1 The word of the LORD that came to Micah the Born in Mareshah, a city of Judah. Morasthite in the days of Jotham, Ahaz, [and] Hezekiah, kings of Judah, which he saw concerning Samaria and Jerusalem. The Argument - Micah the prophet of the tribe of Judah served in the work of the Lord concerning Judah and Israel at least thirty years: during which time Isaiah prophesied. He declares the destruction first of the one kingdom, and then of the other, because of their manifold wickedness, but chiefly because of their idolatry. And to this end he notes the wickedness of the people, the cruelty of the princes and governors, and the allowing of the false prophets, and the delighting in them. Then he sets forth the coming of Christ, his kingdom, and the felicity of it. This Prophet was not that Micah who resisted Ahab and all his false prophets, (1Ki_22:8) but another with the same name.
2 Hear, Because of the malice and obstinacy of the people, whom he had so often exhorted to repentance, he summons them to God's judgments, taking all creatures, and God himself as witness, that the preaching of the Prophets, which they have abused, will be avenged. all ye people; hearken, O earth, and all that therein is: and let the Lord GOD be witness against you, the Lord from his holy temple.
3 For, behold, the LORD cometh forth out of his place, and will come Meaning by this that God will come to judgment against the strong cities and strongholds. down, and tread upon the high places of the earth.
4 And the mountaines shall melt vnder him (so shall the valleys cleaue) as waxe before the fire, and as the waters that are powred downewarde.
5 For the transgression of Jacob [is] all this, and for the sins of the house of Israel. What [is] the transgression of Jacob? [is it] not Samaria, which should have been an example to all Israel of true religion and justice, was the dirty pool and the tank that all idolatry and corruption was kept alive in, and who prided themselves in their father Jacob, and boasted of him. Samaria? and what [are] the high That is, the idolatry and infection. places of Judah? [are they] not Jerusalem?
6 Therefore I wil make Samaria as an heape of the fielde, and for the planting of a vineyard, and I will cause the stones thereof to tumble downe into the valley, and I will discouer the foundations thereof.
7 And all the graven images thereof shall be beaten to pieces, and all the Which they gathered by evil practices, and thought that their idols had enriched them with these wages because of their service to them. hires thereof shall be burned with the fire, and all the idols thereof will I lay desolate: for she gathered [it] of the hire of an harlot, and they shall return The gain that came by their idols will be consumed as a thing of nothing: for as the wages or riches of harlots are wickedly gotten, so are they vilely and quickly spent. to the hire of an harlot.
8 Therefore I will mourne and howle: I wil goe without clothes, and naked: I will make lamentation like the dragons, and mourning as the ostriches.
9 For her plagues are grieuous: for it is come into Iudah: the enemie is come vnto the gate of my people, vnto Ierusalem.
10 Declare ye [it] not at Lest the Philistines our enemies rejoice at our destruction. Gath, weep ye not at all: in the house of Which was a city near to Jerusalem (Jos_18:23), there called Ophrah, and signifies dust: therefore he wants them to mourn and roll themselves in the dust, for their dusty city. Aphrah roll thyself in the dust.
11 Pass ye away, thou inhabitant of These were cities by which the enemy would pass as he came to Judah. Saphir, having thy shame naked: the inhabitant of Zaanan came not forth in the mourning of Bethezel; he shall He will not depart before he has overcome you, and so you will pay for his staying. receive of you his standing.
12 For the inhabitant of Maroth waited carefully for good: but evil came down from the LORD unto the For Rabshakeh had shut up Jerusalem, so that they could not send to help them. gate of Jerusalem.
13 O thou inhabitant of Lachish, bind the chariot to the To flee away: for Sennacherib laid siege first to that city, and remained there when he sent his captains and army against Jerusalem. swift beast: she You first received the idolatry of Jeroboam, and so infected Jerusalem. [is] the beginning of the sin to the daughter of Zion: for the transgressions of Israel were found in thee.
14 Therefore shalt thou give presents to You will bribe the Philistines your neighbours, but they will deceive you, as well as those of Jerusalem. Moreshethgath: the houses of Achzib [shall be] a lie to the kings of Israel.
15 Yet will I bring an He prophesies against his own city: and because it signified a heritage, he says that God would send an heir to possess it. heir unto thee, O inhabitant of Mareshah: he shall come unto Adullam For so they thought themselves because of the strength of their cities. the glory of Israel.
16 Make thee balde: and shaue thee for thy delicate children: enlarge thy baldenesse as the eagle, for they are gone into captiuity from thee.
