Chapter 4

Chapter Three

¹ And he shall say: Hear now these things, you rulers of the house of Jacob, and you remnant of the house of Israel: Is it not for you to know judgment? — you who hate good things and seek evil things, who tear off their skin from them, and their flesh from their bones. As they devoured the flesh of my people, and flayed off their skin from them, and broke their bones in pieces and chopped them small, like flesh for cauldrons, and like meat for pots; so they shall cry out to the Lord, and he will not hearken to them, and he will turn away his face from them in that day, because they did wickedly in their practices. He said that the Lord shall lead them — that is, the Babylonians — as they enter the city, or as the Israelites flee. This one, then, shall say to the rulers of Jacob, the remnant of Israel hearing too — that is, the poorer of the whole Israelite race, of the twelve tribes. Or, understanding by “rulers of Jacob” those in Jerusalem, we must hear by “remnant of Israel” those left from the ten tribes that were led captive. And do not wonder if at the beginning he names the ten tribes “Jacob,” and the two “Israel,” but now we, on the contrary, take “Jacob” for those in Jerusalem, and “Israel” for the ten tribes. For chiefly he now used the names indifferently; and then, he now names the two tribes “Jacob,” the natural and lowlier name, I mean, seeing them advanced in wickedness; but the remnant of those led captive from Samaria he calls “Israel,” shaming them rather by such a name, since, having had a forefather so beloved of God as to be deemed worthy of such a title, they fell so far short of him. To the rulers, then, he speaks, as guilty of the things he will say; but to the poorer, either as those who will be witnesses, or as themselves perverted by the rulers, and needing the correction which they were about to obtain in the reproving of those. He will ask the rulers, then, he says: Were you not appointed to know judgment — that is, the distribution of what is just — so as to judge all justly? How then did you, who ought to show this to others as well, yourselves hate good things and seek evil things, being hotly disposed toward them, and use such greed against the poor as to strip them of all their possessions, and to cut off all their power? For he indicated the taking away of outward possessions by the seizing of skins; and the stripping off of power by mentioning flesh and bones being chopped small and broken in pieces. Having dared these things, then, even if you ask my alliance ten thousand times, you shall enjoy no help. These things have their occasion to be said against every ruler too, both merciless and unjust. He seizes the skins, then, who takes away the outward goods of those under his hand; and the flesh from the bones, he who also contrives famine for them by depriving them even of necessities; and he breaks the bones, who also takes away every resource and means of life, so that they cannot ever acquire anything sufficient for living; and he chops the flesh small for the cauldron, who also gathers the petty and paltry gains to himself, like some cauldron, kindled by the fire of greed. And the teachers of the Law in Christ’s time too flayed off the skin of the people, perhaps both in the manner described, and perhaps also as stripping off from them their outward decorum, and not teaching, after the manner of Paul, to do all things decently and in order, and to walk as children of light. And they devoured their flesh, perhaps both as using them harshly about their own works, and humbling them in their labors; and perhaps also as teaching them to receive the Law carnally and not spiritually, and having such teaching for their food. For as it is food to the Lord to do the will of the Father in the heavens, so those might be understood to eat the flesh of the people, the carnal mind, I mean, that tends toward the literal acceptance of the Law. And they broke the bones too — the firm powers of the soul, that is — and into their traditions and the commandments of men they tore and chopped them small, which the heretics also do, tearing apart the members of the body of the Church.

² Thus says the Lord against the prophets who lead my people astray, who bite with their teeth. Having threatened the rulers, he transfers the discourse to the prophets, and says that the prophets of deceit, uttering false oracles, and seeming as it were to kiss the people through flattery, were truly biting through prophesying harmful things. And how? Listen:

³ And who proclaim peace upon him, and it was not given into their mouth. They sanctified war against him. My prophets, he says, foretold to the people calamities and wars about to be brought upon them, as upon sinners; but the false diviners, uttering the opposite to those, emboldened the people that it would live out its life in peace, as though sinning in nothing. But such words I did not give into their unclean mouth; wherefore they sanctified — that is, set apart — war against the people. For by proclaiming peace, not allowing him to repent of his sins and turn away the divine wrath, they became to him the procurers of the evils that come from wars. And every teacher sanctifies war who shows works warring against words, such as the Pharisees, binding heavy and unbearable burdens, and not moving them with their finger; against whom Paul too says: You who teach not to steal, do you steal? Such a teacher brings the intelligible enemies against those taught by him, as being perverted by his works.

⁴ Therefore night shall be to you from vision, and darkness shall be to you from divination. By “darkness” and “night” he indicates the coming of grievous things, which came upon them, because they said, falsely, that they saw divine visions, and divined things which God did not give them. Because of the vision, then, and the divination, these things came upon them.

