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Micah 2
New American Standard Bible
Micah 2
New American Standard Bible
Woe to Oppressors
2 Woe to those who (A)devise wrongdoing,
Who practice evil on their beds!
[a](B)When morning comes, they do it,
Because it is in the (C)power of their hands.
2 They (D)covet fields, so they (E)seize them;
And houses, so they take them.
They [b](F)exploit a man and his house,
A person and his inheritance.
3 Therefore this is what the Lord says:
“Behold, I am (G)planning against this (H)family a catastrophe
From which you (I)cannot remove your necks;
And you will not walk (J)haughtily,
For it will be an (K)evil time.
4 On that day they will (L)take up against you a [c]song of mocking
And [d](M)utter a song of mourning and say,
‘We are completely (N)destroyed!
He exchanges the share of my people;
How He removes it from me!
To the apostate He (O)apportions our fields.’
5 Therefore you will have no one [e](P)applying a measuring line
For you by lot in the assembly of the Lord.
6 ‘(Q)Do not prophesy,’ so they prophesy.
But if [f]they do (R)not prophesy about these things,
(S)Insults will not be turned back.
7 Is it being said, house of Jacob:
‘Is the Spirit of the Lord (T)impatient?
Are these His works?’
Do My words not (U)do good
For the one (V)walking rightly?
8 [g]Recently My people have arisen as an (W)enemy—
You (X)strip the robe off the garment
From (Y)unsuspecting passers-by,
From those returned from war.
9 You (Z)evict the women of My people,
Each one from her pleasant house.
From her children you take My (AA)splendor forever.
10 Arise and go,
For this is no place (AB)of rest
Because of the (AC)uncleanness that brings on destruction,
A painful destruction.
11 If someone walking after wind and (AD)falsehood
Had lied and said,
‘I will prophesy to you about (AE)wine and liquor,’
He would become a prophet to (AF)this people.
12 “I will certainly (AG)assemble all of you, Jacob,
I will certainly gather the (AH)remnant of Israel.
I will put them together like sheep in the fold;
Like a flock in the midst of its pasture
They will be noisy with people.
13 The one who breaks through goes up before them;
They break through, pass through the gate, and go out by it.
So their king passes on before them,
And the Lord at their head.”
Micah 2
New International Version
Micah 2
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.”
Footnotes
- Micah 2:7 Or Is the Spirit of the Lord
Micah 2
Contemporary English Version
Micah 2
Contemporary English Version
Punishment for Those Who Abuse Their Power
2 Doomed! You're doomed!
At night you lie in bed,
making evil plans.
And when morning comes,
you do what you've planned
because you have the power.
2 You grab any field or house
that you want;
you cheat families
out of homes and land.
3 But here is what the Lord says:
“I am planning trouble for you.
Your necks will be caught
in a noose,
and you will be disgraced
in this time of disaster.”
4 When that happens,
this sorrowful song
will be sung about you:
“Ruined! Completely ruined!
The Lord has taken our land
and given it to traitors.”[a]
5 And so you will never again
own property
among the Lord's people.
6 “Enough of your preaching!”
That's what you tell me.
“We won't be disgraced,
so stop preaching!”
7 Descendants of Jacob,
is it right for you to claim
that the Lord did what he did
because he was angry?
Doesn't he always bless
those who do right?
8 My people, you have turned against
one another!
You have even stolen
clothes right off the backs
of innocent neighbors
who pass by in peace.[b]
9 You take over lovely homes
that belong to the women
of my nation.
Then you cheat their children
out of the inheritance
that comes from the Lord.[c]
10 Get out of here, you crooks!
You'll find no rest here.
You're not fit to belong
to the Lord's people,
and you will be destroyed.[d]
11 The only prophet you want
is a liar who will say,
“Drink and get drunk!”
A Promise of Hope
12 I, the Lord, promise
to bring together
the people of Israel
who have survived.
I will gather them,
just as a shepherd
brings sheep together,
and there will be many.
13 I will break down the gate
and lead them out—
then I will be their king.
Footnotes
- 2.4 The Lord … traitors: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text.
- 2.8 of innocent neighbors … peace: Or “of your unsuspecting soldiers returning home from battle.”
- 2.9 inheritance … Lord: The Hebrew text has “my glory,” which refers to the inheritance of land that the Lord had promised his people.
- 2.10 destroyed: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text.
Micah 2
The Message
Micah 2
The Message
God Has Had Enough
2 1-5 Doom to those who plot evil,
who go to bed dreaming up crimes!
As soon as it’s morning,
they’re off, full of energy, doing what they’ve planned.
They covet fields and grab them,
find homes and take them.
They bully the neighbor and his family,
see people only for what they can get out of them.
God has had enough. He says,
“I have some plans of my own:
Disaster because of this interbreeding evil!
Your necks are on the line.
You’re not walking away from this.
It’s doomsday for you.
Mocking ballads will be sung of you,
and you yourselves will sing the blues:
‘Our lives are ruined,
our homes and lands auctioned off.
They take everything, leave us nothing!
All is sold to the highest bidder.’”
And there’ll be no one to stand up for you,
no one to speak for you before God and his jury.
* * *
6-7 “Don’t preach,” say the preachers.
“Don’t preach such stuff.
Nothing bad will happen to us.
Talk like this to the family of Jacob?
Does God lose his temper?
Is this the way he acts?
Isn’t he on the side of good people?
Doesn’t he help those who help themselves?”
* * *
8-11 “What do you mean, ‘good people’!
You’re the enemy of my people!
You rob unsuspecting people
out for an evening stroll.
You take their coats off their backs
like soldiers who plunder the defenseless.
You drive the women of my people
out of their ample homes.
You make victims of the children
and leave them vulnerable to violence and vice.
Get out of here, the lot of you.
You can’t take it easy here!
You’ve polluted this place,
and now you’re polluted—ruined!
If someone showed up with a good smile and glib tongue
and told lies from morning to night—
‘I’ll preach sermons that will tell you
how you can get anything you want from God:
More money, the best wines . . . you name it’—
you’d hire him on the spot as your preacher!
* * *
12-13 “I’m calling a meeting, Jacob.
I want everyone back—all the survivors of Israel.
I’ll get them together in one place—
like sheep in a fold, like cattle in a corral—
a milling throng of homebound people!
Then I, God, will burst all confinements
and lead them out into the open.
They’ll follow their King.
I will be out in front leading them.”
New American Standard Bible (NASB) 
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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.
Contemporary English Version (CEV) 
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The Message (MSG)
Copyright © 1993, 2002, 2018 by Eugene H. Peterson