1 Woe to them that devise iniquity, and work evil upon their beds! As soon as they rise, they execute their wicked devices of the night, and according to their ability hurt others. when the morning is light, they practise it, because it is in the power of their hand.
2 And they couet fields, and take them by violence, and houses, and take them away: so they oppresse a man and his house, euen man and his heritage.
3 Therefore thus saieth the Lorde, Beholde, against this familie haue I deuised a plague, whereout yee shall not plucke your neckes, and ye shall not go so proudly, for this time is euill.
4 In that day shall [one] take up a parable against you, and lament with a doleful lamentation, [and] say, Thus the Jews lament and say that there is no hope of restitution, seeing their possessions are divided among the enemies. 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 You will have no more lands to divide as you had in times past, and as you used to measure them in the Jubilee. the congregation of the LORD.
6 Thus the people warn the prophets that they speak to them no more, for they cannot endure their threatenings.Prophesy ye not, [say they to them that] prophesy: God says that they will not prophesy, nor receive any more of their rebukes or taunts. they shall not prophesy to them, [that] they shall not take shame.
7 O [thou that art] named the house of Jacob, is the spirit of the LORD straitened? Are these your works according to his Law? [are] these his doings? do not my words do good to him Do not the godly find my words comfortable? that walketh uprightly?
8 Even That is, in past times. of late my people is risen up as an enemy: ye pull off the The poor can have no benefit from them, but they rob them, as though they were enemies. robe with the garment from them that pass by securely as men averse from war.
9 The women of my people have ye cast out from their pleasant houses; from their children have ye taken away That is, their substance and living, which is God's blessing, and as it were part of his glory. my glory for ever.
10 Arise ye, and depart; for this [is] not [your] Jerusalem will not be your safeguard, but rather the cause of your destruction. rest: because it is polluted, it shall destroy [you], even with a sore destruction.
11 If a man That is, show himself to be a prophet. walking in the spirit and falsehood do lie, [saying], He shows what prophets they delight in, that is, in flatterers, who tell them pleasant tales, and speak of their benefits. I will prophesy unto thee of wine and of strong drink; he shall even be the prophet of this people.
12 I will surely assemble, O Jacob, To destroy you. 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.
13 The The enemy will break their gates and walls, and lead them into Chaldea. 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 To drive them forward, and to help their enemies. on the head of them.
1 And I said, Hear, I pray you, O heads of Jacob, and ye princes of the house of Israel; [Is it] not for you to know That thing which is just and lawful, both to govern my people properly, and also to clear your own conscience. judgment?
2 Who hate the good, and love the evil; The Prophet condemns the wicked governors not only of covetousness, theft, and murder, but compares them to wolves, lions, and most cruel beasts. who pluck off their skin from off them, and their flesh from off their bones;
3 And they eate also the flesh of my people, & flay off their skinne from them, & they breake their bones, and chop them in pieces, as for the pot, and as flesh within the caldron.
4 Then That is, when I will punish their wickedness: for though I hear the godly before they cry (Isa_65:24), yet I will not hear these even though they cry; (Isa_1:15) (Eze_8:18; Jam_2:13; 1Pe_3:11-12). shall they cry unto the LORD, but he will not hear them: he will even hide his face from them at that time, as they have behaved themselves ill in their doings.
5 Thus saith the LORD concerning the prophets that make my people err, that They devour all their substance, and then flatter them, promising that all will go well. But if someone does not feed them, then they invent all ways to do evil. bite with their teeth, and cry, Peace; and he that putteth not into their mouths, they even prepare war against him.
6 Therefore As you have loved to walk in darkness, and to prophesy lies, so God will reward you with gross blindness and ignorance, so that when all others will see the bright beams of God's grace, you will as blind men grope as in the night. night [shall be] unto you, that ye shall not have a vision; and it shall be dark unto you, that ye shall not divine; and the sun shall go down over the prophets, and the day shall be dark over them.
7 Then shall the seers be ashamed, and the diviners confounded: yea, they shall all cover When God will reveal them to the world, they will be afraid to speak: for all will know that they were but false prophets, and did give a false notion of the word of God. their lips; for [there is] no answer of God.
8 But truly I am full The Prophet being assured of his vocation by the Spirit of God, sets himself alone against all the wicked, showing how God gave him gifts, ability and knowledge, to discern between good and evil, and also steadfastness and endurance to reprove the sins of the people, and not to flatter them. of power by the spirit of the LORD, and of judgment, and of might, to declare unto Jacob his transgression, and to Israel his sin.
