Micah 2
Expanded Bible
The Evil Plans of People
2 ·How terrible it will be for people [L Woe to those] who plan wickedness,
who lie on their beds and make evil plans.
When the morning light comes, they do what they planned,
because they have the power to do so.
2 They ·want [covet] fields, so they take them;
they ·want [covet] houses, so they ·take them away [seize them].
They ·cheat [defraud; oppress] people to get their houses;
they rob them even of their ·property [inheritance].
3 That is why the Lord says:
“Look, I am planning ·trouble [disaster] against such people,
·and you won’t be able to save yourselves [L from which you cannot remove your necks; C like a yoke].
You will no longer walk ·proudly [arrogantly],
because it will be a ·terrible time [time of calamity/catastrophe/evil].
4 ·At that time [L In that day] people will ·make fun of [ridicule; sing a taunt against] you
and ·sing this sad song [L lament with a lamentation] about you:
‘We are completely ·ruined [destroyed];
the Lord has taken away my people’s ·land [possession; inheritance].
Yes, he has taken it away from me
and divided our fields among ·our enemies [renegades; or the traitors]!’”
5 So you will have no one from the Lord’s ·people [assembly]
to throw lots to divide the land.
Micah Is Asked Not to Prophesy
6 The ·prophets [or preachers] say, “Don’t ·prophesy [or preach] to us!
Don’t ·prophesy [preach] about these things!
·Nothing to make us feel bad will happen [L Disgrace/Humiliation will not overtake us]!”
7 But I must say this, ·people [L house] of Jacob:
·The Lord is becoming angry [or Does not the Lord grow impatient…?] about what you have done.
·My words are welcome [or Are not my words good…?]
to the person who ·does what is right [L walks uprightly].
8 But ·you are fighting against my people like an enemy [or my people have risen up against me as an enemy].
You ·take the coats [strip off the rich robe] from people who pass by peacefully;
·you plan war [or …like men returning from war].
9 You have ·forced [cast out; evicted] the women of my people
from their ·nice [pleasant] houses;
you have taken my glory
from their children forever.
10 ·Get up [Arise] and leave.
This is not your place of rest anymore.
You have made this place ·unclean [defiled],
and it is doomed to destruction.
11 ·But you people want a false prophet
who will tell you nothing but lies
[L If a man, coming as wind/spirit and lies,
should lie to you…].
You want one who ·promises to prophesy good things for you
if you give him wine and beer [or will prophesy wine and beer for you].
He’s just the prophet for you.
The Lord Promises to Rescue His People
12 “Yes, ·people of Jacob [L Jacob], I will ·bring [assemble] all of you together;
I will bring together ·all those left alive in [the remnant of] Israel.
I will put them together like sheep in a pen,
like a flock in its pasture;
the place will be filled with ·many people [or a noisy crowd].
13 Someone will ·open the way [break out] and ·lead the people out [L go up before them].
The people will break through the gate and ·leave the city where they were held captive [L go out].
Their king will ·go out in front of [pass through before] them,
and the Lord will lead them.”
Micah 2
Amplified Bible
Woe to Oppressors
2 Woe (judgment is coming) to those who devise wickedness
And plot evil on their beds!
When morning comes, they practice evil
Because it is in the power of their hands.
2
They covet fields and seize them,
And houses, and take them away.
They oppress and rob a man and his house,
A man and his inheritance.(A)
3 Therefore, thus says the Lord,
“Behold, I am planning against this family a disaster (exile)
[Like a noose] from which you cannot remove your necks;
Nor will you be able to walk haughtily and erect,
For it will be an evil time [of subjugation to the invaders].
4
“On that day they shall take up a [taunting, deriding] parable against you
And wail with a doleful and bitter song of mourning and say,
‘We are completely destroyed!
God exchanges the inheritance of my people;
How He removes it from me!
He divides our fields to the rebellious [our captors].’
5
“Therefore, you will have no one stretching a measuring line [dividing the common land]
For you by lot in the assembly of the Lord.(B)
6
‘Do not speak out,’ so they speak out.
But if they do not speak out concerning these things,
Reproaches will not be turned back.
7
“Is it being said, O house of Jacob:
‘Is the Spirit of the Lord impatient?
Or are these [prophesied judgments] His doings?’
Do not My words do good
To the one walking uprightly?
8
“But lately My people have stood up as an enemy [and have made Me their antagonist].
You strip the ornaments off the garment
Of those unsuspecting passers-by,
Like those returned from war.
9
“You evict the women (widows) of My people,
Each one from her pleasant house;
From her [young, fatherless] children you take away My splendor and blessing forever [by putting them among the pagans, away from Me].
10
“Arise and depart [because the captivity is inevitable],
For this [land] is not the place of rest
Because of the defilement that brings destruction,
A painful and terrible destruction.
11
“If a man walking in a false spirit [spouting deception]
Should lie and say,
‘I will prophesy to you [O Israel] of wine and liquor (greed, sensual pleasure),’
He would be the acceptable spokesman of this people.(C)
12
“I shall most certainly assemble all of you, O Jacob;
I shall surely gather the remnant of Israel.
I shall bring them together like sheep in the fold [multiplying the nation];
Like a flock in the midst of its pasture.
The place will swarm with many people and hum loudly with noise.
13
“The [a]breaker [the Messiah, who opens the way] shall go up before them [liberating them].
They will break out, pass through the gate and go out;
So their King goes on before them,
The Lord at their head.”(D)
Footnotes
- Micah 2:13 The prophets repeatedly revealed the full extent of God’s coming judgment and salvation. God would punish His rebellious people but would afterward redeem them. Israel would be sent into exile, but a remnant of the people would return. The Messiah, the One who breaks open the way, shall lead them back and shall restore the kingdom of David.
The Expanded Bible, Copyright © 2011 Thomas Nelson Inc. All rights reserved.
Copyright © 2015 by The Lockman Foundation, La Habra, CA 90631. All rights reserved.
