The Skeptics Annotated Bible (699 page)

13 O thou inhabitant of Lachish, bind the chariot to the swift beast: she is the beginning of the sin to the daughter of Zion: for the transgressions of Israel were found in thee.

14 Therefore shalt thou give presents to Moresheth-gath: the houses of Achzib shall be a lie to the kings of Israel.

15 Yet will I bring an heir unto thee, O inhabitant of Mareshah: he shall come unto Adullam the glory of Israel.

16 Make thee bald, and poll thee for thy delicate children; enlarge thy baldness as the eagle; for they are gone into captivity from thee.

(2.1-3) Micah says “woe” to those that devise evil in 2.1, but only two verses later, God says he is devising evil against “this family.” Woe is God.

2
Woe to them that devise iniquity, and work evil upon their beds! when the morning is light, they practise it, because it is in the power of their hand.

2 And they covet fields, and take them by violence; and houses, and take them away: so they oppress a man and his house, even a man and his heritage.

(2.1)
“Woe to them that devise iniquity, and work evil upon their beds!”

3 Therefore
thus saith the LORD; Behold, against this family do I devise an evil
, from which ye shall not remove your necks; neither shall ye go haughtily: for this time is evil.

(2.3)
“Thus saith the LORD; Behold, against this family do I devise an evil.”

4 In that day shall one take up a parable against you, and lament with a doleful lamentation, and say, We be utterly spoiled: he hath changed the portion of my people: how hath he removed it from me! turning away he hath divided our fields.

5 Therefore thou shalt have none that shall cast a cord by lot in the congregation of the LORD.

6 Prophesy ye not, say they to them that prophesy: they shall not prophesy to them, that they shall not take shame.

7 O thou that art named the house of Jacob, is the spirit of the LORD straitened? are these his doings? do not my words do good to him that walketh uprightly?

8 Even of late my people is risen up as an enemy: ye pull off the robe with the garment from them that pass by securely as men averse from war.

9 The women of my people have ye cast out from their pleasant houses; from their children have ye taken away my glory for ever.

10 Arise ye, and depart; for this is not your rest: because it is polluted, it shall destroy you, even with a sore destruction.

11 If a man walking in the spirit and falsehood do lie, saying, I will prophesy unto thee of wine and of strong drink; he shall even be the prophet of this people.

12 I will surely assemble, O Jacob, all of thee; I will surely gather the remnant of Israel; I will put them together as the sheep of Bozrah, as the flock in the midst of their fold: they shall make great noise by reason of the multitude of men.

13 The breaker is come up before them: they have broken up, and have passed through the gate, and are gone out by it: and their king shall pass before them, and the LORD on the head of them.

(3.1-4) God accuses the Israelite leaders of plucking off skin, flesh from bones, eating human flesh, flaying off skin, breaking bones, chopping bodies in pieces, making human stew. To punish them he will ignore them when they call on him.

3
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?

2 Who hate the good, and love the evil;
who pluck off their skin from off them, and their flesh from off their bones;

(3.1-2)
“O heads of Jacob, and ye princes of the house of Israel … who pluck off their skin from off them, and their flesh from off their bones.”

3
Who also eat the flesh of my people, and flay their skin from off them; and they break their bones, and chop them in pieces, as for the pot, and as flesh within the caldron.

(3.3) “Who also eat the flesh of my people, and flay their skin from off them; and they break their bones, and chop them in pieces, as for the pot, and as flesh within the caldron.”

4
Then shall they cry unto the LORD, but he will not hear them: he will even hide his face from them
at that time, as they have behaved themselves ill in their doings.

(3.4)
“Then shall they cry unto the LORD, but he will not hear them: he will even hide his face from them.”
321 Will those who call on the Lord be delivered?

5
Thus saith the LORD concerning the prophets that make my people err, that bite with their teeth
, and cry, Peace; and he that putteth not into their mouths, they even prepare war against him.

(3.5)
“Thus saith the LORD concerning the prophets that make my people err, that bite with their teeth.”
Watch out for lying prophets that bite (with their teeth).

6 Therefore night shall be unto you, that ye shall not have a vision; and it shall be dark unto you, that ye shall not divine; and the sun shall go down over the prophets, and the day shall be dark over them.

7 Then shall the seers be ashamed, and the diviners confounded: yea, they shall all cover their lips; for there is no answer of God.

8 But truly I am full of power by the spirit of the LORD, and of judgment, and of might, to declare unto Jacob his transgression, and to Israel his sin.