They build up Zion with blood, and Jerusalem with iniquity.
Parallel translations
- WEB They build up Zion with blood, and Jerusalem with iniquity.
- BSB who build Zion with bloodshed and Jerusalem with iniquity.
- NKJV Who build up Zion with bloodshed And Jerusalem with iniquity:
- NASB Who build Zion with bloodshed, And Jerusalem with malice.
- NLT You are building Jerusalem on a foundation of murder and corruption.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
They build Zion and Jerusalem with bloodshed and iniquity. It charges the leaders with founding the city on injustice.
Overview
The capital's grandeur was financed through violence and corruption, building God's city on a foundation of sin. Such 'building with blood' may include forced labor and exploitation. What looks like prosperity is, in God's sight, an edifice of guilt destined to fall.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 6
- Hab 2:9–12Woe to him that coveteth an evil covetousness to his house, that he may set his nest on high, that he may be delivered from the power of evil!
- Jer 22:13–17Woe unto him that buildeth his house by unrighteousness, and his chambers by wrong; that useth his neighbour’s service without wages, and giveth him not for his work;
- Matt 27:25Then answered all the people, and said, His blood be on us, and on our children.
- Ezek 22:25–28There is a conspiracy of her prophets in the midst thereof, like a roaring lion ravening the prey; they have devoured souls; they have taken the treasure and precious things; they have made her many widows in the midst thereof.
- Zeph 3:3Her princes within her are roaring lions; her judges are evening wolves; they gnaw not the bones till the morrow.
- John 11:50Nor consider that it is expedient for us, that one man should die for the people, and that the whole nation perish not.
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Christ at the center
Micah names the town — 'But you, Bethlehem... from you shall come forth one who is to be ruler in Israel, whose origins are from of old' — the birthplace of the eternal King.
How Micah 3:10 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.