Add parallel Print Page Options

The Evil Plans of People

How terrible it will be for people who plan wickedness.
    They lie on their beds and make evil plans.
When the morning light comes, they do the things they planned.
    They do them just because they have the power to do so.
They want fields; so they take them.
    They want houses; so they take them.
They cheat a man and take his house.
    They cheat a man and take his property.

That is why the Lord says:

“Look, I am planning trouble against such people.
    You won’t be able to save yourselves.
You will no longer walk proudly,
    because it will be a terrible time.
At that time people will make fun of you.
    They will sing this sad song about you:
‘We are completely ruined.
    The Lord has taken away our land.
Yes, he has taken our land away from us.
    He has divided our fields among our enemies!’”
So you will have no land for people to measure.
    They will not throw lots to divide the land among the Lord’s people.

Micah Is Asked Not to Prophesy

People say, “Don’t prophesy to us!
    Don’t say those bad things about us!
    Nothing like that will happen to us!”
But I must say this, people of Jacob.
    The Lord is becoming angry about what you have done.
If you lived right,
    I could say nice words to you.
But recently, my people have become my enemy.
    You take the coats from people who pass by.
They think they are safe.
    But you rob them
as if they were prisoners of war.
You’ve forced the women of my people
    from their nice houses.
You’ve taken my glory
    from their children forever.
10 Get up and leave.
    This is not your promised place of rest anymore.
You have made this place unclean.
    It is doomed to destruction.
11 But you people want a false prophet
    who will tell you nothing but lies.
You want one who promises to prophesy good things for you
    if you give him wine and beer.
    He’s just the prophet for you.

The Lord Promises to Rescue His People

12 “Yes, people of Jacob, I will bring all of you together.
    I will bring together all those left alive in Israel.
I’ll put them together like sheep in a pen,
    like a flock in its pasture.
    Then the place will be filled with many people.
13 Someone will open the way and lead the people out.
    The people will break through the gate and leave the city where they were held captive.
Their king will go out in front of them.
    The Lord will lead his people.”

Human Plans and God’s Plans

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.
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)

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.
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.’”

Therefore you will have no one in the assembly of the Lord
    to divide the land(K) by lot.(L)

False Prophets

“Do not prophesy,” their prophets say.
    “Do not prophesy about these things;
    disgrace(M) will not overtake us.(N)
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)
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.
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.”

Footnotes

  1. Micah 2:7 Or Is the Spirit of the Lord