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Read the Bible
THE MESSAGE
Micah 3:1
Bible Study Resources
Concordances:
- Nave'sDictionaries:
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- InternationalParallel Translations
Then I said, “Now listen, leaders of Jacob,
I said, "Please listen, you heads of Ya`akov, And rulers of the house of Yisra'el: Isn't it for you to know justice?
And I said, Heare, I pray you, O heads of Iacob, and ye princes of the house of Israel: is it not for you to know iudgement?
And I said, Hear, I pray you, O heads of Jacob, and ye princes of the house of Israel; Is it not for you to know judgment?
And I said: Hear, you heads of Jacob and rulers of the house of Israel! Is it not for you to know justice?—
And I said, "Hear now, you leaders of Jacob And rulers of the house of Israel: Is it not for you to know justice?
Then I said, "Listen, leaders of the people of Jacob; listen, you rulers of the nation of Israel. You should know how to decide cases fairly,
And I said, "Hear now, heads of Jacob And rulers of the house of Israel. Is it not for you to know and administer justice?
And I sayd, Heare, I pray you, O heads of Iaakob, and yee princes of the house of Israel: should not ye knowe iudgement?
And I said, "Hear now, heads of Jacob And rulers of the house of Israel. Is it not for you to know justice?
And I said,"Hear now, heads of JacobAnd rulers of the house of Israel.Is it not for you to know justice?
Then I said: "Hear now, O leaders of Jacob, you rulers of the house of Israel. Should you not know justice?
Listen to me, you rulers of Israel! You know right from wrong,
"I said, ‘Please listen, leaders of Ya‘akov, rulers of the house of Isra'el: Shouldn't you know what justice is?
And I said, Hear, I pray you, ye heads of Jacob, and princes of the house of Israel: Is it not for you to know judgment?
Then I said, "Listen, leaders of Jacob and officers of the nation of Israel! You should know what justice is.
THEN the LORD said, Hear these things, O you chiefs of the house of Jacob and you princes of the house of Israel: Is it not meet for you to know justice?
Listen, you rulers of Israel! You are supposed to be concerned about justice,
And I said, "Listen, O heads of Jacob and leaders of the house of Israel! Is it not for you to know justice?
And I said, Heads of Jacob and magistrates of the house of Israel, please hear. Is it not for you to know justice?
And I said, Hear, I pray you, ye heads of Jacob, and rulers of the house of Israel: is it not for you to know justice?
And I said, Give ear, now, you heads of Jacob and rulers of the people of Israel: is it not for you to have knowledge of what is right?
And I said: Hear, I pray you, ye heads of Jacob, and rulers of the house of Israel: is it not for you to know justice?
And I saide, heare I pray you O heads of Iacob, & ye princes of the house of Israel, shoulde not ye know iudgement?
And he shall say, Hear now these words, ye heads of the house of Jacob, and ye remnant of the house of Israel; is it not for you to know judgment?
And I said, Hear, I pray you, ye heads of Jacob, and rulers of the house of Israel: is it not for you to know judgment?
I said, "Please listen, you heads of Jacob, And rulers of the house of Israel: Isn't it for you to know justice?
And Y seide, Ye princis of Jacob, and duykis of the hous of Israel, here. Whether it be not youre for to knowe doom, whiche haten good,
And I said, Hear, I pray you, you heads of Jacob, and rulers of the house of Israel: is it not for you to know justice?
And I said, Hear, I pray you, O heads of Jacob, and ye princes of the house of Israel: [Is it] not for you to know judgment?
I said, "Listen, you leaders of Jacob, you rulers of the nation of Israel! You ought to know what is just,
And I said: "Hear now, O heads of Jacob, And you rulers of the house of Israel: Is it not for you to know justice?
I said, "Listen, you leaders of Israel! You are supposed to know right from wrong,
And I said, "Hear now, leaders of Jacob and rulers of the people of Israel! Should you not know what is fair?
And I said: Listen, you heads of Jacob and rulers of the house of Israel! Should you not know justice?—
Then said I, Hear, I pray you, ye heads of Jacob, and ye judges of the house of Israel, - Is it not yours to know justice?
