Mikha 3:11-12

3:11 Her ¹  leaders take bribes when they decide legal cases, ² 

her priests proclaim rulings for profit,

and her prophets read omens for pay.

Yet they claim to trust ³  the Lord and say,

“The Lord is among us. ⁴ 

Disaster will not overtake ⁵  us!”

3:12 Therefore, because of you, ⁶  Zion will be plowed up like ⁷  a field,

Jerusalem will become a heap of ruins,

and the Temple Mount ⁸  will become a hill overgrown with brush! ⁹ 

[3:11]  ¹ sn The pronoun Her refers to Jerusalem (note the previous line).

[3:11]  ² tn Heb “judge for a bribe.”

[3:11]  ³ tn Heb “they lean upon” (so KJV, NIV, NRSV); NAB “rely on.”

[3:11]  ⁴ tn Heb “Is not the Lord in our midst?” The rhetorical question expects the answer, “Of course he is!”

[3:11]  ⁵ tn Or “come upon” (so many English versions); NCV “happen to us”; CEV “come to us.”

[3:12]  ⁶ tn The plural pronoun refers to the leaders, priests, and prophets mentioned in the preceding verse.

[3:12]  ⁷ tn Or “into” (an adverbial accusative of result).

[3:12]  ⁸ tn Heb “the mountain of the house” (so KJV, ASV, NRSV).

[3:12]  ⁹ tn Heb “a high place of overgrowth.”