And I said, Hear, I pray you, O heads of Jacob, the leading men of the nation, AND YE PRINCES OF THE HOUSE OF ISRAEL, in whose hands was the administration of justice:. IS IT NOT FOR YOU TO KNOW JUDGMENT? to give heed to that which is right and just.... [ Continue Reading ]
THE SINS OF THE RULERS AND THE DESOLATION OF ZION. Also in this Chapter the discourse is directed to the nobility of the people, who abused the authority of their high official station by oppressing the poor and abandoning the way of justice.... [ Continue Reading ]
Who hate the good and love the evil, doing just the opposite of that which their station required of them; WHO PLUCK OFF THEIR SKIN FROM OFF THEM, as though flaying the children of their people, AND THEIR FLESH FROM OFF THEIR BONES, robbing them of their most precious possessions,... [ Continue Reading ]
who also eat the flesh of My people, the address here turning to the third person, since the princes, as it were, turned away from the message intended to call them to repentance, AND FLAY THEIR SKIN FROM OFF THEM; AND THEY BREAK THEIR BONES AND CHOP THEM IN PIECES, AS FOR THE POT, AND AS FLESH WITH... [ Continue Reading ]
Then shall they, the guilty ones, CRY UNTO THE LORD, BUT HE WILL NOT HEAR THEM, namely, at the time of the revelation of His wrath; HE WILL EVEN HIDE HIS FACE FROM THEM AT THAT TIME, refusing to pay the slightest attention to their distress, AS THEY HAVE BEHAVED THEMSELVES ILL IN THEIR DOINGS, and w... [ Continue Reading ]
Thus saith the Lord concerning the prophets, namely, the false prophets, who presumed to speak in the name of the Lord without being sent, THAT MAKE MY PEOPLE ERR, leading them astray, THAT BITE WITH THEIR TEETH AND CRY, PEACE! that is, who, if they have anything to bite with their teeth, when they... [ Continue Reading ]
Therefore night shall be unto you that ye shall not have a vision, being excluded from the light granted by the Spirit of God; AND IT SHALL BE DARK UNTO YOU THAT YE SHALL NOT DIVINE, be granted no revelation of the future; AND THE SUN SHALL GO DOWN OVER THE PROPHETS, namely, the sun of salvation and... [ Continue Reading ]
Then shall the seers be ashamed, be disgraced on account of the fact that their predictions are not fulfilled, AND THE DIVINERS CONFOUNDED, blushing with shame on account of their miserable failures in trying to uncover the future; YEA, THEY SHALL ALL COVER THEIR LIPS, literally, "their beard," thei... [ Continue Reading ]
But, truly, I am full of power by the Spirit of the Lord, Micah here placing his own person in opposition to the false prophets, AND OF JUDGMENT, the divine right which he was sent to proclaim, AND OF MIGHT, of a virile and unflinching power, TO DECLARE UNTO JACOB HIS TRANSGRESSION AND TO ISRAEL HIS... [ Continue Reading ]
Hear this, I pray you, ye heads of the house of Jacob and princes of the house of Israel, the very leaders whose wickedness had been described in the first part of the Chapter, THAT ABHOR JUDGMENT, everything that was right and good, AND PERVERT ALL EQUITY, making crooked that which should have been... [ Continue Reading ]
They build up Zion with blood, with blood-guiltiness, AND JERUSALEM WITH INIQUITY, caring only for gain and bloodshed in building their stately mansions, their wealth being obtained by the condemnation and murder of the innocent.... [ Continue Reading ]
The heads thereof judge for reward, being influenced in their decisions by bribe money, AND THE PRIESTS THEREOF TEACH FOR HIRE, for additional fees, although the Law required that they decide controversies without pay, AND THE PROPHETS THEREOF DIVINE FOR MONEY, their oracles being fashioned accordin... [ Continue Reading ]
Therefore shall Zion for your sake, on account of their wickedness in making the Lord's Temple a den of murderers, BE PLOWED AS A FIELD, the king's quarter turned into tillable soil, AND JERUSALEM, the rest of the city, SHALL BECOME HEAPS, piles of broken stones, AND THE MOUNTAIN OF THE HOUSE, that... [ Continue Reading ]