Micah 2:1-4:9
English Standard Version
Woe to the Oppressors
2 (A)Woe to those who devise wickedness
and work evil (B)on their beds!
When the morning dawns, they perform it,
because it is in the power of their hand.
2 They covet fields and (C)seize them,
and houses, and take them away;
they oppress a man and his house,
a man and his inheritance.
3 Therefore thus says the Lord:
behold, against (D)this family I am devising disaster,[a]
from which you cannot remove your necks,
and you (E)shall not walk haughtily,
(F)for it will be a time of disaster.
4 In that day (G)they shall take up a taunt song against you
and moan bitterly,
and say, “We are utterly ruined;
(H)he changes the portion of my people;
(I)how he removes it from me!
(J)To an apostate he allots our fields.”
5 Therefore you will have none (K)to cast the line by lot
in the assembly of the Lord.
6 (L)“Do not preach”—thus they preach—
(M)“one should not preach of such things;
(N)disgrace will not overtake us.”
7 Should this be said, O house of Jacob?
(O)Has the Lord grown impatient?[b]
Are these his deeds?
Do not my words do good
to him who walks uprightly?
8 But lately (P)my people have risen up as an enemy;
you strip the rich robe from those who pass by trustingly
with no thought of war.[c]
9 The women of my people you drive out
from their delightful houses;
from their young children you take away
my splendor forever.
10 (Q)Arise and go,
for this is no (R)place to rest,
because of (S)uncleanness that destroys
with a grievous destruction.
11 If a man should go about and (T)utter wind and lies,
saying, “I will preach to you (U)of wine and strong drink,”
he would be the preacher for this people!
12 I will surely assemble all of you, O Jacob;
(V)I will gather (W)the remnant of Israel;
I will set them together
like sheep in a fold,
(X)like a flock in its pasture,
a noisy multitude of men.
13 (Y)He who opens the breach goes up before them;
they break through and pass the gate,
(Z)going out by it.
Their king passes on before them,
(AA)the Lord at their head.
Rulers and Prophets Denounced
3 And I said:
(AB)Hear, you heads of Jacob
and rulers of the house of Israel!
(AC)Is it not for you to know justice?—
2 you (AD)who hate the good and love the evil,
(AE)who tear the skin from off my people[d]
and their flesh from off their bones,
3 (AF)who eat the flesh of my people,
and flay their skin from off them,
and break their bones in pieces
and chop them up like meat in a pot,
like flesh in a cauldron.
4 (AG)Then they will cry to the Lord,
but he will not answer them;
(AH)he will hide his face from them at that time,
because they have made their deeds evil.
5 Thus says the Lord concerning (AI)the prophets
who lead my people astray,
(AJ)who cry “Peace”
when they have something to eat,
but declare war against him
who puts nothing into their mouths.
6 Therefore (AK)it shall be night to you, without vision,
and darkness to you, without divination.
(AL)The sun shall go down on the prophets,
and the day shall be black over them;
7 (AM)the seers shall be disgraced,
and the diviners put to shame;
(AN)they shall all cover their lips,
for (AO)there is no answer from God.
8 But as for me, (AP)I am filled with power,
with the Spirit of the Lord,
and with justice and might,
to declare to Jacob (AQ)his transgression
and to Israel his sin.
9 (AR)Hear this, you heads of the house of Jacob
and rulers of the house of Israel,
(AS)who detest justice
and make crooked all that is straight,
10 (AT)who build Zion with blood
and Jerusalem with iniquity.
11 (AU)Its heads give judgment for a bribe;
(AV)its priests teach for a price;
(AW)its prophets practice divination for money;
(AX)yet they lean on the Lord and (AY)say,
“Is not the Lord in the midst of us?
(AZ)No disaster shall come upon us.”
12 Therefore because of you
(BA)Zion shall be plowed as a field;
Jerusalem (BB)shall become a heap of ruins,
and (BC)the mountain of the house (BD)a wooded height.
The Mountain of the Lord
4 It shall come to pass (BE)in the latter days
that the mountain of the house of the Lord
shall be established as the highest of the mountains,
and it shall be lifted up above the hills;
and peoples shall flow to it,
2 and many nations shall come, and say:
“Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord,
to the house of the God of Jacob,
that he may teach us his ways
and that we may walk in his paths.”
For out of Zion shall go forth the law,[e]
and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.
3 He shall judge between many peoples,
and shall decide disputes for strong nations far away;
and they shall (BF)beat their swords into plowshares,
and their spears into pruning hooks;
nation shall not lift up sword against nation,
neither shall they learn war anymore;
4 (BG)but they shall sit every man under his vine and under his fig tree,
(BH)and no one shall make them afraid,
(BI)for the mouth of the Lord of hosts has spoken.
5 For (BJ)all the peoples walk
each in the name of its god,
but (BK)we will walk in the name of the Lord our God
forever and ever.
The Lord Shall Rescue Zion
6 (BL)In that day, declares the Lord,
(BM)I will assemble the (BN)lame
and gather those who have been driven away
and those whom I have afflicted;
7 and the lame I will make (BO)the remnant,
and those who were cast off, a strong nation;
and (BP)the Lord will reign over them (BQ)in Mount Zion
from this time forth and forevermore.
8 And you, O tower of the flock,
hill of the daughter of Zion,
to you shall it come,
the former dominion shall come,
kingship for the daughter of Jerusalem.
