Micah 2:1–5
Woe to the Oppressors of God’s People
2 Woe to those who plan wickedness
and evil deeds upon their beds!
In the light of the morning they did it,
because they have power in their hands.
2 They covet fields and seize them,
and houses, and they take them away.
They oppress a man and his house;
a man and his inheritance.
3 Therefore, thus says Yahweh: Look! I am planning disaster against this family from which you will not be able to remove your necks. You will not walk proudly, for it is a time of disaster.
4 In that day they will raise a proverb against you,
and will wail a bitter wailing, saying,
“We are utterly ruined;
he exchanges the portion of my people.
How he removes it from me;
he apportions our field to an apostate.”
5 Therefore you will have no one casting a line by lot
in the assembly of Yahweh.
Micah 2:1–5 — The New International Version (NIV)
1 Woe to those who plan iniquity,
to those who plot evil on their beds!
At morning’s light they carry it out
because it is in their power to do it.
2 They covet fields and seize them,
and houses, and take them.
They defraud people of their homes,
they rob them of their inheritance.
3 Therefore, the Lord says:
“I am planning disaster against this people,
from which you cannot save yourselves.
You will no longer walk proudly,
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;
my people’s possession is divided up.
He takes it from me!
He assigns our fields to traitors.’ ”
5 Therefore you will have no one in the assembly of the Lord
to divide the land by lot.
Micah 2:1–5 — English Standard Version (ESV)
1 Woe to those who devise wickedness
and work evil on their beds!
When the morning dawns, they perform it,
because it is in the power of their hand.
2 They covet fields and 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 this family I am devising disaster,
from which you cannot remove your necks,
and you shall not walk haughtily,
for it will be a time of disaster.
4 In that day they shall take up a taunt song against you
and moan bitterly,
and say, “We are utterly ruined;
he changes the portion of my people;
how he removes it from me!
To an apostate he allots our fields.”
5 Therefore you will have none to cast the line by lot
in the assembly of the Lord.
Micah 2:1–5 — King James Version (KJV 1900)
1 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.
Micah 2:1–5 — New Living Translation (NLT)
1 What sorrow awaits you who lie awake at night,
thinking up evil plans.
You rise at dawn and hurry to carry them out,
simply because you have the power to do so.
2 When you want a piece of land,
you find a way to seize it.
When you want someone’s house,
you take it by fraud and violence.
You cheat a man of his property,
stealing his family’s inheritance.
3 But this is what the Lord says:
“I will reward your evil with evil;
you won’t be able to pull your neck out of the noose.
You will no longer walk around proudly,
for it will be a terrible time.”
4 In that day your enemies will make fun of you
by singing this song of despair about you:
“We are finished,
completely ruined!
God has confiscated our land,
taking it from us.
He has given our fields
to those who betrayed us.”
5 Others will set your boundaries then,
and the Lord’s people will have no say
in how the land is divided.
Micah 2:1–5 — The New King James Version (NKJV)
1 Woe to those who devise iniquity,
And work out evil on their beds!
At morning light they practice it,
Because it is in the power of their hand.
2 They 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 family I am devising 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 lament with a bitter lamentation, saying:
‘We are utterly destroyed!
He has changed the heritage of my people;
How He has removed it from me!
To a turncoat He has divided our fields.’ ”
5 Therefore you will have no one to determine boundaries by lot
In the assembly of the Lord.
Micah 2:1–5 — New Century Version (NCV)
1 How terrible it will be for people who plan wickedness,
who lie on their beds and make evil plans.
When the morning light comes, they do what they planned,
because they have the power to do so.
2 They want fields, so they take them;
they want houses, so they take them away.
They cheat people to get their houses;
they rob them even of their property.
3 That is why the Lord says:
“Look, I am planning trouble against such people,
and you won’t be able to save yourselves.
You will no longer walk proudly,
because it will be a terrible time.
4 At that time people will make fun of you
and sing this sad song about you:
‘We are completely ruined;
the Lord has taken away my people’s land.
Yes, he has taken it away from me
and divided our fields among our enemies!’ ”
5 So you will have no one from the Lord’s people
to throw lots to divide the land.
Micah 2:1–5 — American Standard Version (ASV)
1 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 seize them; and houses, and take them away: and they oppress a man and his house, even a man and his heritage. 3 Therefore thus saith Jehovah: Behold, against this family do I devise an evil, from which ye shall not remove your necks, neither shall ye walk haughtily; for it is an evil time. 4 In that day shall they take up a parable against you, and lament with a doleful lamentation, and say, We are utterly ruined: he changeth the portion of my people: how doth he remove it from me! to the rebellious he divideth our fields. 5 Therefore thou shalt have none that shall cast the line by lot in the assembly of Jehovah.
