Micah 3:7

Some people try to know the future. They try to discover things that God has hidden from us. But God does not allow that. There are some things that God does not allow us to know about. Some people try to discover things by magic. It is a very wrong practice (Deuteronomy 18:10-13). There are accounts about several such practices in the *Old Testament. People practise them even today. One such practice is to try to contact dead people. Another one is to try to get advice by means of the stars. God does not allow people to use such methods. Such behaviour is very dangerous. Any answers that people receive come from evil spirits. Other nations served false gods. Those nations followed their own ways to do things. And the *prophets in *Israel were imitating them. But God opposed their practices.

There is no answer for the *prophets from God. He has declared the *prophets guilty. They will be ashamed. Everyone will see their shame. The *prophets will be *spiritually unclean (unholy). And everyone will see it (Lamentations 4:13-15). The *prophets will be like people with skin disease. Like those people, they will try to hide from other people. Like them, they will cover their mouths. (Look at Leviticus 13:45.) It is as if their mouths have caused the *prophets’ shame. They have used their mouths to say wrong things. Therefore they will not want people to see their mouths. So they will hide their faces.

v8 But God has filled me with his Spirit’s power. He has filled me with power, goodness and strength. He has given to me the courage to speak about *fairness. I can tell the people in Jacob’s family about their crimes. I can tell the people in *Israel about their *sins.