Micah 3:8-11

3:8 But I ¹  am full of the courage that the Lord’s Spirit gives,

and have a strong commitment to justice. ² 

This enables me to confront Jacob with its rebellion,

and Israel with its sin. ³ 

3:9 Listen to this, you leaders of the family ⁴  of Jacob,

you rulers of the nation ⁵  of Israel!

You ⁶  hate justice

and pervert all that is right.

3:10 You ⁷  build Zion through bloody crimes, ⁸ 

Jerusalem ⁹  through unjust violence.

3:11 Her ¹⁰  leaders take bribes when they decide legal cases, ¹¹ 

her priests proclaim rulings for profit,

and her prophets read omens for pay.

Yet they claim to trust ¹²  the Lord and say,

“The Lord is among us. ¹³ 

Disaster will not overtake ¹⁴  us!”

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¹ sn The prophet Micah speaks here and contrasts himself with the mercenaries just denounced by the Lord in the preceding verses.

² tn Heb “am full of power, the Spirit of the Lord, and justice and strength.” The appositional phrase “the Spirit of the Lord” explains the source of the prophet’s power. The phrase “justice and strength” is understood here as a hendiadys, referring to the prophet’s strong sense of justice.

³ tn Heb “to declare to Jacob his rebellion and to Israel his sin.” The words “this enables me” are supplied in the translation for clarification.

⁴ tn Heb “house.”

⁵ tn Heb “house.”

⁶ tn Heb “who.” A new sentence was begun here in the translation for stylistic reasons (also at the beginning of v. 10).

⁷ tn Heb “who.”

⁸ tn Heb “bloodshed” (so NAB, NASB, NIV); NLT “murder.”

⁹ map For location see Map5-B1; Map6-F3; Map7-E2; Map8-F2; Map10-B3; JP1-F4; JP2-F4; JP3-F4; JP4-F4.

¹⁰ sn The pronoun Her refers to Jerusalem (note the previous line).

¹¹ tn Heb “judge for a bribe.”

¹² tn Heb “they lean upon” (so KJV, NIV, NRSV); NAB “rely on.”

¹³ tn Heb “Is not the Lord in our midst?” The rhetorical question expects the answer, “Of course he is!”

¹⁴ tn Or “come upon” (so many English versions); NCV “happen to us”; CEV “come to us.”