Micah 2:1–5 — 1890 Darby Bible (DARBY)
1 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; and they oppress a man and his house, even a man and his heritage. 3 Therefore thus saith Jehovah: Behold, against this family do I devise an evil, from which ye shall not remove your necks; neither shall ye walk haughtily: for it is an evil time. 4 In that day shall they take up a proverb concerning you, and lament with a doleful lamentation, and say, We are utterly spoiled: he hath changed the portion of my people: how hath he removed it from me! He hath distributed our fields to the rebellious. 5 Therefore thou shalt have none that shall cast the measuring line upon a lot, in the congregation of Jehovah.
Micah 2:1–5 — GOD’S WORD Translation (GW)
1 How horrible it will be for those who invent trouble
and work out plans for disaster while in bed.
When the morning dawns, they carry out their plans
because they are able to.
2 They desire ⸤other people’s⸥ fields, so they seize them.
They desire ⸤people’s⸥ houses, so they take them.
They cheat a man and his family,
a man and his inheritance.
3 So this is what the Lord says:
I’m planning a disaster to punish your family.
You won’t be able to rescue yourselves.
You will no longer be able to walk proudly.
This will be a time of disaster.
4 When that day comes, people will make fun of you.
They will sing this sad song about you:
“We are completely ruined.
The Lord gives our people’s possessions ⸤to others⸥.
He takes them from us.
He divides our fields among our captors.”
5 That is why none of you in the Lord’s assembly will draw lots
to divide your property.
Micah 2:1–5 — The Holman Christian Standard Bible (HCSB)
1 Woe to those who dream up wickedness
and prepare evil plans on their beds!
At morning light they accomplish it
because the power is in their hands.
2 They covet fields and seize them;
they also take houses.
They deprive a man of his home,
a person of his inheritance.
3 Therefore, the Lord says:
I am now planning a disaster
against this nation;
you cannot free your necks from it.
Then you will not walk so proudly
because it will be an evil time.
4 In that day one will take up a taunt against you,
and lament mournfully, saying,
“We are totally ruined!
He measures out the allotted land of my people.
How He removes it from me!
He allots our fields to traitors.”
5 Therefore, there will be no one
in the assembly of the Lord
to divide the land by casting lots.
Micah 2:1–5 — The New Revised Standard Version (NRSV)
1 Alas for those who devise wickedness
and evil deeds on their beds!
When the morning dawns, they perform it,
because it is in their power.
2 They covet fields, and seize them;
houses, and take them away;
they oppress householder and house,
people and their inheritance.
3 Therefore thus says the Lord:
Now, I am devising against this family an evil
from which you cannot remove your necks;
and you shall not walk haughtily,
for it will be an evil time.
4 On that day they shall take up a taunt song against you,
and wail with bitter lamentation,
and say, “We are utterly ruined;
the Lord alters the inheritance of my people;
how he removes it from me!
Among our captors he parcels out our fields.”
5 Therefore you will have no one to cast the line by lot
in the assembly of the Lord.
Micah 2:1–5 — New International Reader’s Version (1998) (NIrV)
1 How terrible it will be for those
who plan to harm others!
How terrible for those who make evil plans
before they even get out of bed!
As soon as daylight comes,
they carry them out.
That’s because they have the power to do it.
2 If they want fields or houses,
they take them.
They cheat men out of
their homes and property.
3 So the Lord says to them,
“I am planning to send trouble on you.
You will not be able to save yourselves from it.
You will not live so proudly anymore.
It will be a time of trouble.
4 At that time people will make fun of you.
They will tease you by singing a song of sadness.
They will pretend to be you and say,
‘We are totally destroyed.
Our enemies have divided up our land.
The Lord has taken it away from us!
He has given our fields to those
who turned against us.’ ”
5 So you won’t even have anyone left
in the Lord’s community
who can divide up the land for you.
Micah 2:1–5 — New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update (NASB95)
1 Woe to those who scheme iniquity,
Who work out evil on their beds!
When morning comes, they do it,
For it is in the power of their hands.
2 They covet fields and then seize them,
And houses, and take them away.
They rob a man and his house,
A man and his inheritance.
3 Therefore thus says the Lord,
“Behold, I am planning against this family a calamity
From which you cannot remove your necks;
And you will not walk haughtily,
For it will be an evil time.
4 “On that day they will take up against you a taunt
And utter a bitter lamentation and say,
‘We are completely destroyed!
He exchanges the portion of my people;
How He removes it from me!
To the apostate He apportions our fields.’
5 “Therefore you will have no one stretching a measuring line
For you by lot in the assembly of the Lord.