31 Then I said, "Listen, you leaders of Jacob, you rulers of Israel. Should you not embrace justice,
31 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?
31 And I said: Hear, you heads of Jacob and rulers of the house of Israel! Is it not for you to know justice?--
31 Then I said: "Listen, leaders of Jacob, leaders of Israel: Don't you know anything of justice?
31 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?
31 I said, "Listen, you leaders of Israel! You are supposed to know right from wrong,
9 Hear this, you leaders of Jacob, you rulers of Israel, who despise justice and distort all that is right;
9 Hear this, I pray you, ye heads of the house of Jacob, and princes of the house of Israel, that abhor judgment, and pervert all equity.
9 Hear this, you heads of the house of Jacob and rulers of the house of Israel, who detest justice and make crooked all that is straight,
9 The leaders of Jacob and the leaders of Israel are Leaders contemptuous of justice, who twist and distort right living,
9 Now hear this, You heads of the house of Jacob And rulers of the house of Israel, Who abhor justice And pervert all equity,
9 Listen to me, you leaders of Israel! You hate justice and twist all that is right.
(Read Micah 3:9-12)
Zion's walls owe no thanks to those that build them up with blood and iniquity. The sin of man works not the righteousness of God. Even when men do that which in itself is good, but do it for filthy lucre, it becomes abomination both to God and man. Faith rests in the Lord as the soul's foundation: presumption only leans upon the Lord as a prop, and would use him to serve a turn. If men's having the Lord among them will not keep them from doing evil, it never can secure them from suffering evil for so doing. See the doom of wicked Jacob; Therefore shall Zion for your sake be ploughed as a field. This was exactly fulfilled at the destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans, and is so at this day. If sacred places are polluted by sin, they will be wasted and ruined by the judgments of God.
Matthew Henry's Commentary on Micah 3:1
Commentary on Micah 3:1-8
(Read Micah 3:1-8)
Men cannot expect to do ill, and fare well; but to find that done to them which they did to others. How seldom do wholesome truths reach the ears of those in high stations or in authority! Those who deceive others are preparing confusion for their own faces. The prophet had ardent love to God and to the souls of men; deep concern for his glory and their salvation, and zeal against sin. The difficulties he met with did not drive him from his work. He had this strength; not from and of himself, but he was full of power by the Spirit of the Lord. Those who act honestly, may act boldly. And those who come to hear the word of God, must be willing to be told of their faults, must take it kindly, and be thankful.