Micah 3

NEW JERUSALEM	CATHOLIC PUBLIC DOMAIN
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,	1 And I said: Listen, leaders of Jacob and chiefs of the house of Israel. Does it not belong to you to know judgment,
2 and yet you hate what is good and love what is evil, skinning people alive, pul ing the flesh off theirbones,	2 you who hold hatred for good, and love evil, who violently steal their skins from over them and their flesh from over their bones?
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?'	3 They have devoured the flesh of my people, and have stripped their skin from over them, and they have shattered and chopped their bones, as if for the kettle, and like flesh in the middle of the pot.
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.	4 Then they will cry out to the Lord, and he will not heed them. And he will hide his face from them in that time, just as they have acted wickedly with their inventions.
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.	5 Thus says the Lord about the prophets who seduce my people: They bite with their teeth and preach peace, and if anyone does not give something to their mouth, they sanctify a battle against him.
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.	6 Because of this, night will be yours for vision, and darkness yours for divination, and the sun will meet with death over the prophets, and the day will be darkened over them.
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.	7 And those who see visions will be confounded, and the diviners will be confounded. And they will all cover their faces, because there is no response from God.
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.	8 Nevertheless, truly I have been filled with the strength of the Spirit of the Lord, with judgment and virtue, in order to announce to Jacob his wickedness and to Israel his sin.
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,	9 Hear this, leaders of the house of Jacob and judges of the house of Israel, you who abominate judgment and who pervert all that is right.
10 who build Zion with blood, and Jerusalem with iniquity!	10 You build up Zion with blood, and Jerusalem with iniquity.
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.'	11 Her leaders have judged for tributes, and her priests have taught for payment, and her prophets divined for money. And they leaned upon the Lord, saying: “Is not the Lord in our midst? No disaster will overcome us.”
12 That is why, thanks to you, Zion will become ploughland, Jerusalem a heap of rubble and the TempleMount a wooded height.	12 For this reason, because of you, Zion will be plowed under like a field, and Jerusalem will become like a pile of stones, and the mountain of the temple like the high places of the forests.