Micah 3

NEW AMERICAN BIBLE	NEW JERUSALEM
1 And I said: Hear, you leaders of Jacob, rulers of the house of Israel! Is it not your duty to know what is right,	1 Then I said, 'Kindly listen, you leaders of the House of Jacob, you princes of the House of Israel. Surelyyou are the ones who ought to know what is right,
2 you who hate what is good, and love evil? You who tear their skin from them, and their flesh from their bones!	2 and yet you hate what is good and love what is evil, skinning people alive, pul ing the flesh off theirbones,
3 They eat the flesh of my people, and flay their skin from them, and break their bones. They chop them in pieces like flesh in a kettle, and like meat in a caldron.	3 eating my people's flesh, stripping off their skin, breaking up their bones, chopping them up smal likeflesh for the pot, like meat in the stew-pan?'
4 When they cry to the LORD, he shall not answer them; Rather shall he hide his face from them at that time, because of the evil they have done.	4 Then they wil cal to Yahweh, but he wil not answer them. When the time comes he will hide his facefrom them because of the crimes they have committed.
5 Thus says the LORD regarding the prophets who lead my people astray; Who, when their teeth have something to bite, announce peace, But when one fails to put something in their mouth, proclaim war against him.	5 Yahweh says this against the prophets who lead my people astray: So long as they have something toeat they cry 'Peace'. But on anyone who puts nothing into their mouths they declare war.
6 Therefore you shall have night, not vision, darkness, not divination; The sun shall go down upon the prophets, and the day shall be dark for them.	6 And so, for you, night wil be without vision and for you the darkness without divination. The sun wil setfor the prophets, the daylight will go black above them.
7 Then shall the seers be put to shame, and the diviners confounded; They shall cover their lips, all of them, because there is no answer from God.	7 Then the seers wil be covered with shame, the diviners with confusion; they wil al put their hands overtheir mouths because there is no answer from God.
8 But as for me, I am filled with power, with the spirit of the LORD, with authority and with might; To declare to Jacob his crimes and to Israel his sins.	8 Not so with me, I am ful of strength (ful of Yahweh's spirit), of the sense of right, of energy to accuseJacob of his crime and Israel of his sin.
9 Hear this, you leaders of the house of Jacob, you rulers of the house of Israel! You who abhor what is just, and pervert all that is right;	9 Kindly listen to this, you leaders of the House of Jacob, you princes of the House of Israel, who detestjustice, wresting it from its honest course,
10 Who build up Zion with bloodshed, and Jerusalem with wickedness!	10 who build Zion with blood, and Jerusalem with iniquity!
11 Her leaders render judgment for a bribe, her priests give decisions for a salary, her prophets divine for money, While they rely on the LORD, saying, "Is not the LORD in the midst of us? No evil can come upon us!"	11 Her leaders give verdicts for presents, her priests take a fee for their rulings, her prophets divine formoney and yet they rely on Yahweh! 'Isn't Yahweh among us?' they say, 'No disaster is going to overtake us.'
12 Therefore, because of you, Zion shall be plowed like a field, and Jerusalem reduced to rubble, And the mount of the temple to a forest ridge.	12 That is why, thanks to you, Zion will become ploughland, Jerusalem a heap of rubble and the TempleMount a wooded height.