Micah · Bible in Basic English
Micah 3 Bible in Basic English
Audio: World English Bible (WEB), read by Winfred W. Henson · About the recordings
1 And I said, Give ear, now, you heads of Jacob and rulers of the people of Israel: is it not for you to have knowledge of what is right?
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 are haters of good and lovers of evil, pulling off their skin from them and their flesh from their bones;
2 You who hate the good, and love the evil; who tear off their skin, and their flesh from off their bones;
3 Like meat they take the flesh of my people for their food, skinning them and crushing their bones, yes, cutting them up as if for the pot, like flesh inside the cooking-pot.
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 be crying to the Lord for help, but he will not give them an answer: yes, he will keep his face veiled from them at that time, because their acts have been evil.
4 Then they will cry to Yahweh, but he will not answer them. Yes, he will hide his face from them at that time, because they made their deeds evil.”
5 This is what the Lord has said about the prophets by whom my people have been turned from the right way; who, biting with their teeth, say, Peace; and if anyone puts nothing in their mouths they make ready for war against him.
5 Yahweh 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 For this cause it will be night for you, without a vision; and it will be dark for you, without knowledge of the future; the sun will go down over the prophets, and the day will be black over them.
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 And the seers will be shamed, and the readers of the future will be at a loss, all of them covering their lips; for there is no answer from God.
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 I truly am full of the spirit of the Lord, with power of judging and with strength to make clear to Jacob his wrongdoing and to Israel his sin.
8 But as for me, I am full of power by Yahweh’s Spirit, and of judgment, and of might, to declare to Jacob his disobedience, and to Israel his sin.
9 Then give ear to this, you heads of the children of Jacob, you rulers of the children of Israel, hating what is right, twisting what is straight.
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 They are building up Zion with blood, and Jerusalem with evil-doing.
10 who build up Zion with blood, and Jerusalem with iniquity.
11 Its heads take rewards for judging, and the priests take payment for teaching, and the prophets get silver for reading the future: but still, supporting themselves on the Lord, they say, Is not the Lord among us? no evil will overtake us.
11 Her leaders judge for bribes, and her priests teach for a price, and her prophets tell fortunes for money; yet they lean on Yahweh, and say, “Isn’t Yahweh among us? No disaster will come on us.”
12 For this reason, Zion will be ploughed like a field because of you, and Jerusalem will become a mass of broken walls, and the mountain of the house like a high place in the woods.
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.
Cross references (12)
Related passages for each verse, from the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge as collected and ranked by readers at OpenBible.info.
- 1 Psalm 82:1–5; Isaiah 1:10; Jeremiah 5:4–5; Hosea 5:1; 1 Corinthians 6:5
- 2 Ezekiel 22:27; Psalm 53:4; Proverbs 28:4; 1 Kings 21:20; 2 Chronicles 19:2
- 3 Psalm 14:4; Ezekiel 11:3; Ezekiel 11:6–7; Zephaniah 3:3
- 4 Isaiah 1:15; Proverbs 1:28; Ezekiel 8:18; Psalm 18:41; Deuteronomy 32:19–20
- 5 Jeremiah 14:14–15; Jeremiah 6:14; Ezekiel 22:25–29; Ezekiel 13:10–16; Jeremiah 23:32
- 6 Isaiah 8:20–22; Isaiah 29:10; Amos 8:9–10; Isaiah 59:10; Jeremiah 13:16
- 7 Isaiah 44:25; Zechariah 13:4; 1 Samuel 28:6; Amos 8:11; Leviticus 13:45
- 8 Isaiah 58:1; 1 Corinthians 2:12–13; 1 Corinthians 2:4; Isaiah 11:2–3; Acts 4:8–12
- 9 Isaiah 1:23; Psalm 58:1–2; Proverbs 17:15; Deuteronomy 27:19; Hosea 5:1
- 10 Habakkuk 2:9–12; Jeremiah 22:13–17; Matthew 27:25; Zephaniah 3:3; Ezekiel 22:25–28
- 11 Jeremiah 6:13; Isaiah 1:23; Micah 3:5; Titus 1:11; Jeremiah 7:4
- 12 Jeremiah 26:18; Psalm 79:1; Micah 4:1–2; Matthew 24:2; Psalm 107:34
Cross references: OpenBible.info (CC BY), drawn mainly from the public-domain Treasury of Scripture Knowledge. · Sources & licences
What the Fathers said
Passages from the Church Fathers that expound or quote this chapter, verbatim from the public-domain Schaff edition (19th-century English translations).
How these were chosen
“Commentary” is the opening of a homily or exposition on this chapter (John Chrysostom’s homilies, Augustine’s tractates, sermons and expositions of the Psalms). “Quotes” are sentences where the edition’s own footnotes identify a quotation of a verse here, kept only when the wording matches the verse. Only works whose authorship is not in doubt are used. Psalms follow the Hebrew/English numbering (Augustine numbers them as the Septuagint does: his Psalm 50 is Psalm 51 here).
… declared when He said, "Fill ye up the measure of your fathers." For from the first the prophets used to charge them with these things, saying, "Your hands are full of blood;" and, "They mingle blood with blood;" and, "They build up Sion with blood." But they did not learn self-restraint, albeit they received this commandment first, "Thou shalt not …
Read in context · Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, series 1, vol. 10 (1888)
The city was still standing, and beautified with public places, and robed in majesty; yet he says, Zion shall be ploughed as a field, foretelling what is now fulfilled in our days.
Read in context · Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, series 2, vol. 7 (1894)
the Holy Ghost; as when Micah says in the person of God, surely I will perfect power by the Spirit the Lord; and Joel cries, And it shall come to pass afterwards, saith God, that I will pour out My Spirit upon all flesh, and the rest; and Haggai, Because I am with you, saith the Lord of Hosts; …
Read in context · Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, series 2, vol. 7 (1894)