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The Prophets · Old Testament

Micah 3

Micah 3: rulers who devour the people and prophets who divine for money

General context

The speaker says "And I said" and calls the heads of Jacob and princes of Israel to hear, asking whether it is not for them to know judgment. They hate good and love evil, pluck skin from the people, eat their flesh, break their bones and chop them as for the pot. When they cry to the Lord he will not hear but will hide his face. The Lord then speaks concerning the prophets who make his people err, who cry "Peace" when fed and prepare war against anyone who does not feed them. Night and darkness will come on them so they have no vision; the seers will be ashamed and cover their lips because there is no answer from God. The speaker sets himself apart, full of power by the spirit of the Lord to declare to Jacob his transgression. The address to the heads and princes resumes: they abhor judgment, build Zion with blood, judge for reward, teach for hire and divine for money, yet lean on the Lord and say no evil can come. Therefore Zion will be plowed as a field, Jerusalem will become heaps and the mountain of the house will be like high places of the forest.

Cited passages: Micah 3:1, Micah 3:2, Micah 3:3, Micah 3:4, Micah 3:5, Micah 3:6, Micah 3:7, Micah 3:8, Micah 3:9, Micah 3:10, Micah 3:11, Micah 3:12

Micah 3 (KJV)

1And I said, Hear, I pray you, O heads of Jacob, and ye princes of the house of Israel; Is it not for you to know judgment?

2Who hate the good, and love the evil; who pluck off their skin from off them, and their flesh from off their bones;

3Who also eat the flesh of my people, and flay their skin from off them; and they break their bones, and chop them in pieces, as for the pot, and as flesh within the caldron.

4Then shall they cry unto the Lord, but he will not hear them: he will even hide his face from them at that time, as they have behaved themselves ill in their doings.

5Thus saith the Lord concerning the prophets that make my people err, that bite with their teeth, and cry, Peace; and he that putteth not into their mouths, they even prepare war against him.

6Therefore night shall be unto you, that ye shall not have a vision; and it shall be dark unto you, that ye shall not divine; and the sun shall go down over the prophets, and the day shall be dark over them.

7Then shall the seers be ashamed, and the diviners confounded: yea, they shall all cover their lips; for there is no answer of God.

8But truly I am full of power by the spirit of the Lord, and of judgment, and of might, to declare unto Jacob his transgression, and to Israel his sin.

9Hear this, I pray you, ye heads of the house of Jacob, and princes of the house of Israel, that abhor judgment, and pervert all equity.

10They build up Zion with blood, and Jerusalem with iniquity.

11The heads thereof judge for reward, and the priests thereof teach for hire, and the prophets thereof divine for money: yet will they lean upon the Lord, and say, Is not the Lord among us? none evil can come upon us.

12Therefore shall Zion for your sake be plowed as a field, and Jerusalem shall become heaps, and the mountain of the house as the high places of the forest.

This page shows the King James Version. In the app, reading opens in the Berean Standard Bible unless you have chosen another translation. The reader includes five translations: the Berean Standard Bible (BSB), the King James Version (KJV), the World English Bible (WEB), the Bible in Basic English (BBE), and the American Standard Version (ASV). Search covers three of them: Berean Standard, King James, and World English. Basic English and American Standard readers search the King James words.

Historical context

Three groups are addressed: heads and princes, prophets, and (in verse 11) priests who teach for hire. None is named. Verse 1 opens with "And I said," and verse 8 has the speaker claim power by the spirit of the Lord, so the chapter presents the prophet's own voice alongside "Thus saith the Lord" in verse 5. The complaint against the prophets is specific: they cry Peace when fed and prepare war against the one who does not feed them, and they divine for money. The chapter does not say the prophets are foreign or serve other gods; the charge is hire. The rulers' claim, "Is not the Lord among us? none evil can come upon us," is quoted so that the sentence of verse 12 answers it. Jeremiah 26:18 records elders quoting verse 12 by name, "Micah the Morasthite prophesied in the days of Hezekiah king of Judah," and in Jeremiah 26:19 the elders ask whether Hezekiah put him to death and say that he feared and besought the Lord. Micah's own chapter says nothing about how the words were received. Whether the flesh-eating language is figurative for economic oppression is not stated; the text presents it as image without explanation.

Cited passages: Micah 3:1, Micah 3:5, Micah 3:8, Micah 3:11, Micah 3:12, Jeremiah 26:18, Jeremiah 26:19, Micah 3:3

Literary context

The chapter has two addresses to the heads and princes, verses 1 to 4 and 9 to 12, with the oracle against the prophets set between them and the speaker's self-description at the hinge. Both addresses open with "Hear, I pray you." The butchery sequence of verses 2 and 3 runs from skin to flesh to bones to the pot in a single mounting image. The prophets' fault is drawn as a mouth: they bite with their teeth and cry Peace, and the punishment is that they cover their lips because there is no answer. Darkness replaces vision. Verse 8 breaks the pattern with "But truly I," contrasting one speaker's power with the failed seers. The closing verse turns the rulers' building of Zion into its plowing. Chapter 4 then opens with the same mountain of the house established above the hills, a direct reversal of 3:12.

Cited passages: Micah 3:1, Micah 3:9, Micah 3:2, Micah 3:3, Micah 3:5, Micah 3:7, Micah 3:6, Micah 3:8, Micah 3:10, Micah 3:12, Micah 4:1

Key moments

  1. Hear, heads of Jacob (Micah 3:1). The speaker asks the heads and princes whether it is not for them to know judgment.
  2. Flesh in the caldron (Micah 3:3). The rulers are pictured eating the flesh of the people and chopping their bones.
  3. He will hide his face (Micah 3:4). When they cry, the Lord will not hear them.
  4. Prophets who cry Peace (Micah 3:5). The Lord speaks against prophets who cry Peace when fed and war when not.
  5. No answer of God (Micah 3:7). The seers will be ashamed and cover their lips.
  6. Full of power by the spirit (Micah 3:8). The speaker declares himself full of power to declare Jacob's transgression.
  7. Zion plowed as a field (Micah 3:12). Because of the rulers, Zion will be plowed and Jerusalem become heaps.

For reflection

The rulers say, "Is not the Lord among us? none evil can come upon us," and the reply is that Zion will be plowed. What is the difference between leaning on the Lord and the confidence the chapter condemns?

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