shed blood in you.

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Footnotes

  1. Ezekiel 22:6 Lit. arm

“‘See how each of the princes of Israel who are in you uses his power to shed blood.(A)

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Wicked Rulers and Prophets

And I said:

“Hear now, O heads of Jacob,
And you (A)rulers of the house of Israel:
(B)Is it not for you to know justice?
You who hate good and love evil;
Who strip the skin from [a]My people,
And the flesh from their bones;
Who also (C)eat the flesh of My people,
Flay their skin from them,
Break their bones,
And chop them in pieces
Like meat for the pot,
(D)Like flesh in the caldron.”

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Footnotes

  1. Micah 3:2 Lit. them

Leaders and Prophets Rebuked

Then I said,

“Listen, you leaders(A) of Jacob,
    you rulers of Israel.
Should you not embrace justice,
    you who hate good and love evil;
who tear the skin from my people
    and the flesh from their bones;(B)
who eat my people’s flesh,(C)
    strip off their skin
    and break their bones in pieces;(D)
who chop(E) them up like meat for the pan,
    like flesh for the pot?(F)

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Now hear this,
You heads of the house of Jacob
And rulers of the house of Israel,
Who abhor justice
And [a]pervert all equity,
10 (A)Who build up Zion with (B)bloodshed
And Jerusalem with iniquity:
11 (C)Her heads judge for a bribe,
(D)Her priests teach for pay,
And her prophets divine for [b]money.
(E)Yet they lean on the Lord, and say,
“Is not the Lord among us?
No harm can come upon us.”

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Footnotes

  1. Micah 3:9 Lit. twist
  2. Micah 3:11 Lit. silver

Hear this, you leaders of Jacob,
    you rulers of Israel,
who despise justice
    and distort all that is right;(A)
10 who build(B) Zion with bloodshed,(C)
    and Jerusalem with wickedness.(D)
11 Her leaders judge for a bribe,(E)
    her priests teach for a price,(F)
    and her prophets tell fortunes for money.(G)
Yet they look(H) for the Lord’s support and say,
    “Is not the Lord among us?
    No disaster will come upon us.”(I)

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(A)Her princes in her midst are roaring lions;
Her judges are (B)evening wolves
That leave not a bone till morning.

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Her officials within her
    are roaring lions;(A)
her rulers are evening wolves,(B)
    who leave nothing for the morning.(C)

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