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Micah 2:1-6:12
English Standard Version
Micah 2:1-6:12
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.
9 Now why do you cry aloud?
(BR)Is there no king in you?
(BS)Has your counselor perished,
that (BT)pain seized you like a woman in labor?
10 (BU)Writhe and groan,[f] O daughter of Zion,
like a woman in labor,
for (BV)now you shall go out from the city
and dwell in the open country;
you (BW)shall go to Babylon.
There you shall be rescued;
(BX)there the Lord will redeem you
from the hand of your enemies.
11 Now (BY)many nations
are assembled against you,
saying, “Let her be defiled,
and (BZ)let our eyes gaze upon Zion.”
12 But (CA)they do not know
the thoughts of the Lord;
they do not understand his plan,
that (CB)he has gathered them as sheaves to the threshing floor.
13 Arise and thresh,
O daughter of Zion,
for I will make your horn iron,
and I will make your hoofs bronze;
you shall beat in pieces many peoples;
and (CC)shall devote[g] (CD)their gain to the Lord,
their wealth to (CE)the Lord of the whole earth.
The Ruler to Be Born in Bethlehem
5 [h] Now muster your troops, O daughter[i] of troops;
siege is laid against us;
with a rod (CF)they strike the judge of Israel
on the cheek.
2 [j] (CG)But you, O Bethlehem Ephrathah,
who are too little to be among the clans of (CH)Judah,
from you shall come forth for me
one who is to be (CI)ruler in Israel,
(CJ)whose coming forth is (CK)from of old,
from ancient days.
3 Therefore he shall give them up (CL)until the time
when she who is in labor has given birth;
then (CM)the rest of his brothers shall return
to the people of Israel.
4 And he shall stand (CN)and shepherd his flock (CO)in the strength of the Lord,
in the majesty of the name of the Lord his God.
And they shall dwell secure, for now (CP)he shall be great
to the ends of the earth.
5 And he shall be (CQ)their peace.
(CR)When the Assyrian comes into our land
and treads in our palaces,
then we will raise against him seven (CS)shepherds
and eight princes of men;
6 they shall shepherd the land of Assyria with the sword,
and the land of (CT)Nimrod at its entrances;
and he shall deliver us from the Assyrian
(CU)when he comes into our land
and treads within our border.
A Remnant Shall Be Delivered
7 Then (CV)the remnant of Jacob shall be
in the midst of many peoples
like dew from the Lord,
like showers on the grass,
which delay not for a man
nor wait for the children of man.
8 And (CW)the remnant of Jacob shall be among the nations,
in the midst of many peoples,
like a lion among the beasts of the forest,
like a young lion among the flocks of sheep,
(CX)which, when it goes through, treads down
and tears in pieces, and there is none to deliver.
9 Your hand shall (CY)be lifted up over your adversaries,
and all your enemies shall be cut off.
10 And (CZ)in that day, declares the Lord,
(DA)I will cut off your horses from among you
and will destroy your chariots;
11 (DB)and I will cut off the cities of your land
and throw down all your strongholds;
12 and I will cut off (DC)sorceries from your hand,
and (DD)you shall have no more tellers of fortunes;
13 and (DE)I will cut off your carved images
and (DF)your pillars from among you,
(DG)and you shall bow down no more
to the work of your hands;
14 and I will root out your (DH)Asherah images from among you
(DI)and destroy your cities.
15 And in anger and wrath (DJ)I will execute vengeance
on the nations that did not obey.
The Indictment of the Lord
6 (DK)Hear what the Lord says:
Arise, plead your case before the mountains,
and let the hills hear your voice.
2 (DL)Hear, you mountains, (DM)the indictment of the Lord,
and you enduring foundations of the earth,
for the Lord has an indictment against his people,
and he will contend with Israel.
3 “O my people, (DN)what have I done to you?
(DO)How have I wearied you? Answer me!
4 For (DP)I brought you up from the land of Egypt
and (DQ)redeemed you from the house of slavery,
and I sent before you Moses,
Aaron, and (DR)Miriam.