9 Heare this, I pray you, ye heades of the house of Iaakob, and princes of the house of Israel: they abhorre iudgement, and peruert all equitie.
10 They build up Zion with They will say that they are the people of God, and abuse his name, as a pretence to disguise their hypocrisy. blood, and Jerusalem with iniquity.
11 The heads thereof iudge for rewardes, and the Priestes thereof teache for hyre, and the prophets thereof prophecie for money: yet wil they leane vpon the Lorde, and say, Is not the Lorde among vs? no euill can come vpon vs.
12 Therefore shall Zion for your sake be Read (Jer_26:18). plowed [as] a field, and Jerusalem shall become heaps, and the mountain of the house as the high places of the forest.
1 But in the When Christ will come, and the temple will be destroyed. last days it shall come to pass, [that] the mountain of the house of the LORD shall be established in the top of the mountains, and it shall be exalted above the {{See Isa_2:2}} hills; and people shall flow unto it.
2 And many nations shall come, and say, Come, and let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, and to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will He shows that there is no true Church, except where the people are taught by God's pure word. teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths: for the law shall go forth of Zion, and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem.
3 And he shall judge among many people, and By his corrections and threatenings he will bring the people into subjection who are in the utmost corners of the world. rebuke strong nations afar off; and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into They will abstain from all evil doing, and exercise themselves in godliness and in well doing to others. pruninghooks: nation shall not lift up a sword against nation, neither shall they Read (Isa_2:4) learn war any more.
4 But they shall sit euery man vnder his vine, and vnder his figge tree, and none shall make them afraid: for the mouth of the Lorde of hostes hath spoken it.
5 For all people will walk He shows that the people of God ought to remain constant in their religion, even if all the world should give themselves to their superstition and idolatry. every one in the name of his god, and we will walk in the name of the LORD our God for ever and ever.
6 At the same day, saith the Lorde, will I gather her that halteth, and I will gather her that is cast out, and her that I haue afflicted.
7 And I will make her that halted I will cause that Israel, who is now as one lame and halting, and so almost destroyed, to live again, and grow into a great people. a remnant, and her that was cast far off a strong nation: and the LORD shall reign over them in mount Zion from henceforth, even for ever.
8 And thou, O Meaning Jerusalem, where the Lord's flock was gathered. tower of the flock, the strong hold of the daughter of Zion, unto thee shall it come, even The flourishing state of the kingdom, as it was under David and Solomon, which thing was accomplished for the Church by the coming of Christ. the first dominion; the kingdom shall come to the daughter of Jerusalem.
9 Now why dost thou cry out aloud? [is In the meantime he shows that they would endure great troubles and temptations, when they saw themselves neither to have king nor counsel. there] no king in thee? is thy counsellor perished? for pangs have taken thee as a woman in travail.
10 Sorow and mourne, O daughter Zion, like a woman in trauaile: for nowe shalt thou goe foorth of the citie, and dwel in the field, and shalt goe into Babel, but there shalt thou be deliuered: there the Lord shall redeeme thee from the hand of thine enemies.
11 Nowe also many nations are gathered against thee, saying, Zion shalbe condemned and our eye shall looke vpon Zion.
12 But they He shows that the faithful ought not to measure God's judgments by the braggings and threatenings of the wicked, but by these are admonished to lift up their hearts to God to call for deliverance. know not the thoughts of the LORD, neither understand they his counsel: for he shall gather them as the sheaves into the floor.
13 Arise and thresh, God gives his Church this victory, as often as he overcomes their enemies: but the accomplishment of this will be at the last coming of Christ. O daughter of Zion: for I will make thine horn iron, and I will make thy hoofs brass: and thou shalt beat in pieces many people: and I will consecrate their gain unto the LORD, and their substance unto the Lord of the whole earth.
1 Now gather thyself in troops, O daughter He forewarns them of the dangers that will come before they enjoy these comforts, showing that inasmuch as Jerusalem was accustomed with her garrisons to trouble others, the Lord would now cause other garrisons to vex her, and that her rulers would be hit on the face most contemptuously. of troops: he hath laid siege against us: they shall smite the judge of Israel with a rod upon the cheek.
2 But thou, Bethlehem Ephratah, [though] thou be For so the Jews divided their country that for every thousand there was a chief captain: and because Bethlehem was not able to make a thousand, he calls it little. But yet God will raise up his captain and governor in it: and thus it is not the least by reason of this benefit. {{See Mat_2:6}} little among the thousands of Judah, [yet] out of thee shall he come forth unto me [that is] to be ruler in Israel; whose He shows that the coming of Christ and all his ways were appointed by God from all eternity. goings forth [have been] from of old, from everlasting.
