Micahchapter 3

1 Then I said: “Hear now, O leaders of Jacob, you rulers of the house of Israel. Should you not know justice?

2 You hate good and love evil. You tear the skin from my people and strip the flesh from their bones.

3 You 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.”

4 Then 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.

5 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:

6 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.

7 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.”

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.

9 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,

10 who build Zion with bloodshed and Jerusalem with iniquity.

11 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, saying, “Is not the LORD among us? No disaster can come upon us.”

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.

← Back: Micah 2 Continue: Micah 4 →

Chapter summary

Read the rest, the context and the outline ▾Show less ▴

The leadership chapter, and the language is butchery: rulers who hate the good and love the evil, who pluck the skin off God's people and their flesh from off their bones and chop them up as for the pot. Then they will cry to Jehovah and he will not answer. Prophets who cry 'Peace' when they are fed, and declare war on whoever fails to fill their mouths, will get night without vision. Over against them Micah plants his flag: 'as for me, I am full of power by the Spirit of Jehovah… to declare unto Jacob his transgression' (3:8). So 'Zion for your sake shall be plowed as a field', quoted a century later at Jeremiah's trial.

Drawn from Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory, Matthew Henry, Complete Commentary, John Wesley, Notes on the Old Testament and John Calvin, Commentaries.

Context

Prophecy · Micah — Micah overview

A. 1–4 Rulers who tear the skin off my people
B. 5–8 Prophets who cry peace when fed — but I am full of power
C. 9–12 Zion plowed like a field on their account

Top cross-references8 chapters ▾

Isaiah 12 verses
- Isaiah 1:15When you spread out your hands in prayer, I will hide My eyes from you; even though you multiply your prayers, I will not listen. Your hands are covered with blood.
- Isaiah 1:23Your rulers are rebels, friends of thieves. They all love bribes and chasing after rewards. They do not defend the fatherless, and the plea of the widow never comes before them.
- Read Isaiah 1 →
Ezekiel 112 verses
- Ezekiel 11:3They are saying, ‘Is not the time near to build houses? The city is the cooking pot, and we are the meat.’
- Ezekiel 11:6You have multiplied those you killed in this city and filled its streets with the dead.
- Read Ezekiel 11 →
Jeremiah 62 verses
- Jeremiah 6:13“For from the least of them to the greatest, all are greedy for gain; from prophet to priest, all practice deceit.
- Jeremiah 6:14They dress the wound of My people with very little care, saying, ‘Peace, peace,’ when there is no peace at all.
- Read Jeremiah 6 →
1 Corinthians 22 verses
- 1 Corinthians 2:4My message and my preaching were not with persuasive words of wisdom, but with a demonstration of the Spirit’s power,
- 1 Corinthians 2:12We have not received the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we may understand what God has freely given us.
- Read 1 Corinthians 2 →

4 more chapters this one speaks with

Jeremiah 51 verse
- Jeremiah 5:4Then I said, “They are only the poor; they have played the fool, for they do not know the way of the LORD, the justice of their God.
- Read Jeremiah 5 →
Hosea 51 verse
- Hosea 5:1“Hear this, O priests! Take heed, O house of Israel! Give ear, O royal house! For this judgment is against you because you have been a snare at Mizpah, a net spread out on Tabor.
- Read Hosea 5 →
Psalms 821 verse
- Psalms 82:1God presides in the divine assembly; He renders judgment among the gods:
- Read Psalms 82 →
Ezekiel 221 verse
- Ezekiel 22:27Her officials within her are like wolves tearing their prey, shedding blood, and destroying lives for dishonest gain.
- Read Ezekiel 22 →

Cross-references from the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge and OpenBible.info.