5 O my people, remember (DS)what Balak king of Moab devised,
and what Balaam the son of Beor answered him,
and what happened from (DT)Shittim to Gilgal,
that you may know (DU)the righteous acts of the Lord.”
What Does the Lord Require?
6 (DV)“With what shall I come before the Lord,
and bow myself before (DW)God on high?
Shall I come before him with burnt offerings,
with calves a year old?
7 (DX)Will the Lord be pleased with[k] thousands of rams,
with ten thousands of rivers of oil?
(DY)Shall I give my firstborn for my transgression,
the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?”
8 He has told you, O man, what is good;
and (DZ)what does the Lord require of you
but to do justice, and to love kindness,[l]
and to (EA)walk humbly with your God?
Destruction of the Wicked
9 The voice of the Lord cries to the city—
and it is sound wisdom to fear (EB)your name:
“Hear of (EC)the rod and of him who appointed it![m]
10 Can I forget any longer the treasures[n] of wickedness in the house of the wicked,
and the scant measure that is accursed?
11 Shall I acquit the man (ED)with wicked scales
and with a bag of deceitful weights?
12 Your[o] rich men are (EE)full of violence;
your inhabitants (EF)speak lies,
and (EG)their tongue is deceitful in their mouth.
Footnotes
- Micah 2:3 The same Hebrew word can mean evil or disaster, depending on the context
- Micah 2:7 Hebrew Has the spirit of the Lord grown short?
- Micah 2:8 Or returning from war
- Micah 3:2 Hebrew from off them
- Micah 4:2 Or teaching
- Micah 4:10 Or push
- Micah 4:13 Hebrew devote to destruction
- Micah 5:1 Ch 4:14 in Hebrew
- Micah 5:1 That is, city
- Micah 5:2 Ch 5:1 in Hebrew
- Micah 6:7 Or Will the Lord accept
- Micah 6:8 Or steadfast love
- Micah 6:9 The meaning of the Hebrew is uncertain
- Micah 6:10 Or Are there still treasures
- Micah 6:12 Hebrew whose
Micah 2:1-6:12
New International Version
Micah 2:1-6:12
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)”
9 Why do you now cry aloud—
have you no king[c](CH)?
Has your ruler[d] perished,
that pain seizes you like that of a woman in labor?(CI)
10 Writhe in agony, Daughter Zion,
like a woman in labor,
for now you must leave the city
to camp in the open field.
You will go to Babylon;(CJ)
there you will be rescued.
There the Lord will redeem(CK) you
out of the hand of your enemies.
11 But now many nations
are gathered against you.
They say, “Let her be defiled,
let our eyes gloat(CL) over Zion!”
12 But they do not know
the thoughts of the Lord;
they do not understand his plan,(CM)
that he has gathered them like sheaves to the threshing floor.
13 “Rise and thresh,(CN) Daughter Zion,
for I will give you horns of iron;
I will give you hooves of bronze,
and you will break to pieces many nations.”(CO)
You will devote their ill-gotten gains to the Lord,(CP)
their wealth to the Lord of all the earth.
A Promised Ruler From Bethlehem
5 [e]Marshal your troops now, city of troops,
for a siege is laid against us.
They will strike Israel’s ruler
on the cheek(CQ) with a rod.
2 “But you, Bethlehem(CR) Ephrathah,(CS)
though you are small among the clans[f] of Judah,
out of you will come for me
one who will be ruler(CT) over Israel,
whose origins are from of old,(CU)
from ancient times.”(CV)
3 Therefore Israel will be abandoned(CW)
until the time when she who is in labor bears a son,
and the rest of his brothers return
to join the Israelites.
4 He will stand and shepherd his flock(CX)
in the strength of the Lord,
in the majesty of the name of the Lord his God.
And they will live securely, for then his greatness(CY)
will reach to the ends of the earth.
5 And he will be our peace(CZ)
when the Assyrians invade(DA) our land
and march through our fortresses.
