Mikha 3:10-12

3:10 You ¹  build Zion through bloody crimes, ² 

Jerusalem ³  through unjust violence.

3:11 Her ⁴  leaders take bribes when they decide legal cases, ⁵ 

her priests proclaim rulings for profit,

and her prophets read omens for pay.

Yet they claim to trust ⁶  the Lord and say,

“The Lord is among us. ⁷ 

Disaster will not overtake ⁸  us!”

3:12 Therefore, because of you, ⁹  Zion will be plowed up like ¹⁰  a field,

Jerusalem will become a heap of ruins,

and the Temple Mount ¹¹  will become a hill overgrown with brush! ¹² 

[3:10]  ¹ tn Heb “who.”

[3:10]  ² tn Heb “bloodshed” (so NAB, NASB, NIV); NLT “murder.”

[3:10]  ³ map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[3:11]  ⁴ sn The pronoun Her refers to Jerusalem (note the previous line).

[3:11]  ⁵ tn Heb “judge for a bribe.”

[3:11]  ⁶ tn Heb “they lean upon” (so KJV, NIV, NRSV); NAB “rely on.”

[3:11]  ⁷ tn Heb “Is not the Lord in our midst?” The rhetorical question expects the answer, “Of course he is!”

[3:11]  ⁸ tn Or “come upon” (so many English versions); NCV “happen to us”; CEV “come to us.”

[3:12]  ⁹ tn The plural pronoun refers to the leaders, priests, and prophets mentioned in the preceding verse.

[3:12]  ¹⁰ tn Or “into” (an adverbial accusative of result).

[3:12]  ¹¹ tn Heb “the mountain of the house” (so KJV, ASV, NRSV).

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