And I said: Hear, O ye princes of Jacob, and ye chiefs of the house of Israel: Is it not your part to know judgment,
And I said: Hear, you heads of Jacob and rulers of the house of Israel! Is it not for you to know justice? --
And I say, `Hear, I pray you, heads of Jacob, And ye judges of the house of Israel, Is it not for you to know the judgment?
Heare, o ye heades of the house of Iacob, and ye leders of the house of Israel: Shulde not ye knowe, what were laufull and right?
Contextual Overview
Bible Verse Review
from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge
Cir, am 3294, bc 710
Hear: Micah 3:9, Micah 3:10, Isaiah 1:10, Jeremiah 13:15-18, Jeremiah 22:2, Jeremiah 22:3, Hosea 5:1, Amos 4:1
Is it: Deuteronomy 1:13-17, Deuteronomy 16:18, 2 Chronicles 19:5-10, Psalms 14:4, Psalms 82:1-5, Jeremiah 5:4, Jeremiah 5:5, 1 Corinthians 6:5
Reciprocal: Exodus 23:6 - General Deuteronomy 1:17 - ye shall hear Deuteronomy 25:1 - General 1 Kings 21:19 - Hast thou killed 2 Chronicles 36:14 - all the chief Nehemiah 13:17 - I contended Psalms 58:2 - in heart Psalms 82:2 - judge Psalms 82:5 - know not Psalms 101:8 - early Proverbs 29:7 - but Proverbs 30:14 - to devour Ecclesiastes 5:8 - regardeth Isaiah 1:23 - princes Isaiah 3:5 - the people Isaiah 10:1 - them Isaiah 29:10 - rulers Isaiah 32:6 - empty Isaiah 59:6 - their works Jeremiah 6:7 - violence Jeremiah 7:2 - Hear Jeremiah 17:20 - General Jeremiah 21:11 - General Jeremiah 32:32 - they Jeremiah 38:4 - the princes Ezekiel 9:9 - perverseness Ezekiel 22:6 - the princes Ezekiel 34:2 - Woe Ezekiel 34:3 - ye kill Ezekiel 45:8 - and my princes Ezekiel 46:18 - thrust Hosea 12:7 - he loveth Joel 1:2 - Hear Amos 3:1 - Hear Amos 5:11 - treading Micah 6:12 - the rich Habakkuk 1:4 - for Zephaniah 3:3 - princes Zechariah 7:10 - oppress Zechariah 11:5 - possessors Mark 12:40 - devour Luke 13:32 - that fox Luke 18:2 - which Romans 13:4 - he is
Cross-References
"The serpent seduced me," she said, "and I ate."
At that time God will unsheathe his sword, his merciless, massive, mighty sword. He'll punish the serpent Leviathan as it flees, the serpent Leviathan thrashing in flight. He'll kill that old dragon that lives in the sea.
"Stay alert. This is hazardous work I'm assigning you. You're going to be like sheep running through a wolf pack, so don't call attention to yourselves. Be as cunning as a snake, inoffensive as a dove.
