Micah 3 - 4 — Legacy Standard Bible

Yahweh Will Not Answer

3And I said, “^aHear now, heads of JacobAnd rulers of the house of Israel.Is it not for you to ^bknow justice?

²“You who hate good and love evil,Who ^atear off their skin from themAnd their flesh from their bones,³And who ^aeat the flesh of my people,Strip off their skin from them,Break their bones,And ^bspread them out as for the potAnd as meat in a caldron.”⁴Then they will ^acry out to Yahweh,But He will not answer them.Instead, He will ^bhide His face from them at that timeBecause they have ^cpracticed evil deeds.

⁵Thus says Yahweh concerning the prophets who ^alead my people astray; When they have something to bite with their teeth,They ^bcall out, “Peace,”But against him who puts nothing in their mouths,They set themselves apart for war.

⁶Therefore it will be ^anight for you—without vision,And darkness for you—without divination.The ^bsun will go down on the prophets,And the day will grow black over them.⁷The seers will be ^aashamed,And the ^bdiviners will be humiliated.Indeed, they will all ^ccover their ¹mouthsBecause there is ^dno answer from God.⁸On the other hand ^aI am filled with power—With the Spirit of Yahweh—And with justice and mightTo ^bdeclare to Jacob his transgression,Even to Israel his sin.⁹Now hear this, ^aheads of the house of JacobAnd rulers of the house of Israel,Who ^babhor justiceAnd twist everything that is straight,¹⁰Who ^abuild Zion with bloodshedAnd Jerusalem with violent injustice.¹¹Her heads pronounce ^ajudgment for a bribe,And her ^bpriests instruct for a price,And her prophets divine for money.Yet they lean on Yahweh saying,“^cIs not Yahweh in our midst?Evil will not come upon us.”¹²Therefore, on account of you^aZion will be plowed as a field;^bJerusalem will become a heap of ruins,And the ^cmountain of the house of God will become high places of a forest.

The Law Will Go Forth from Zion

4Now it will be that in the ^alast daysThe ^bmountain of the house of YahwehWill be established ¹as the head of the mountains,And will be lifted up above the hills,And the ^cpeoples will stream to it.²^aAnd many nations will come and say,“^bCome and let us go up to the mountain of YahwehAnd to the house of the God of Jacob,That ^cHe may instruct us from His waysAnd that we may walk in His paths.”For ^dfrom Zion will go forth the law,And the word of Yahweh from Jerusalem.³And He will ^ajudge between many peoplesAnd will render decisions for mighty, ¹distant nations.And they will hammer their swords ^binto plowsharesAnd their spears into pruning hooks;Nation will not lift up sword against nation,And never again will they learn war.⁴And each of them will ^asit under his vineAnd under his fig tree,With ^bno one to make them tremble,For the ^cmouth of Yahweh of hosts has spoken.⁵Though all the peoples walkEach in the ^aname of his god,As for us, ^bwe will walkIn the name of ^cYahweh our God forever and ever.⁶“In that day,” declares Yahweh,“I will assemble the ^alameAnd ^bgather the banished,Even those upon whom I have brought calamity.⁷“I will make the lame a ^aremnantAnd the outcasts a mighty nation,And ^bYahweh will reign over them in Mount ZionFrom now on and forever.⁸“And as for you, ¹^,^atower of the flock,²Hill of the daughter of Zion,To you it will come—Even the ^bformer dominion will come,The kingdom of the daughter of Jerusalem.⁹“Now, why do you ^amake a loud shout?Is there no king among you,Or has your ^bcounselor perished,That writhing has taken hold of you like a woman in childbirth?¹⁰“^aWrithe and labor to give birth,Daughter of Zion,Like a woman in childbirth;For now you will ^bgo out of the city,Dwell in the field,And go to Babylon.^cThere you will be delivered;^dThere Yahweh will redeem youFrom the hand of your enemies.¹¹“But now ^amany nations have been assembled against youWho say, ‘Let her be polluted,And let our eyes behold Zion in triumph.’¹²“But they do not ^aknow the thoughts of Yahweh,And they do not understand His counsel;For He has gathered them like sheaves to the threshing floor.¹³“Arise and ^athresh, daughter of Zion,For your horn I will make iron,And your hoofs I will make bronze,That you may ^bpulverize many peoples,That you may ^cdevote to Yahweh their greedy gain unto destructionAnd their wealth to the Lord of all the earth.