We will raise against them seven shepherds,
even eight commanders,(DB)
6 who will rule[g] the land of Assyria with the sword,
the land of Nimrod(DC) with drawn sword.[h](DD)
He will deliver us from the Assyrians
when they invade our land
and march across our borders.(DE)
7 The remnant(DF) of Jacob will be
in the midst of many peoples
like dew(DG) from the Lord,
like showers on the grass,(DH)
which do not wait for anyone
or depend on man.
8 The remnant of Jacob will be among the nations,
in the midst of many peoples,
like a lion among the beasts of the forest,(DI)
like a young lion among flocks of sheep,
which mauls and mangles(DJ) as it goes,
and no one can rescue.(DK)
9 Your hand will be lifted up(DL) in triumph over your enemies,
and all your foes will be destroyed.
10 “In that day,” declares the Lord,
“I will destroy your horses from among you
and demolish your chariots.(DM)
11 I will destroy the cities(DN) of your land
and tear down all your strongholds.(DO)
12 I will destroy your witchcraft
and you will no longer cast spells.(DP)
13 I will destroy your idols(DQ)
and your sacred stones from among you;(DR)
you will no longer bow down
to the work of your hands.(DS)
14 I will uproot from among you your Asherah poles[i](DT)
when I demolish your cities.
15 I will take vengeance(DU) in anger and wrath
on the nations that have not obeyed me.”
The Lord’s Case Against Israel
6 Listen to what the Lord says:
“Stand up, plead my case before the mountains;(DV)
let the hills hear what you have to say.
2 “Hear,(DW) you mountains, the Lord’s accusation;(DX)
listen, you everlasting foundations of the earth.
For the Lord has a case(DY) against his people;
he is lodging a charge(DZ) against Israel.
3 “My people, what have I done to you?
How have I burdened(EA) you?(EB) Answer me.
4 I brought you up out of Egypt(EC)
and redeemed you from the land of slavery.(ED)
I sent Moses(EE) to lead you,
also Aaron(EF) and Miriam.(EG)
5 My people, remember
what Balak(EH) king of Moab plotted
and what Balaam son of Beor answered.
Remember your journey from Shittim(EI) to Gilgal,(EJ)
that you may know the righteous acts(EK) of the Lord.”
6 With what shall I come before(EL) the Lord
and bow down before the exalted God?
Shall I come before him with burnt offerings,
with calves a year old?(EM)
7 Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams,(EN)
with ten thousand rivers of olive oil?(EO)
Shall I offer my firstborn(EP) for my transgression,
the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?(EQ)
8 He has shown you, O mortal, what is good.
And what does the Lord require of you?
To act justly(ER) and to love mercy
and to walk humbly[j](ES) with your God.(ET)
Israel’s Guilt and Punishment
9 Listen! The Lord is calling to the city—
and to fear your name is wisdom—
“Heed the rod(EU) and the One who appointed it.[k]
10 Am I still to forget your ill-gotten treasures, you wicked house,
and the short ephah,[l] which is accursed?(EV)
11 Shall I acquit someone with dishonest scales,(EW)
with a bag of false weights?(EX)
12 Your rich people are violent;(EY)
your inhabitants are liars(EZ)
and their tongues speak deceitfully.(FA)
Footnotes
- Micah 2:7 Or Is the Spirit of the Lord
- Micah 4:8 Or hill
- Micah 4:9 Or King
- Micah 4:9 Or Ruler
- Micah 5:1 In Hebrew texts 5:1 is numbered 4:14, and 5:2-15 is numbered 5:1-14.
- Micah 5:2 Or rulers
- Micah 5:6 Or crush
- Micah 5:6 Or Nimrod in its gates
- Micah 5:14 That is, wooden symbols of the goddess Asherah
- Micah 6:8 Or prudently
- Micah 6:9 The meaning of the Hebrew for this line is uncertain.
- Micah 6:10 An ephah was a dry measure.
English Standard Version (ESV) 
The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Text Edition: 2016. Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.
New International Version (NIV) 
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.