Pseudo-Servants of God Will you put up with a little foolish aside from me? Please, just for a moment. The thing that has me so upset is that I care about you so much—this is the passion of God burning inside me! I promised your hand in marriage to Christ, presented you as a pure virgin to her husband. And now I'm afraid that exactly as the Snake seduced Eve with his smooth patter, you are being lured away from the simple purity of your love for Christ. It seems that if someone shows up preaching quite another Jesus than we preached—different spirit, different message—you put up with him quite nicely. But if you put up with these big-shot "apostles," why can't you put up with simple me? I'm as good as they are. It's true that I don't have their voice, haven't mastered that smooth eloquence that impresses you so much. But when I do open my mouth, I at least know what I'm talking about. We haven't kept anything back. We let you in on everything. I wonder, did I make a bad mistake in proclaiming God's Message to you without asking for something in return, serving you free of charge so that you wouldn't be inconvenienced by me? It turns out that the other churches paid my way so that you could have a free ride. Not once during the time I lived among you did anyone have to lift a finger to help me out. My needs were always supplied by the believers from Macedonia province. I was careful never to be a burden to you, and I never will be, you can count on it. With Christ as my witness, it's a point of honor with me, and I'm not going to keep it quiet just to protect you from what the neighbors will think. It's not that I don't love you; God knows I do. I'm just trying to keep things open and honest between us. And I'm not changing my position on this. I'd die before taking your money. I'm giving nobody grounds for lumping me in with those money-grubbing "preachers," vaunting themselves as something special. They're a sorry bunch—pseudo-apostles, lying preachers, crooked workers—posing as Christ's agents but sham to the core. And no wonder! Satan does it all the time, dressing up as a beautiful angel of light. So it shouldn't surprise us when his servants masquerade as servants of God. But they're not getting by with anything. They'll pay for it in the end. Let me come back to where I started—and don't hold it against me if I continue to sound a little foolish. Or if you'd rather, just accept that I am a fool and let me rant on a little. I didn't learn this kind of talk from Christ. Oh, no, it's a bad habit I picked up from the three-ring preachers that are so popular these days. Since you sit there in the judgment seat observing all these shenanigans, you can afford to humor an occasional fool who happens along. You have such admirable tolerance for impostors who rob your freedom, rip you off, steal you blind, put you down—even slap your face! I shouldn't admit it to you, but our stomachs aren't strong enough to tolerate that kind of stuff. Since you admire the egomaniacs of the pulpit so much (remember, this is your old friend, the fool, talking), let me try my hand at it. Do they brag of being Hebrews, Israelites, the pure race of Abraham? I'm their match. Are they servants of Christ? I can go them one better. (I can't believe I'm saying these things. It's crazy to talk this way! But I started, and I'm going to finish.) I've worked much harder, been jailed more often, beaten up more times than I can count, and at death's door time after time. I've been flogged five times with the Jews' thirty-nine lashes, beaten by Roman rods three times, pummeled with rocks once. I've been shipwrecked three times, and immersed in the open sea for a night and a day. In hard traveling year in and year out, I've had to ford rivers, fend off robbers, struggle with friends, struggle with foes. I've been at risk in the city, at risk in the country, endangered by desert sun and sea storm, and betrayed by those I thought were my brothers. I've known drudgery and hard labor, many a long and lonely night without sleep, many a missed meal, blasted by the cold, naked to the weather. And that's not the half of it, when you throw in the daily pressures and anxieties of all the churches. When someone gets to the end of his rope, I feel the desperation in my bones. When someone is duped into sin, an angry fire burns in my gut. If I have to "brag" about myself, I'll brag about the humiliations that make me like Jesus. The eternal and blessed God and Father of our Master Jesus knows I'm not lying. Remember the time I was in Damascus and the governor of King Aretas posted guards at the city gates to arrest me? I crawled through a window in the wall, was let down in a basket, and had to run for my life.
The same goes for you husbands: Be good husbands to your wives. Honor them, delight in them. As women they lack some of your advantages. But in the new life of God's grace, you're equals. Treat your wives, then, as equals so your prayers don't run aground.
Gill's Notes on the Bible
And I said, hear, I pray you, O heads of Jacob, and ye princes of the house of Israel,.... This seems to be a new sermon or discourse, delivered at another time and to another people than the preceding for, as that chiefly concerns the ten tribes, this the two tribes of Judah and Benjamin, and was spoken to them in the times of Hezekiah, as appears from Jeremiah 26:18; for though Jacob and Israel generally design the ten tribes, yet here the other two, as is manifest from the above cited place, and also from Micah 3:9; and not only heads of families, but such as were the highest posts under the government, the sanhedrim of the nation, judges, rulers, and nobles, are here addressed; and who had a great share in national guilt, being ringleaders in sin, who ought to have set good examples to others; and these are not to be spared because of their grandeur and dignity, but to faithfully reproved for their vices, and which they should diligently attend unto; though they are to be addressed in a respectful and honourable manner, and be entreated to hearken to the word of the Lord by his prophet; all which was carefully observed by Micah; and it was with pleasure he could reflect upon his plain, faithful, and affectionate reproof of those great men:
[is it] not for you to know judgment? what is just and right to be done by men, and what sentence is to be passed in courts of judicature, in cases brought before them and not only to know, in a speculative way, what is equitable, but to practise it themselves, and see that it is done by others; and when they duly considered this, they would be able to see and own that what the prophet from the Lord would now charge them with, or denounce upon them, was according to truth and justice.