⁵ And the sun shall set upon the prophets, and the day shall grow dark upon them. You, he says, who say you behold peaceful visions, and divine all good things, shall be encompassed by so many evils that the very sun shall seem to set upon you, and the day to grow dark. And this they suffer who fall into excessive evils, and are confounded and darkened by grief and despondency. Or also, that fleeing the enemies, you shall pass your time in darkness; but also hiding from other men, that you may not be reproached as deceivers. He adds, then:

⁶ And those who see dreams shall be ashamed, and the diviners shall be derided, and all of them shall speak against them, because there is none who hearkens to them. So conspicuous and manifest, he says, shall your deceit be, that they shall deride you, as plainly lying; and not only shall all deride, even those who formerly attended to you as to certain divine men (for the word “they themselves” is emphatic), but they shall also speak against you, carrying your affairs up and down, and shall accuse your malice. And all shall do this; for none was left who hearkens to you; and for this reason you shall be in darkness, and the sun shall set upon you, as upon those who veil themselves, and cannot bear to be seen, or to see. And otherwise too, everyone who both sees and speaks false things has not the sun, Christ, shining upon him, who is the truth, but passes through in darkness. For he who does base things hates the light, and does not come to the light. Caiaphas too prophesied, but darkness was upon him, and the sun set — whether the intelligible, as was rendered before, or the sensible, when at the cross the signs came to pass; and the day grew dark unto the condemnation of him and of those with him.

⁷ Unless I fill up strength in the Spirit of the Lord, and of judgment, and of power, to declare to Jacob his impieties, and to Israel his sins. The things of the false prophets, he says, are such; but I, Micah, am not so; nor will I flatter the people and lead it astray, but I will fill up strength — that is, I will take on the fullest power in the Spirit of the Lord, not in a demonic and deceiving spirit. And such a Spirit is one of judgment, because I will utter things judged and just, pleading my case against the impious and the mighty, since I will not cower, but will speak with boldness, so as to declare to Jacob his impieties — either to the ten tribes, as at the beginning he named these too, or to the two, as we said a little before; and to Israel his sins, or to those left from Samaria; and concerning this it has been said above. Such must everyone be who reproves, that he may neither utter things unjudged, nor things impossible and without boldness, so as to bow down beneath threats or afflictions.

⁸ Hear these things, you leaders of the house of Jacob, and you remnant of the house of Israel. The prophet seems to be repeating himself, and seems superfluous; know, however, that even if in the compilations of the books the discourse of the prophets appears continuous, yet the prophecies came about at various and different times; and it happened that some, ailing with the same maladies, needed the same remedies. Wherefore the things were said to these which were also discoursed to certain others. Then all were joined together, and for this reason many of the things said seem to be superfluous.

⁹ You who abhor judgment, and pervert all that is upright. Having been entrusted with judging, he says, you not only abhorred judgment — that is, just judgment — but also perverted all that is upright, which belongs to surpassing wickedness. For just as it is best not only to abhor evil, but also to make the upright crooked, which those do who not only do not themselves bring forth upright judgments, but also pervert those brought forth by another.

¹⁰ You who build Zion with blood, and Jerusalem with iniquities. You were appointed, he says, as certain builders of Zion and Jerusalem; for every ruler is a builder, raising up what has fallen, and renewing affairs toward the comeliness and permanence of the commonwealth; but you, conducting yourselves in blood and unjust murders, established such a building — that is, commonwealth — full of bloodshed and iniquities. They built Zion with blood who added to the murders of the prophets the murder of the Lord too, whom, being a precious stone, these evil builders rejected. But he was made the head of the corner, joining the two peoples, the gentile and the Israelite, and human nature to the divine, and in short the things above to the things below. The same men built Jerusalem with iniquities too, who dishonored with a cross the one who did good, and was just, and healed every disease, and they supposed this to be the building and constitution of Jerusalem. For if he lives, they said, the Romans will come and take away our city. But if each of us has Zion in himself — the watchtower of the mind — and Jerusalem — the vision of peace — let him see, lest, heaping up flesh and blood upon the mind, and wronging the better by raising up the worse against it, he be called an evil builder, building a prison and a place of confinement. But the heretics too, pouring out the blood of souls, and wronging the truth, seem to build our Zion.

¹¹ Her leaders judged for gifts, and her priests answered for hire, and her prophets divined for silver, and they rested upon the Lord, saying: Is not the Lord among us? and no evils shall come upon us. Everywhere in Scripture bribery is condemned, not only in the case of those who transgress the law for gifts, but also when someone takes gifts even for judging justly itself. So too David praises a certain man, as not having taken gifts against the innocent. And hearing “priests” and “prophets,” understand the false and demonic ones. And the more dreadful thing, he says, is that, doing such things, they maintained that God was pleased with them, saying: Is not the Lord among us? For what evil, they say, do we do? Wherefore evils — that is, afflictions and tribulations — shall by no means come upon us. Something similar David too says: You supposed iniquity, that I would be like you. Let judges and priests too hear these things, and see with whom they are ranked, if they pursue the same. And what is “they rested upon the Lord”? They hoped, they were confident, they did not expect any wrath from him.

¹² Therefore on account of you Zion shall be plowed as a field, and Jerusalem shall be as a storehouse of fruits, and the mountain of the house as a grove of a thicket. So great a desolation, he says, on account of such deeds of yours, shall seize this much-talked-of city, that, there being none dwelling in it, the spaces within the walls, which formerly were straitened by the multitude of the inhabitants, shall be plowed and sown much like the fields in the country, and Jerusalem shall differ in nothing from a storehouse of fruits, which after the gathering of the crops is left deserted, the watchman returning home; but also the mountain of the house — that is, the high place on which the temple stood — shall be filled with plants, and likened to a thicket. And these things reached their fulfillment under Nebuchadnezzar too, when, taking the city, he led away the inhabitants captive together with the king. But it is possible to see the end of the prophecy more exactly after the Jews’ madness against the Savior; for all the things of old that were splendid were destroyed by the Romans, even the divine temple itself.