Micah 2

Chapter 2

Woe to Oppressors

¹Woe to those who ^ascheme iniquity,

Who work out evil on their beds!

^1bWhen morning comes, they do it,

For it is in the ^cpower of their hands.

²They ^acovet fields and then ^bseize them,

And houses, and take them away.

They ^1crob a man and his house,

A man and his inheritance.

³Therefore thus says the Lord,

“Behold, I am ^aplanning against this ^bfamily a calamity

From which you ^ccannot remove your necks;

And you will not walk ^dhaughtily,

For it will be an ^eevil time.

⁴“On that day they will ^atake up against you a ¹taunt

And ^2butter a bitter lamentation and say,

‘We are completely ^cdestroyed!

He exchanges the portion of my people;

How He removes it from me!

To the apostate He ^dapportions our fields.’

⁵“Therefore you will have no one ^1astretching a measuring line

For you by lot in the assembly of the Lord.

⁶‘^aDo not ¹speak out,’ so they speak out.

But if ²they do ^bnot speak out concerning these things,

^cReproaches will not be turned back.

⁷“Is it being said, O house of Jacob:

‘Is the Spirit of the Lord ^aimpatient?

Are these His doings?’

Do not My words ^bdo good

To the one ^cwalking uprightly?

⁸“¹Recently My people have arisen as an ^aenemy—

You ^bstrip the ²robe off the garment

From ^cunsuspecting passers-by,

From those returned from war.

⁹“The women of My people you ^aevict,

Each one from her pleasant house.

From her children you take My ^bsplendor forever.

¹⁰“Arise and go,

For this is no place ^aof rest

Because of the ^buncleanness that brings on destruction,

A painful destruction.

¹¹“If a man walking after wind and ^afalsehood

Had told lies and said,

‘I will ¹speak out to you concerning ^bwine and liquor,’

He would be ²spokesman to ^cthis people.

¹²“I will surely ^aassemble all of you, Jacob,

I will surely gather the ^bremnant of Israel.

I will put them together like sheep in the fold;

Like a flock in the midst of its pasture

They will be noisy with men.

¹³“The breaker goes up before them;

They break out, pass through the gate and go out by it.

So their king goes on before them,

And the Lord at their head.”