Micah 2
Living Bible
2 Woe to you who lie awake at night, plotting wickedness; you rise at dawn to carry out your schemes; because you can, you do. 2 You want a certain piece of land or someone else’s house (though it is all he has); you take it by fraud and threats and violence.
3 But the Lord God says, “I will reward your evil with evil; nothing can stop me; never again will you be proud and haughty after I am through with you. 4 Then your enemies will taunt you and mock your dirge of despair: ‘We are finished, ruined. God has confiscated our land and sent us far away; he has given what is ours to others.’” 5 Others will set your boundaries then. “The People of the Lord” will live where they are sent.
6 “Don’t say such things,” the people say. “Don’t harp on things like that. It’s disgraceful, that sort of talk. Such evils surely will not come our way.”
7 Is that the right reply for you to make, O House of Jacob? Do you think the Spirit of the Lord likes to talk to you so roughly? No! His threats are for your good, to get you on the path again.
8 Yet to this very hour my people rise against me. For you steal the shirts right off the backs of those who trusted you, who walk in peace.
9 You have driven out the widows from their homes and stripped their children of every God-given right. 10 Up! Begone! This is no more your land and home, for you have filled it with sin, and it will vomit you out.
11 “I’ll preach to you the joys of wine and drink”—that is the kind of drunken, lying prophet that you like!
12 “The time will come, O Israel, when I will gather you—all that are left—and bring you together again like sheep in a fold, like a flock in a pasture—a noisy, happy crowd. 13 The Messiah[a] will lead you out of exile and bring you through the gates of your cities of captivity, back to your own land. Your King will go before you—the Lord leads on.”
Footnotes
- Micah 2:13 The Messiah, literally, “He who opens the breach.”
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
New Life Version
It Is Bad for Wrong-Doers
2 It is bad for those who make plans to do wrong, who lie on their beds thinking of something sinful to do! When morning comes, they do it, because it is in their power. 2 They want fields that belong to someone else, and take them. They want houses, and take them. They rob a man and his house, a man and what has been given to him. 3 So the Lord says, “I am planning trouble against this family, from which you cannot save yourselves. You will no longer walk in pride, for it will be a time of much trouble. 4 On that day they will make fun of you and sing a bitter song of sorrow, saying, ‘We are destroyed and everything is gone! My people’s land is divided. He takes it from me! He gives our fields to those who turned against us.’” 5 So you will have no one among the Lord’s people to divide the land in a right way for you.
Men Who Lie
6 “The people say to me, ‘Do not speak about these things, because we will not be put to shame.’ 7 Should it be said, O people of Jacob: “Is the Spirit of the Lord angry? Would He do such things? Do not My Words do good to the one whose way is right and good? 8 My people have begun to hate those who are at peace with them. You pull the coat off from a brother Israelite, from those who pass by in peace like men returning from war. 9 You drive the women of My people away from their beautiful houses. You take My greatness away from their children forever. 10 Get up and go away, for this is no place of rest, because it is made unclean. It is destroyed with much suffering. 11 If a man comes speaking lies and says, ‘I will speak to you about wine and strong drink,’ he would be the one for these people!
Israel Is Gathered Together
12 “I will gather all of you together, Jacob. I will gather all those left of Israel. I will put them together like sheep within a fence, like a flock in its field. The land will be filled with the noise of many people. 13 The One Who breaks open the way will go out before them. They will break through the gate and go out. Their king will pass through before them, and the Lord will lead them.”
The Living Bible copyright © 1971 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Copyright © 1969, 2003 by Barbour Publishing, Inc.