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Micah 2

KJV · Chapter 2/7

1Woe 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.

2And 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.

3Therefore 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.

4In 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.

5Therefore thou shalt have none that shall cast a cord by lot in the congregation of the Lord.

6Prophesy ye not, say they to them that prophesy: they shall not prophesy to them, that they shall not take shame.

7O 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?

8Even 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.

9The women of my people have ye cast out from their pleasant houses; from their children have ye taken away my glory for ever.

10Arise ye, and depart; for this is not your rest: because it is polluted, it shall destroy you, even with a sore destruction.

11If 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.

12I 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.

13The 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.

📖 Chapter study

Summary

Micah denounces the wealthy who plot at night to seize fields and houses from the poor, and confronts false prophets who only want to please the people with comfortable messages.

Explanation

The image of people who 'devise iniquity, and work evil upon their beds' suggests premeditation: the oppression of the poor was not impulsive but carefully planned, exploiting legal loopholes and economic power to seize family properties — a serious violation of Mosaic law, which protected every Israelite family's inherited land. In contrast to the corrupt prophets who only wanted to preach 'of wine and of strong drink,' Micah delivers a hard but necessary message. The chapter closes, however, on a note of hope: the promise to gather the scattered remnant of Israel like a protected flock. The application today: using legal or subtle means to take advantage of the most vulnerable remains a serious form of injustice in God's eyes.

Fun facts

  • The protection of a family's inherited land was so important under Israel's law that there was even a Year of Jubilee (Leviticus 25) every fifty years, when land sold out of necessity was to return to its original family — a law the elite of Micah's day clearly ignored.
  • The criticism of prophets who only want to speak 'of wine and of strong drink' (v. 11) is an irony: they preferred messages that sounded like celebration and prosperity rather than the uncomfortable truth about the people's sin.

Verse-by-verse explanation

  1. Micah 2:1A denunciation of the powerful who plan wickedness at night, in bed, and put it into practice as soon as morning comes — deliberate premeditation, not impulse.
  2. Micah 2:2Coveting fields and houses and simply taking them by force describes a real social problem of the time: powerful people driving families off land that was their inheritance for generations, a practice condemned by the law of Moses.
  3. Micah 2:3God's response: since they planned evil against others, He Himself will now plan a judgment against them, stripping away the arrogance of those who thought themselves untouchable.
  4. Micah 2:4Anticipates the day when the oppressors' own victims will sing an ironic lament, using the same words of total destruction the oppressors had caused others.
  5. Micah 2:5As punishment for the land-grabbing denounced earlier, these oppressors will lose the right to take part in the future division of land among God's people.
  6. Micah 2:6"Prophesy ye not" is what the powerful told the troublesome prophets to make them be quiet — the same reaction that appears in Amos against prophets who denounced injustice.
  7. Micah 2:7God asks whether He has changed, become "straitened" or less generous — in reality, His word is still good for those who walk uprightly; the problem is with the people, not with Him.
  8. Micah 2:8God's own people turned into enemies of themselves, stripping the robe even off people passing by peacefully, as if at war with their own neighbors.
  9. Micah 2:9An accusation of violent eviction: women driven out of their own homes, and children losing forever the blessing they should have received.
  10. Micah 2:10An ironic order for the people to "arise, and depart," since the land has become so polluted by injustice that it can no longer even serve as a resting place — exile as the natural consequence.
  11. Micah 2:11The "prophet" who promises "wine and of strong drink" is a criticism of preachers who said only what the people wanted to hear, instead of God's hard but true message.
  12. Micah 2:12"Sheep of Bozrah" (a city of Edom) is an image of a large, gathered flock; the verse promises to gather Israel's survivors the way that flock is brought together safely.
  13. Micah 2:13A promise of restoration: a leader will open the way for the people to leave captivity, breaking through the exit, with the Lord Himself leading the group at the front.

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