Micah 2
International Standard Version
God’s Warning to His People
2 “Woe to those who are crafting iniquity,
planning evil well into the night![a]
When morning’s light comes,
they carry out their plans[b] because they have the power to do so.
2 They covet fields and seize them;
they covet[c] houses, and grab them, too.
They harass the valiant man, along with his household,
an individual and his estate.
3 “Therefore this is what the Lord says,
‘I’m crafting evil against this family,
from which you can’t escape.[d]
You won’t strut around arrogantly,
because the times are evil.’
4 “When this happens,[e] someone will compose a proverb about you, lamenting sorrowfully,
‘We are completely ruined!
He has given my people’s heritage to others.[f]
How he has removed it from me,
dividing up our fields!’
5 “This is why there will not be left even a single person
to settle boundary disputes[g] in the Lord’s community.
6 To those who speak out, they will declare,
‘Don’t prophesy to anyone!’
so their shame won’t go away.
7 “It is said, house of Jacob,
‘The Spirit of the Lord is limited,
if he acts this way, is he not?’
“But my words benefit those who live righteously, do they not?
8 Lately my people have acted like an enemy—
you strip travelers who thought they were[h] as secure
as those who return from war.
9 You have evicted the wives of my people from their dream homes;
you have removed my majesty from their children permanently.
10 “Get up and go,
because there’s no rest for you here!
Since everything[i] is polluted, it can only cause destruction,
even heavy destruction.
11 Suppose a man who keeps company with a deceiving spirit prophesies like this:
‘Drink wine and strong drink!’
Won’t the people accept him as a prophet?”
The Coming Judgment
12 “Jacob, how I will surely gather all of you!
How I will gather the survivors of Israel!
I will gather them together like sheep in a pen,[j]
like the flock in the midst of the sheepfold.
There will be a great commotion because of all[k] the people.
13 God will stand up and break through[l] in their presence.
Then they will pass through the gate, going out by it.
Their king will pass in front of them
with the Lord at their head.”
Footnotes
- Micah 2:1 Lit. evil upon their beds
- Micah 2:1 The Heb. lacks their plans
- Micah 2:2 The Heb. lacks they covet
- Micah 2:3 Lit. can’t remove your necks
- Micah 2:4 Lit. In that day
- Micah 2:4 The Heb. lacks to others
- Micah 2:5 Lit. to stretch out a measuring line
- Micah 2:8 The Heb. lacks thought they were
- Micah 2:10 Lit. it
- Micah 2:12 Or sheep of Bozrah
- Micah 2:12 The Heb. lacks all
- Micah 2:13 Lit. The one who breaks through will arise
Micah 2
English Standard Version
Woe to the Oppressors
2 (A)Woe to those who devise wickedness
and work evil (B)on their beds!
When the morning dawns, they perform it,
because it is in the power of their hand.
2 They covet fields and (C)seize them,
and houses, and take them away;
they oppress a man and his house,
a man and his inheritance.
3 Therefore thus says the Lord:
behold, against (D)this family I am devising disaster,[a]
from which you cannot remove your necks,
and you (E)shall not walk haughtily,
(F)for it will be a time of disaster.
4 In that day (G)they shall take up a taunt song against you
and moan bitterly,
and say, “We are utterly ruined;
(H)he changes the portion of my people;
(I)how he removes it from me!
(J)To an apostate he allots our fields.”
5 Therefore you will have none (K)to cast the line by lot
in the assembly of the Lord.
6 (L)“Do not preach”—thus they preach—
(M)“one should not preach of such things;
(N)disgrace will not overtake us.”
7 Should this be said, O house of Jacob?
(O)Has the Lord grown impatient?[b]
Are these his deeds?
Do not my words do good
to him who walks uprightly?
8 But lately (P)my people have risen up as an enemy;
you strip the rich robe from those who pass by trustingly
with no thought of war.[c]
9 The women of my people you drive out
from their delightful houses;
from their young children you take away
my splendor forever.
10 (Q)Arise and go,
for this is no (R)place to rest,
because of (S)uncleanness that destroys
with a grievous destruction.
11 If a man should go about and (T)utter wind and lies,
saying, “I will preach to you (U)of wine and strong drink,”
he would be the preacher for this people!
12 I will surely assemble all of you, O Jacob;
(V)I will gather (W)the remnant of Israel;
I will set them together
like sheep in a fold,
(X)like a flock in its pasture,
a noisy multitude of men.
13 (Y)He who opens the breach goes up before them;
they break through and pass the gate,
(Z)going out by it.
Their king passes on before them,
(AA)the Lord at their head.
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The ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. ESV Text Edition: 2025.
