Micah 2

1 Woe to those who devise iniquity and work evil on their beds! When the morning is light, they practice it, because it is in the power of their hand.

2 They covet fields and seize them, and houses, then take them away. They oppress a man and his house, even a man and his heritage.

3 Therefore the LORD says: “Behold, I am planning against these people a disaster, from which you will not remove your necks, neither will you walk haughtily, for it is an evil time.

4 In that day they will take up a parable against you, and lament with a doleful lamentation, saying, ‘We are utterly ruined! My people’s possession is divided up. Indeed he takes it from me and assigns our fields to traitors!’”

5 Therefore you will have no one who divides the land by lot in the LORD’s assembly.

6 “Don’t prophesy!”—they prophesy— “Don’t prophesy about these things. Disgrace won’t overtake us.”

7 Shall it be said, O house of Jacob, “Is the LORD’s Spirit angry? Are these his doings? Don’t my words do good to him who walks blamelessly?”

8 But lately my people have risen up as an enemy. You strip the robe and clothing from those who pass by without a care, returning from battle.

9 You drive the women of my people out from their pleasant houses; from their young children you take away my blessing forever.

10 Arise, and depart! For this is not your resting place, because of uncleanness that destroys, even with a grievous destruction.

11 If a man walking in a spirit of falsehood lies, saying, “I will prophesy to you of wine and of strong drink,” he would be the prophet of this people.

12 I will surely assemble all of you, Jacob. I will surely gather the remnant of Israel. I will put them together as the sheep of Bozrah, as a flock in the middle of their pasture. They will swarm with people.

13 He who breaks open the way goes up before them. They break through the gate, and go out. Their king passes on before them, with the LORD at their head.

Around Micah 2

Context

Context for this book is being written. A note appears here only once it names its sources.

AI explanation

About Micah as a whole · Written by an AI model · Not reviewed by a theological reader

This explanation was written by an AI model to help you get started. It names no sources and can contain mistakes. Scripture comes first, and context with sources is shown separately on this page.

What this book is about

The leaders of Jerusalem have an answer ready for anyone who warns them. “Isn’t the LORD among us? No disaster will come on us.” Micah has seen what lies behind it. Rulers who take bribes, prophets who say what pays, and the powerful who seize the fields of the poor. To Micah, none of this goes unseen.

So he announces that the two cities, Samaria and Jerusalem, will fall.

But the warnings are threaded with promise, as if the speaker could not stop himself. Nations stream to learn God’s ways. Out of the teaching comes peace: “They will beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks.” And out of the small town of Bethlehem will come a ruler. The book keeps turning between what is coming and what is hoped for.

Background

Micah came from Moresheth, a country town in Judah, and prophesied in the late eighth century before Christ, at the same time as Isaiah. He spoke as an outsider to the capital. A century later, Jeremiah’s defenders quoted him in court when his own life was at stake (Jeremiah 26).

How Christians read it

Micah 6:8 is one of the best-known summaries of what God asks of people: “to act justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God?” Matthew quotes the promise about Bethlehem in the story of Jesus’ birth. The book ends by marveling at God: “Who is a God like you, who pardons iniquity,” and who delights in mercy.

About this explanation

Written by Claude Sonnet 5.5, an AI model, on 21 October 2026. It draws on the WEB text and general knowledge and was not checked against sources by a person. Every quotation from Scripture is checked automatically against the WEB text.

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World English Bible. Public-domain source and edition notes