The cruelty of the princes, 1-4. The falsehood of the prophets, 5-7. The ill-grounded security of them both, 8-12.
1 And I said,/
"Hear, I pray you, O heads of Jacob/
and you princes of the house of Israel./
Is it not for you to know judgment?
2 You hate the good and love the evil./
You pluck off their skin from them/
and their flesh from off their bones.
3 You also eat the flesh of my people/
and flay their skin from off them./
You break their bones/
and chop them in pieces,/
as that which is for the pot,/
and as flesh within the cauldron.
4 Then you shall cry to the LORD,/
but he will not hear you./
He will even hide his face from you at that time,/
as you have been ill behaved in your doings."
5 Thus says the LORD concerning the prophets/
who deceive my people,/
who bite with their teeth,/
and cry, "Peace,"/
and he who puts nothing into their mouths,/
they even prepare war against him:
6 "Therefore, night shall be for you/
so that you shall not have a vision./
And it shall be dark for you/
so that you shall not divine./
And the sun shall go down over the prophets,/
and the day shall be dark over them.
7 Then the seers shall be ashamed,/
and the diviners confounded./
Indeed, they shall all cover their lips,/
for there is no answer from God."
8 But truly I am full of power by the Spirit of the LORD,/
and of judgment and of might,/
to declare to Jacob his transgression/
and to Israel his sin.
9 Hear this, I pray you, you heads of the house of Jacob/
and princes of the house of Israel,/
who abhor judgment and pervert all equity.
10 They build up Zion with blood/
and Jerusalem with iniquity.
11 Her heads judge for bribes,/
her priests teach for payment,/
and her prophets divine for money./
Yet they will lean upon the LORD and say,/
"Is the LORD not among us?/
No evil can come upon us."
12 Therefore, Zion for your sake/
shall be plowed as a field,/
Jerusalem shall become heaps,/
and the mountain of the house/
as the high places of the forest.
Matthew Henry Commentary - Micah, Chapter 3[➚]
John Gill's Chapter Summary:
In this chapter the prophet reproves and threatens both princes and prophets, first separately, and then conjunctly; first the heads and princes of the people, civil magistrates, for their ignorance of justice, and hatred of good, and love of evil, and for their oppression and cruelty; and they are threatened with distress when they should cry to the Lord, and should not be heard by him (verses 1-4); next the prophets are taken to task, for their voraciousness, avarice, and false prophesying; and are threatened with darkness, with lack of vision, and of an answer from the Lord, and with shame and confusion (verses 5-7); and the prophet being full of the Spirit and power of God, to declare the sins and transgressions of Jacob and Israel (verse 8), very freely declaims against princes, priests, and prophets, all together; who, though guilty of very notorious crimes, yet were in great security, and promised themselves impunity (verses 9-11); therefore the city and temple of Jerusalem are threatened with an utter desolation (verse 12).
[v.11a] - Reference, Exodus 23:8; Deuteronomy 16:19; Proverbs 15:27, 17:23; Isaiah 1:23; 1st Peter 5:2.
[v.11b] - "money" - Literally, "silver," but is often understood as money in general.