3 Therefore will he give them up, until the time [that] He compares the Jews to women with child, who for a time would have great sorrows, but at length they would have a comfortable deliverance; (Joh_16:21). she which travaileth hath brought forth: then the remnant of his brethren shall return unto the children of Israel.
4 And he shall That is, Christ's kingdom will be stable and everlasting, and his people, the Gentiles as well as the Jews, will dwell in safety. stand and feed in the strength of the LORD, in the majesty of the name of the LORD his God; and they shall abide: for now shall he be great unto the ends of the earth.
5 And this [man] This Messiah will be a sufficient safeguard for us, and though the enemy invades us for a time, yet will God stir up many who will be able to deliver us. shall be the peace, when the Assyrian shall come into our land: and when he shall tread in our palaces, then shall we raise against him seven shepherds, and eight principal men.
6 And they shall waste the These whom God will raise up for the deliverance of his Church, will destroy all the enemies of it, who are meant here by the Assyrians and Babylonians, who were the chief enemies at that time. land of Assyria with the sword, and the land of Nimrod in the entrances thereof: thus shall he By these governors will God deliver us when the enemy comes into our land. deliver [us] from the Assyrian, when he cometh into our land, and when he treadeth within our borders.
7 And the This remnant or Church which God will deliver will only depend on God's power and defence (as does the grass of the field), and not on the hope of man. remnant of Jacob shall be in the midst of many people as a dew from the LORD, as the showers upon the grass, that tarrieth not for man, nor waiteth for the sons of men.
8 And the remnant of Iaakob shalbe among the Gentiles in the middes of many people, as the lyon among the beastes of the forest, and as the lyons whelpe among the flockes of sheepe, who when he goeth thorow, treadeth downe and teareth in pieces, and none can deliuer.
9 Thine hand shall bee lift vp vpon thine aduersaries, and all thine enemies shalbe cut off.
10 And it shall come to pass in that day, saith the LORD, that I will cut off thy I will destroy all things in which you put your confidence, such as your vain self-reliance and idolatry, and in doing this I will be helping you. horses out of the midst of thee, and I will destroy thy chariots:
11 And I will cut off the cities of thy land, & ouerthrowe all thy strong holdes.
12 And I will cut off thine enchanters out of thine hande: and thou shalt haue no more southsayers.
13 Thine idoles also will I cut off, and thine images out of the middes of thee: and thou shalt no more worship the woorke of thine hands.
14 And I wil plucke vp thy groues out of the middes of thee: so will I destroy thine enemies.
15 And I will execute vengeance in anger and fury upon the heathen, It will be so terrible that nothing like it has been heard of. such as they have not heard.
1 Hear ye now what the LORD saith; Arise, contend thou before the He took the high mountains and hard rocks as witnesses against the obstinacy of his people. mountains, and let the hills hear thy voice.
2 Heare ye, O mountaynes, the Lordes quarel, and ye mightie foundations of the earth: for the Lord hath a quarell against his people, and he will pleade with Israel.
3 O my people, what haue I done vnto thee? or wherin haue I grieued thee? testifie against me.
4 For I I have not hurt you, but bestowed infinite benefits upon you. brought thee up out of the land of Egypt, and redeemed thee out of the house of servants; and I sent before thee Moses, Aaron, and Miriam.
5 O my people, remember now what Balak king of Moab consulted, and what Balaam the son of Beor answered him from That is, remember my benefits from the beginning, how I delivered you from Balaam's curse, and also spared you from Shittim which was in the plain of Moab, until I brought you into the promised land. Shittim unto Gilgal; that ye may know the That is, the truth of his promise and his manifold benefits toward you. righteousness of the LORD.
6 Wherewith Thus the people by hypocrisy ask how to please God, and are content to offer sacrifices, but will not change their lives. shall I come before the LORD, [and] bow myself before the high God? shall I come before him with burnt offerings, with calves of a year old?
7 Will the LORD be pleased with thousands of rams, [or] with ten thousands of rivers of oil? shall I give my There is nothing so dear to man, but the hypocrites will offer it to God, if they think by this to avoid his anger. But they will never by brought to mortify their own affections, and to give themselves willingly to serve God as he commands. firstborn [for] my transgression, the fruit of my body [for] the sin of my soul?
