WEB

Micah 3

Now the rulers face Micah directly. He charges the 'heads of Jacob' with cannibal imagery: they tear off the people's skin, eat their flesh, break their bones and chop them as meat for the pot. When disaster comes they will cry out, but God will hide his face. The corrupt prophets get their own sentence: night without vision, the sun setting on them, no answer from God.

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English + Português (Portugal)

Micah 3 (WEB)

1
I said, “Please listen, you heads of Jacob, and rulers of the house of Israel: Isn’t it for you to know justice?
2
You who hate the good, and love the evil; who tear off their skin, and their flesh from off their bones;
3
who also eat the flesh of my people, and peel their skin from off them, and break their bones, and chop them in pieces, as for the pot, and as meat within the cauldron.
4
Then they will cry to the LORD, but he will not answer them. Yes, he will hide his face from them at that time, because they made their deeds evil.”
5
The LORD says concerning the prophets who lead my people astray—for those who feed their teeth, they proclaim, “Peace!” and whoever doesn’t provide for their mouths, they prepare war against him:
6
“Therefore night is over you, with no vision, and it is dark to you, that you may not divine; and the sun will go down on the prophets, and the day will be black over them.
7
The seers shall be disappointed, and the diviners confounded. Yes, they shall all cover their lips, for there is no answer from God.”
8
But as for me, I am full of power by the LORD’s Spirit, and of judgment, and of might, to declare to Jacob his disobedience, and to Israel his sin.
9
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,
10
who build up Zion with blood, and Jerusalem with iniquity.
11
Her leaders judge for bribes, and her priests teach for a price, and her prophets of it tell fortunes for money; yet they lean on the LORD, and say, “Isn’t the LORD among us? No disaster will come on us.”
12
Therefore Zion for your sake will be plowed like a field, and Jerusalem will become heaps of rubble, and the mountain of the temple like the high places of a forest.

Miqueias 3 (WPB)

1
Eu disse, “Por favor, ouçam, vocês, chefes de Jacó, e governantes da casa de Israel: Não cabe a vocês conhecer a justiça?
2
Vocês que odeiam o bem, e amam o mal; que arrancam a pele deles, e a carne dos seus ossos;
3
que também comem a carne do meu povo, e lhes arrancam a pele, e quebram os seus ossos, e os cortam em pedaços, como para a panela, e como carne dentro do caldeirão.
4
Então eles clamarão ao SENHOR, mas ele não lhes responderá. Sim, ele esconderá o seu rosto deles naquele tempo, porque tornaram más as suas obras.”
5
Assim diz o SENHOR a respeito dos profetas que desviam o meu povo — para aqueles que alimentam os seus dentes, eles proclamam: “Paz!”; e contra quem não provê para as suas bocas, preparam guerra:
6
“Portanto, a noite está sobre vocês, sem visão, e há trevas para vocês, para que não possam adivinhar; e o sol se porá sobre os profetas, e o dia escurecerá sobre eles.
7
Os videntes ficarão envergonhados, e os adivinhos, confundidos. Sim, todos eles cobrirão os seus lábios, porque não há resposta de Deus.”
8
Mas, quanto a mim, estou cheio de poder pelo Espírito do SENHOR, e de juízo, e de força, para declarar a Jacó a sua desobediência, e a Israel o seu pecado.
9
Por favor, ouçam isto, vocês, chefes da casa de Jacó, e governantes da casa de Israel, que abominam a justiça, e pervertem toda a equidade,
10
que edificam Sião com sangue, e Jerusalém com iniquidade.
11
Seus líderes julgam por suborno, e seus sacerdotes ensinam por um preço, e seus profetas adivinham por dinheiro; contudo, eles se apoiam no SENHOR, e dizem: “O SENHOR não está no meio de nós? Nenhum mal virá sobre nós.”
12
Portanto, por causa de vocês, Sião será arada como um campo, e Jerusalém se tornará em montões de ruínas, e o monte do templo, como os lugares altos de uma floresta.

A prophet who knows what he is

Against the seers who cover their lips in shame, Micah declares himself filled with the LORD's Spirit, justice and might, to tell Jacob his sin (v.8). It is one of the Bible's most direct prophetic self-definitions.

The chapter ends with a verdict later remembered by Jerusalem's elders: because leaders judge for bribes while leaning on the LORD, 'Zion will be plowed like a field' and the temple mount left a wooded ruin (v.12).