Micah 2
Douay-Rheims 1899 American Edition
2 Woe to you that devise that which is unprofitable, and work evil in your beds: in the morning light they execute it, because their hand is against God.
2 And they have coveted fields, and taken them by violence, and houses they have forcibly taken away: and oppressed a man and his house, a man and his inheritance.
3 Therefore thus saith the Lord: Behold, I devise an evil against this family: from which you shall not withdraw your necks, and you shall not walk haughtily, for this is a very evil time.
4 In that day a parable shall be taken up upon you, and a song shall be sung with melody by them that say: We are laid waste and spoiled: the portion of my people is changed: how shall he depart from me, whereas he is returning that will divide our land?
5 Therefore thou shalt have none that shall cast the cord of a lot in the assembly of the Lord.
6 Speak ye not, saying: It shall not drop upon these, confusion shall not take them.
7 The house of Jacob saith: Is the spirit of the Lord straitened, or are these his thoughts? Are not my words good to him that walketh uprightly?
8 But my people, on the contrary, are risen up as an enemy: you have taken away the cloak off from the coat: and them that passed harmless you have turned to war.
9 You have cast out the women of my people from their houses, in which they took delight: you have taken my praise for ever from their children.
10 Arise ye, and depart, for there is no rest here for you. For that uncleanness of the land, it shall be corrupted with a grievous corruption.
11 Would God I were not a man that hath the spirit, and that I rather spoke a lie: I will let drop to thee of wine, and of drunkenness: and it shall be this people upon whom it shall drop.
12 I will assemble and gather together all of thee, O Jacob: I will bring together the remnant of Israel, I will put them together as a flock in the fold, as the sheep in the midst of the sheepcotes, they shall make a tumult by reason of the multitude of men.
13 For he shall go up that shall open the way before them: they shall divide, and pass through the gate, and shall come in by it: and their king shall pass before them, and the Lord at the head of them.
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
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
New King James Version
Woe to Evildoers
2 Woe to those who devise iniquity,
And [a]work out evil on their beds!
At (A)morning light they practice it,
Because it is in the power of their hand.
2 They (B)covet fields and take them by violence,
Also houses, and seize them.
So they oppress a man and his house,
A man and his inheritance.
3 Therefore thus says the Lord:
“Behold, against this (C)family I am devising (D)disaster,
From which you cannot remove your necks;
Nor shall you walk haughtily,
For this is an evil time.
4 In that day one shall take up a proverb against you,
And (E)lament with a bitter lamentation, saying:
‘We are utterly destroyed!
He has changed the [b]heritage of my people;
How He has removed it from me!
To [c]a turncoat He has divided our fields.’ ”
5 Therefore you will have no [d]one to determine boundaries by lot
In the assembly of the Lord.
Lying Prophets
6 “Do not prattle,” you say to those who [e]prophesy.
So they shall not prophesy [f]to you;
[g]They shall not return insult for insult.
7 You who are named the house of Jacob:
“Is the Spirit of the Lord restricted?
Are these His doings?
Do not My words do good
To him who walks uprightly?
8 “Lately My people have risen up as an enemy—
You pull off the robe with the garment
From those who trust you, as they pass by,
Like men returned from war.
9 The women of My people you cast out
From their pleasant houses;
From their children
You have taken away My glory forever.
10 “Arise and depart,
For this is not your (F)rest;
Because it is (G)defiled, it shall destroy,
Yes, with utter destruction.
11 If a man should walk in a false spirit
And speak a lie, saying,
‘I will [h]prophesy to you [i]of wine and drink,’
Even he would be the (H)prattler of this people.
Israel Restored
12 “I(I) will surely assemble all of you, O Jacob,
I will surely gather the remnant of Israel;
I will put them together (J)like sheep of [j]the fold,
Like a flock in the midst of their pasture;
(K)They shall make a loud noise because of so many people.
13 The one who breaks open will come up before them;
They will break out,
Pass through the gate,
And go out by it;
(L)Their king will pass before them,
(M)With the Lord at their head.”
Footnotes
- Micah 2:1 Plan
- Micah 2:4 Lit. portion
- Micah 2:4 Lit. one turning back, an apostate
- Micah 2:5 Lit. one casting a surveyor’s line
- Micah 2:6 Or preach, lit. drip words
- Micah 2:6 Lit. to these
- Micah 2:6 Vg. He shall not take shame
- Micah 2:11 Or preach, lit. drip
- Micah 2:11 concerning
- Micah 2:12 Heb. Bozrah
Micah 2
King James Version
2 Woe to them that devise iniquity, and work evil upon their beds! when the morning is light, they practise it, because it is in the power of their hand.
2 And they covet fields, and take them by violence; and houses, and take them away: so they oppress a man and his house, even a man and his heritage.
3 Therefore thus saith the Lord; Behold, against this family do I devise an evil, from which ye shall not remove your necks; neither shall ye go haughtily: for this time is evil.
4 In that day shall one take up a parable against you, and lament with a doleful lamentation, and say, We be utterly spoiled: he hath changed the portion of my people: how hath he removed it from me! turning away he hath divided our fields.
5 Therefore thou shalt have none that shall cast a cord by lot in the congregation of the Lord.
6 Prophesy ye not, say they to them that prophesy: they shall not prophesy to them, that they shall not take shame.
7 O thou that art named the house of Jacob, is the spirit of the Lord straitened? are these his doings? do not my words do good to him that walketh uprightly?
8 Even of late my people is risen up as an enemy: ye pull off the robe with the garment from them that pass by securely as men averse from war.
9 The women of my people have ye cast out from their pleasant houses; from their children have ye taken away my glory for ever.
10 Arise ye, and depart; for this is not your rest: because it is polluted, it shall destroy you, even with a sore destruction.
11 If a man walking in the spirit and falsehood do lie, saying, I will prophesy unto thee of wine and of strong drink; he shall even be the prophet of this people.
12 I will surely assemble, O Jacob, all of thee; I will surely gather the remnant of Israel; I will put them together as the sheep of Bozrah, as the flock in the midst of their fold: they shall make great noise by reason of the multitude of men.
13 The breaker is come up before them: they have broken up, and have passed through the gate, and are gone out by it: and their king shall pass before them, and the Lord on the head of them.
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Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.