Micah 2:1-4:9
New International Version
Human Plans and God’s Plans
2 Woe to those who plan iniquity,
to those who plot evil(A) on their beds!(B)
At morning’s light they carry it out
because it is in their power to do it.
2 They covet fields(C) and seize them,(D)
and houses, and take them.
They defraud(E) people of their homes,
they rob them of their inheritance.(F)
3 Therefore, the Lord says:
“I am planning disaster(G) against this people,
from which you cannot save yourselves.
You will no longer walk proudly,(H)
for it will be a time of calamity.
4 In that day people will ridicule you;
they will taunt you with this mournful song:
‘We are utterly ruined;(I)
my people’s possession is divided up.(J)
He takes it from me!
He assigns our fields to traitors.’”
False Prophets
6 “Do not prophesy,” their prophets say.
“Do not prophesy about these things;
disgrace(M) will not overtake us.(N)”
7 You descendants of Jacob, should it be said,
“Does the Lord become[a] impatient?
Does he do such things?”
“Do not my words do good(O)
to the one whose ways are upright?(P)
8 Lately my people have risen up
like an enemy.
You strip off the rich robe
from those who pass by without a care,
like men returning from battle.
9 You drive the women of my people
from their pleasant homes.(Q)
You take away my blessing
from their children forever.
10 Get up, go away!
For this is not your resting place,(R)
because it is defiled,(S)
it is ruined, beyond all remedy.
11 If a liar and deceiver(T) comes and says,
‘I will prophesy for you plenty of wine and beer,’(U)
that would be just the prophet for this people!(V)
Deliverance Promised
12 “I will surely gather all of you, Jacob;
I will surely bring together the remnant(W) of Israel.
I will bring them together like sheep in a pen,
like a flock in its pasture;
the place will throng with people.(X)
13 The One who breaks open the way will go up before(Y) them;
they will break through the gate(Z) and go out.
Their King will pass through before them,
the Lord at their head.”
Leaders and Prophets Rebuked
3 Then I said,
“Listen, you leaders(AA) of Jacob,
you rulers of Israel.
Should you not embrace justice,
2 you who hate good and love evil;
who tear the skin from my people
and the flesh from their bones;(AB)
3 who eat my people’s flesh,(AC)
strip off their skin
and break their bones in pieces;(AD)
who chop(AE) them up like meat for the pan,
like flesh for the pot?(AF)”
4 Then they will cry out to the Lord,
but he will not answer them.(AG)
At that time he will hide his face(AH) from them
because of the evil they have done.(AI)
5 This is what the Lord says:
“As for the prophets
who lead my people astray,(AJ)
they proclaim ‘peace’(AK)
if they have something to eat,
but prepare to wage war against anyone
who refuses to feed them.
6 Therefore night will come over you, without visions,
and darkness, without divination.(AL)
The sun will set for the prophets,(AM)
and the day will go dark for them.(AN)
7 The seers will be ashamed(AO)
and the diviners disgraced.(AP)
They will all cover(AQ) their faces(AR)
because there is no answer from God.(AS)”
8 But as for me, I am filled with power,
with the Spirit of the Lord,
and with justice and might,
to declare to Jacob his transgression,
to Israel his sin.(AT)
9 Hear this, you leaders of Jacob,
you rulers of Israel,
who despise justice
and distort all that is right;(AU)
10 who build(AV) Zion with bloodshed,(AW)
and Jerusalem with wickedness.(AX)
11 Her leaders judge for a bribe,(AY)
her priests teach for a price,(AZ)
and her prophets tell fortunes for money.(BA)
Yet they look(BB) for the Lord’s support and say,
“Is not the Lord among us?
No disaster will come upon us.”(BC)
12 Therefore because of you,
Zion will be plowed like a field,
Jerusalem will become a heap of rubble,(BD)
the temple(BE) hill a mound overgrown with thickets.(BF)
The Mountain of the Lord(BG)
4 In the last days
the mountain(BH) of the Lord’s temple will be established
as the highest of the mountains;
it will be exalted above the hills,(BI)
and peoples will stream to it.(BJ)
2 Many nations will come and say,
“Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord,(BK)
to the temple of the God of Jacob.(BL)
He will teach us(BM) his ways,(BN)
so that we may walk in his paths.”
The law(BO) will go out from Zion,
the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.
3 He will judge between many peoples
and will settle disputes for strong nations far and wide.(BP)
They will beat their swords into plowshares
and their spears into pruning hooks.(BQ)
Nation will not take up sword against nation,
nor will they train for war(BR) anymore.(BS)
4 Everyone will sit under their own vine
and under their own fig tree,(BT)
and no one will make them afraid,(BU)
for the Lord Almighty has spoken.(BV)
5 All the nations may walk
in the name of their gods,(BW)
but we will walk in the name of the Lord
our God for ever and ever.(BX)
The Lord’s Plan
6 “In that day,” declares the Lord,
“I will gather the lame;(BY)
I will assemble the exiles(BZ)
and those I have brought to grief.(CA)
7 I will make the lame my remnant,(CB)
those driven away a strong nation.(CC)
The Lord will rule over them in Mount Zion(CD)
from that day and forever.(CE)
8 As for you, watchtower of the flock,
stronghold[b] of Daughter Zion,
the former dominion will be restored(CF) to you;
kingship will come to Daughter Jerusalem.(CG)”
The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Text Edition: 2016. Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.
Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
NIV Reverse Interlinear Bible: English to Hebrew and English to Greek. Copyright © 2019 by Zondervan.