Barnes' Notes on the Bible
And I said - Godâs love for us is the great incitement, constrainer, vivifier of His creatureâs love. Micah had just spoken of Godâs love of Israel; how He would gather them into one fold under One Shepherd, guard them, lead them, remove all difficulties before them, be Himself their Head and enable them to follow Him. He turns then to them. These are Godâs doings; this, God has in store for you hereafter. Even when mercy itself shall require chastisement, He doth not cast off forever. The desolation is but the forerunner of future mercy. What then do ye? The prophet appeals to them, class by class. There was one general corruption of every order of men, through whom Judah could be preserved, princes Micah 3:1-4, prophets Micah 3:5-7, priests Micah 3:11. The salt had lost its savor; wherewith could it be seasoned? whereby could the decaying mass of the people be kept from entire corruption?
Hear, I pray you, O heads of Jacob, and ye princes of the house of Israel - He arraigns them by the same name, under which He had first promised mercy. He had first promised mercy to all Jacob and the remnant of Israel. So now he upraids the âheads of Jacob, and the princes of the house of Israel,â lest they should deceive themselves. At the same time he recalls them to the deeds of their father. Judah had succeeded to the birthright, forfeited by Reuben, Simeon and Levi; and in Judah all the promises of the Messiah were laid up. But he was not like the three great patriarchs, the father of the faithful (Abraham), or the meek Isaac, or the much-tried Jacob. The name then had not the reminiscences, or force of appeal, contained in the titles, seed of Abraham, or Isaac, or Israel.
Is it not for you to know judgment? - It is a great increase of guilt, when persons neglect or pervert what it is their special duty and office to guard; as when teachers corrupt doctrine, or preachers give in to a low standard of morals, or judges pervert judgment. The âprincesâ here spoken or are so named from judging, âdecidingâ causes. They are the same its the ârulers,â whom Isaiah at the same time upbraids, as being, from their sins, rulers of Sodom , whose hands were full of blood Isaiah 1:15. They who do not right, in time cease, in great measure, to know it. As God withdraws His grace, the mind is darkened and can no longer see it. So it is said of Eliâs sons, they were sons of Belial, they knew not the Lord 1 Samuel 2:12; and, Into a malicious soul Wisdom shall not enter, nor dwell in a body that is subject unto sin (Wisd. 1:4). Such , âattain not to know the judgments of God which are a great deep: and the depth of His justice the evil mind findeth not.â But if men will not âknow judgmentâ by doing it, they shall by suffering it.
Clarke's Notes on the Bible
CHAPTER III
In this chapter the prophet inveighs with great boldness and
spirit against the princes and prophets of Judah; and foretells
the destruction of Jerusalem as the consequence of their
iniquity, 1-12.
The last verse was fulfilled to a certain extent by
Nebuchadnezzar; but most fully and literally by the Romans
under Titus. See Josephus.
NOTES ON CHAP. III
Verse Micah 3:1. Hear - O heads of Jacob — The metaphor of the flock is still carried on. The chiefs of Jacob, and the princes of Israel, instead of taking care of the flocks, defending them, and finding them pasture, oppressed them in various ways. They are like wolves, who tear the skin of the sheep, and the flesh off their bones. This applies to all unjust and oppressive rulers.
Suetonius tells us, in his Life of Tiberius, that when the governors of provinces wrote to the emperor, entreating him to increase the tributes, he wrote back: "It is the property of a good shepherd to shear his sheep, not to skin them." Praesidibus onerandas tributo provincias suadentibus rescripsit: BONI PASTORIS esse TONDERE pecus, non DEGLUBERE. This is a maxim which many rulers of the earth do not seem to understand.
