Micah 2:6

God sent his *prophets to warn the people about their *sins. But these rich people did not want to listen to God’s message. Instead, they appointed their own *prophets (called the ‘false *prophets’) to advise them. But these false *prophets did not really speak God’s message. Instead they said whatever the rich people wanted them to say. And the false *prophets told the real *prophets not to declare God’s message. The false *prophets said that nothing bad would happen. They pretended that God was not really angry.

When people do bad things, they often try to find an excuse for their behaviour. They do not tell the truth. Micah, Hosea and Isaiah warn the rich people about their wicked deeds. So the rich people do not approve of these *prophets. But real *prophets must speak against lies.

But the rich people did not want the *prophets to talk about those bad activities. The rich people were traders and employers. Trade is about property, money and markets. The traders thought that the *prophets did not understand these things. The traders wanted their *prophets to speak about religion. The *prophet’s job should be to talk about religion, prayer and similar things. *Prophets understood such things. But they should not talk about people’s behaviour. Trade was not the responsibility of a *prophet. That is what the rich people said.

The rich people said that nothing bad would happen to them. They were confident about that. They were very proud people.