TORAH
FIVE BOOKS OF MOSES
NEVI'IM
PROPHETS
KETUVIM
WRITINGS

Micah - Chapter 3

Listen to this chapter in Hebrew:

1I said: Listen, you rulers of Yaakov, You chiefs of the House of Yisrael! For you ought to know what is right,

אוָאֹמַר שִׁמְעוּ־נָא רָאשֵׁי יַעֲקֹב וּקְצִינֵי בֵּית יִשְׂרָאֵל הֲלוֹא לָכֶם לָדַעַת אֶת־הַמִּשְׁפָּט׃

2But you hate good and love evil.

בשֹׂנְאֵי טוֹב וְאֹהֲבֵי רעה [רָע] גֹּזְלֵי עוֹרָם מֵעֲלֵיהֶם וּשְׁאֵרָם מֵעַל עַצְמוֹתָם׃

3You have devoured My people's flesh; You have flayed the skin off them, And their flesh off their bones. And after tearing their skins off them, And their flesh off their bones,* And breaking their bones to bits, You have cut it up as into a pot, Like meat in a caldron.

גוַאֲשֶׁר אָכְלוּ שְׁאֵר עַמִּי וְעוֹרָם מֵעֲלֵיהֶם הִפְשִׁיטוּ וְאֶת־עַצְמֹתֵיהֶם פִּצֵּחוּ וּפָרְשׂוּ כַּאֲשֶׁר בַּסִּיר וּכְבָשָׂר בְּתוֹךְ קַלָּחַת׃

4Someday they shall cry out to Hashem, But He will not answer them; At that time He will hide His face from them, In accordance with the wrongs they have done.

דאָז יִזְעֲקוּ אֶל־יְהֹוָה וְלֹא יַעֲנֶה אוֹתָם וְיַסְתֵּר פָּנָיו מֵהֶם בָּעֵת הַהִיא כַּאֲשֶׁר הֵרֵעוּ מַעַלְלֵיהֶם׃

5Thus said Hashem to the Neviim Who lead My people astray, Who cry “Peace!” When they have something to chew, But launch a war on him Who fails to fill their mouths:

הכֹּה אָמַר יְהֹוָה עַל־הַנְּבִיאִים הַמַּתְעִים אֶת־עַמִּי הַנֹּשְׁכִים בְּשִׁנֵּיהֶם וְקָרְאוּ שָׁלוֹם וַאֲשֶׁר לֹא־יִתֵּן עַל־פִּיהֶם וְקִדְּשׁוּ עָלָיו מִלְחָמָה׃

6Assuredly, It shall be night for you So that you cannot prophesy, And it shall be dark for you So that you cannot divine; The sun shall set on the Neviim, And the day shall be darkened for them.

ולָכֵן לַיְלָה לָכֶם מֵחָזוֹן וְחָשְׁכָה לָכֶם מִקְּסֹם וּבָאָה הַשֶּׁמֶשׁ עַל־הַנְּבִיאִים וְקָדַר עֲלֵיהֶם הַיּוֹם׃

7The seers shall be shamed And the diviners confounded; They shall cover their upper lips, Because no response comes from Hashem.

זוּבֹשׁוּ הַחֹזִים וְחָפְרוּ הַקֹּסְמִים וְעָטוּ עַל־שָׂפָם כֻּלָּם כִּי אֵין מַעֲנֵה אֱלֹהִים׃

8But I, I am filled with strength by the spirit of Hashem, And with judgment and courage, To declare to Yaakov his transgressions And to Yisrael his sin.

חוְאוּלָם אָנֹכִי מָלֵאתִי כֹחַ אֶת־רוּחַ יְהֹוָה וּמִשְׁפָּט וּגְבוּרָה לְהַגִּיד לְיַעֲקֹב פִּשְׁעוֹ וּלְיִשְׂרָאֵל חַטָּאתוֹ׃

9Hear this, you rulers of the House of Yaakov, You chiefs of the House of Yisrael, Who detest justice And make crooked all that is straight,

טשִׁמְעוּ־נָא זֹאת רָאשֵׁי בֵּית יַעֲקֹב וּקְצִינֵי בֵּית יִשְׂרָאֵל הַמֲתַעֲבִים מִשְׁפָּט וְאֵת כָּל־הַיְשָׁרָה יְעַקֵּשׁוּ׃

10Who build Tzion with crime, Yerushalayim with iniquity!

bo-NEH tzi-YON b'-da-MEEM vee-ru-sha-LA-im b'-av-LAH

יבֹּנֶה צִיּוֹן בְּדָמִים וִירוּשָׁלַ ִם בְּעַוְלָה׃

The Yemin Moshe neighborhood of Jerusalem.

3:10  Who build Tzion with crime

In the eighth century BCE, wealthy landowners and traders began to build lavishes mansions, summer and winter houses in the cities. They did this with wealth they had acquired through crime and dishonesty, by oppressing the poor and expropriating the properties of smaller landowners. Micha describes the sickness: “Who build Tzion with crime, Yerushalayim with iniquity!”, and his contemporary Yeshayahu described the cure: “Tzion shall be saved in the judgment; Her repentant ones, in the retribution” (Isaiah. 1:27).

11Her rulers judge for gifts, Her Kohanim give rulings for a fee, And her Neviim divine for pay; Yet they rely upon Hashem, saying, “Hashem is in our midst; No calamity shall overtake us.”

יארָאשֶׁיהָ בְּשֹׁחַד יִשְׁפֹּטוּ וְכֹהֲנֶיהָ בִּמְחִיר יוֹרוּ וּנְבִיאֶיהָ בְּכֶסֶף יִקְסֹמוּ וְעַל־יְהֹוָה יִשָּׁעֵנוּ לֵאמֹר הֲלוֹא יְהֹוָה בְּקִרְבֵּנוּ לֹא־תָבוֹא עָלֵינוּ רָעָה׃

12Assuredly, because of you Tzion shall be plowed as a field, And Yerushalayim shall become heaps of ruins, And the Har Habayit A shrine in the woods.

יבלָכֵן בִּגְלַלְכֶם צִיּוֹן שָׂדֶה תֵחָרֵשׁ וִירוּשָׁלַ ִם עִיִּין תִּהְיֶה וְהַר הַבַּיִת לְבָמוֹת יָעַר׃