Font Size
Micah 3
Contemporary English Version
Micah 3
Contemporary English Version
Evil Rulers and Lying Prophets
3 Listen to me,
you rulers of Israel!
You know right from wrong,
2 but you prefer to do evil
instead of what is right.
You skin my people alive.
You strip off their flesh,
3 break their bones,
cook it all in a pot,
and gulp it down.
4 Someday you will beg the Lord
to help you,
but he will turn away
because of your sins.
5 You lying prophets promise
security for anyone
who gives you food,
but disaster for anyone
who refuses to feed you.
Here is what the Lord says
to you prophets:
6 “You will live in the dark,
far from the sight of the sun,
with no message from me.
7 You prophets and fortunetellers
will all be disgraced,
with no message from me.”
8 But the Lord has filled me
with power and his Spirit.
I have been given the courage
to speak about justice
and to tell you people of Israel
that you have sinned.
9 So listen to my message,
you rulers of Israel!
You hate justice
and twist the truth.
10 You make cruelty and murder
a way of life in Jerusalem.
11 You leaders accept bribes
for dishonest decisions.
You priests and prophets
teach and preach,
but only for money.
Then you say,
“The Lord is on our side.
No harm will come to us.”
12 (A) And so, because of you,
Jerusalem will be plowed under
and left in ruins.
Thorns will cover the mountain
where the temple now stands.
Micah 3
New International Version
Micah 3
New International Version
Leaders and Prophets Rebuked
3 Then I said,
“Listen, you leaders(A) of Jacob,
you rulers of Israel.
Should you not embrace justice,
2 you who hate good and love evil;
who tear the skin from my people
and the flesh from their bones;(B)
3 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)”
4 Then they will cry out to the Lord,
but he will not answer them.(G)
At that time he will hide his face(H) from them
because of the evil they have done.(I)
5 This is what the Lord says:
“As for the prophets
who lead my people astray,(J)
they proclaim ‘peace’(K)
if they have something to eat,
but prepare to wage war against anyone
who refuses to feed them.
6 Therefore night will come over you, without visions,
and darkness, without divination.(L)
The sun will set for the prophets,(M)
and the day will go dark for them.(N)
7 The seers will be ashamed(O)
and the diviners disgraced.(P)
They will all cover(Q) their faces(R)
because there is no answer from God.(S)”
8 But as for me, I am filled with power,
with the Spirit of the Lord,
and with justice and might,
to declare to Jacob his transgression,
to Israel his sin.(T)
9 Hear this, you leaders of Jacob,
you rulers of Israel,
who despise justice
and distort all that is right;(U)
10 who build(V) Zion with bloodshed,(W)
and Jerusalem with wickedness.(X)
11 Her leaders judge for a bribe,(Y)
her priests teach for a price,(Z)
and her prophets tell fortunes for money.(AA)
Yet they look(AB) for the Lord’s support and say,
“Is not the Lord among us?
No disaster will come upon us.”(AC)
12 Therefore because of you,
Zion will be plowed like a field,
Jerusalem will become a heap of rubble,(AD)
the temple(AE) hill a mound overgrown with thickets.(AF)
Contemporary English Version (CEV) 
Copyright © 1995 by American Bible Society For more information about CEV, visit www.bibles.com and www.cev.bible.
New International Version (NIV) 
Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
NIV Reverse Interlinear Bible: English to Hebrew and English to Greek. Copyright © 2019 by Zondervan.