Micah 3:9
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.
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.”
This was said to Israel at a particular time, so it is wise to read it together with the surrounding text. Do read the surrounding verses too, because the context often says more than a single verse.
Compare
- BSB
- 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,
- KJV
- Hear this, I pray you, ye heads of the house of Jacob, and princes of the house of Israel, that abhor judgment, and pervert all equity.
- WEB
- Please listen to this, you heads of the house of Jacob, and rulers of the house of Israel, who abhor justice, and pervert all equity,
- ASV
- Hear this, I pray you, ye heads of the house of Jacob, and rulers of the house of Israel, that abhor justice, and pervert all equity.
- DARBY
- Hear this, I pray you, ye heads of the house of Jacob, and princes of the house of Israel, that abhor judgment, and pervert all equity,
- BLB
- Hear this now, O heads of the house of Jacob, and rulers of the house of Israel, those abhorring justice, and all that is upright, they pervert,
- ÅB
- Hør dette, dere høvdinger over Jakobs hus
og dere ledere for Israels hus,
dere som avskyr rett
og gjør krokete alt som er rett! - OTB
- Nå hør dette, dere ledere av Jakobs hus
Og herskere over Israels hus,
Som forakter rettferdighet
Og fordreier det som er rett, - B1930
- Hør dette, I høvdinger over Jakobs hus og I dommere for Israels hus, I som avskyr rett og gjør det kroket alt det som er bent,
Study notes (Tyndale)
Original text and word study
Cross references
Isaiah 1:23
Your 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 in contextPsalms 58:1–2
Do you indeed speak justly, O rulers? Do you judge uprightly, O sons of men?
Read in contextProverbs 17:15
Acquitting the guilty and condemning the righteous— both are detestable to the LORD.
Read in contextDeuteronomy 27:19
‘Cursed is he who withholds justice from the foreigner, the fatherless, or the widow.’ And let all the people say, ‘Amen!’
Read in contextHosea 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 in contextMicah 3:1
Then I said: “Hear now, O leaders of Jacob, you rulers of the house of Israel. Should you not know justice?
Read in contextJeremiah 5:28
They have grown fat and sleek, and have excelled in the deeds of the wicked. They have not taken up the cause of the fatherless, that they might prosper; nor have they defended the rights of the needy.
Read in contextExodus 3:16
Go, assemble the elders of Israel and say to them, ‘The LORD, the God of your fathers—the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob—has appeared to me and said: I have surely attended to you and have seen what has been done to you in Egypt.
Read in context