3
Then I said, ‘Listen, you leaders of Jacob's people!
Pay attention, you rulers of Israel!
You should want to judge others fairly.
2 But you hate what is good.
And you love what is evil.
You are like someone
who tears the skin off my people.
You pull the meat off their bones.
3 You eat my people's bodies.
You strip off their skin.
You break their bones in pieces.
You chop them up like meat.
You put them in a cooking pot.’
4 The time will come when Israel
will cry out to the Lord.
But he won't answer them.
In fact, he'll turn his face away from them.
They have done what is evil.
5 The Lord says,
‘The prophets are those
who lead my people astray.
If my people feed them,
the prophets promise them peace.
If my people do not feed them,
the prophets prepare to go to war against them.
6 So night will come on the prophets.
But they will not have any visions.
Darkness will cover them.
But they will not be able
to figure out what is going to happen.
The sun will set on the prophets.
The day will become dark for them.
7 Those who see visions will be put to shame.
Those who try to figure out what is going to happen
will be dishonoured.
All of them will cover their faces.
I will not answer them.’
8 The Spirit of the Lord
has filled me with power.
He helps me do what is fair.
He makes me brave.
Now I'm prepared to tell Jacob's people
what they've done wrong.
I'm ready to tell Israel they've sinned.
9 Listen to me, you leaders of Jacob's people!
Pay attention, you rulers of Israel!
You hate to do what is fair.
You twist everything that is right.
10 You build up Zion by spilling the blood of others.
You build Jerusalem by doing what is evil.
11 Your judges take money from people
who want special favours.
Your priests teach only if they get paid for it.
Your prophets won't tell fortunes
unless they receive money.
But you still look for the Lord's help.
You say, ‘The Lord is with us.
No trouble will come on us.’
12 So because of what you have done,
Zion will be ploughed up like a field.
Jerusalem will be turned into a pile of rubble.
The temple hill will be covered with bushes and weeds.
1:1–3:12 The towns and cities of the northern kingdom followed the example of Samaria. The towns and cities of the southern kingdom followed the example of Jerusalem. In the same way, the people of each kingdom followed the example of their leaders. Their leaders included rulers, kings, prophets, judges and priests. Samaria, Jerusalem, and the leaders taught God's people to hate what is good. They taught them to love what is evil. They taught them to worship false gods instead of worshipping only God. They taught God's people to rob, cheat and drink too much alcohol. They taught them to treat needy people badly. Prophets cared more about making money than about speaking messages from God. Priests cared more about making money than about teaching people the Law of Moses. Judges didn't make their decisions based on what was right and fair. They made decisions based on who paid them money. All of these things went against how God wanted people to live. In the Mount Sinai covenant God had taught his people his ways for living. The leaders and people knew that God had made a covenant with them. They knew that God is patient. But they used God's patience as an excuse to keep sinning. Micah spoke to the people and the leaders of the northern and southern kingdoms. He told them all the wrong things that they were doing. He shared God's messages of judgement as poems. The Spirit of the Lord made him brave enough to speak against them. This is the Holy Spirit. Micah announced what would happen because God's people continued to sin. God would bring judgement against them. Samaria and the northern kingdom would be destroyed by Assyria. Jerusalem and the southern kingdom would be destroyed by Babylon.