Micah 7:3
¶dThat they may do evil with both hands earnestly, ethe prince asketh, and the judge asketh for a reward; and the great man, he uttereth 3his mischievous desire: so they wrap it up.
¶That they may do evil with both hands earnestly, the prince asketh, and the judge asketh for a reward; and the great man, he uttereth his mischievous desire: so they wrap it up.
d:
Proverbs 4:16 For they sleep not, except they have done mischief; and their sleep is taken away, unless they cause some to fall.
Micah 3:11 The heads thereof judge for reward, and the priests thereof teach for hire, and the prophets thereof divine for money: yet will they lean upon the LORD, and say, Is not the LORD among us? none evil can come upon us.
Isaiah 1:23 Thy princes are rebellious, and companions of thieves: every one loveth gifts, and followeth after rewards: they judge not the fatherless, neither doth the cause of the widow come unto them.
Hosea 4:18 Their drink is sour: they have committed whoredom continually: her rulers with shame do love, Give ye.
Jeremiah 3:5 Will he reserve his anger for ever? will he keep it to the end? Behold, thou hast spoken and done evil things as thou couldest.
Zephaniah 3:1-3:4 1. Woe to her that is filthy and polluted, to the oppressing city! 2. She obeyed not the voice; she received not correction; she trusted not in the LORD; she drew not near to her God. 3. Her princes within her are roaring lions; her judges are evening wolves; they gnaw not the bones till the morrow. 4. Her prophets are light and treacherous persons: her priests have polluted the sanctuary, they have done violence to the law.
Ezekiel 22:27 Her princes in the midst thereof are like wolves ravening the prey, to shed blood, and to destroy souls, to get dishonest gain.
Jeremiah 5:5 I will get me unto the great men, and will speak unto them; for they have known the way of the LORD, and the judgment of their God: but these have altogether broken the yoke, and burst the bonds.
Jeremiah 5:6 Wherefore a lion out of the forest shall slay them, and a wolf of the evenings shall spoil them, a leopard shall watch over their cities: every one that goeth out thence shall be torn in pieces: because their transgressions are many, and their backslidings are increased.
Jeremiah 9:3 And they bend their tongues like their bow for lies: but they are not valiant for the truth upon the earth; for they proceed from evil to evil, and they know not me, saith the LORD.
e:
Psalms 82:0 A Psalm of Asaph.
Psalms 82:1 God standeth in the congregation of the mighty; he judgeth among the gods.
3:
Heb. the mischief of his soul.
as we render the words, their plain sense will be, that all their diligence, that with both hands they can use, is to set forward evil and mischief. Possibly this clause might bear this reading, Both hands are towards evil; and then the following clause thus, To do good the prince asketh. The prince; the chief ruler, who commissioneth the judge, and should awe him from perverse judging, who should charge the judges as Jehoshaphat did, 2Ch 19:5,6; but, contrarily, here the prince set a price upon his own act in evil.
the inferior magistrate, commissioned to be judge.
shameless injustice! to sell the innocent, and condemn their cause and persons, and to acquit the guilty, and pronounce them just! for a bribe to make God’s authority which is in them to act so directly against itself, is abominably wicked, for God’s authority to them is given that they might relieve the poor oppressed, and acquit innocency, but here innocency must buy its safety, or else is sold to danger.
either the advocates in their courts of judicature, or the great man of interest at court, who can do what he will there.
is bold to speak plainly what bribe he will have, he makes his own demand, whereas they did (whilst a little modest) treat by others, and a servant or under-officer must make the bargain.
his unjust, oppressive design and purpose, knowing that his greatness and interest will bear him out in whatever violence he attempts against poor, weak, and unbefriended innocence; he dares for gain set any thing forward.
all three, prince, judge, and great man, wrap it up, or twist it together, consent each to other, and jointly promote violence and bloody cruelty.