8 He hath shewed thee, O man, what [is] good; and what doth the LORD require of thee, The Prophet in few words calls them to the observation of the second table of the ten commandments, to know if they will obey God correctly or not, saying that God has commanded them to do this. but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?
9 The LORD'S voice crieth unto the Meaning, that when God speaks to any city or nation, the godly will acknowledge his majesty and not consider the mortal man that brings the threatening, but God that sends it. city, and [the man of] wisdom shall see thy name: hear ye the rod, and who hath appointed it.
10 Are yet the treasures of wickednes in the house of the wicked, and the scant measure, that is abominable?
11 Shall I iustifie the wicked balances, and the bag of deceitfull weightes?
12 For the rich men thereof That is, of Jerusalem. are full of violence, and the inhabitants thereof have spoken lies, and their tongue [is] deceitful in their mouth.
13 Therefore also will I make thee sicke in smiting thee, and in making thee desolate, because of thy sinnes.
14 Thou shalt eat, but not be satisfied; and You will be consumed with inward grief and evils. thy casting down [shall be] in the midst of thee; and thou Meaning that the city would go about to save her men, as they that lay hold of that which they would preserve. shalt take hold, but shalt not deliver; and [that] which thou deliverest will I give up to the sword.
15 Thou shalt sowe, but not reape: thou shalt treade the oliues, but thou shalt not anoint thee with oyle, and make sweete wine, but shalt not drinke wine.
16 For the You have received all the corruption and idolatry with which the ten tribes were infected under Omri and Ahab his son: and to excuse your doings, you allege the King's authority by his statutes, and also wisdom and policy in so doing, but you will not escape punishment. But as I have shown you great favour, and taken you for my people, so will your plagues be according as your sins; (Luk_12:47). statutes of Omri are kept, and all the works of the house of Ahab, and ye walk in their counsels; that I should make thee a desolation, and the inhabitants thereof an hissing: therefore ye shall bear the reproach of my people.
1 Woe is me! for I am as when they have gathered the The Prophet takes upon himself the voice of the earth, which complains that all her fruits are gone, so that none are left: that is, that there is no godly man remaining, for all are given to cruelty and deceit, so that none spares his own brother. summer fruits, as the grapegleanings of the vintage: [there is] no cluster to eat: my soul desired the firstripe fruit.
2 The good [man] is perished out of the earth: and [there is] none upright among men: He shows that the prince, the judge, and the rich man are all linked together to do evil, and to disguise the deeds of one another. they all lie in wait for blood; they hunt every man his brother with a net.
3 That they may do evil with both hands earnestly, the prince asketh, and the judge [asketh] for a reward; and the That is, the rich man that is able to give money, abstains from no wickedness or injury. great [man], he uttereth his mischievous desire: so These men agree among themselves, and conspire with one another to do evil. they wrap it up.
4 The best of them [is] as They that are of most estimation and are counted most honest among them, are but thorns and briers to prick. a brier: the most upright [is sharper] than a thorn hedge: the day of Meaning the prophets and governors. thy watchmen [and] thy visitation cometh; now shall be their perplexity.
5 Trust ye not in a friend, neither put ye confidence in a counseller: keepe the doores of thy mouth from her that lyeth in thy bosome.
6 For the sonne reuileth the father: ye daughter riseth vp against her mother: the daughter in lawe against her mother in lawe, and a mans enemies are the men of his owne house.
7 Therefore The Prophet shows that the only remedy for the godly in desperate evils, is to flee to God for help. I will look unto the LORD; I will wait for the God of my salvation: my God will hear me.
8 Rejoice not against me, This is spoken in the voice of the Church, which calls the malignant church her enemy. O mine enemy: when I fall, I shall arise; when I sit in darkness, the LORD [shall be] a light unto me.
9 I will beare the wrath of the Lord because I haue sinned against him, vntill he pleade my cause, and execute iudgement for me: then will he bring me foorth to the light, and I shall see his righteousnesse.
10 Then she that is mine enemie, shall looke vpon it, and shame shall couer her, which said vnto me, Where is the Lorde thy God? Mine eyes shall behold her: now shall she be troden downe as the myre of the streetes.
11 [In] That is, when God will show himself to be a deliverer of his Church, and a destroyer of his enemies. the day that thy walls are to be built, [in] that day shall Meaning the cruel empire of the Babylonians. the decree be far removed.
12 [In] that day [also] he shall come even to thee from When the Church will be restored, those that were enemies before will come out of all the corners of the world to her, so that neither fortresses, rivers, seas, nor mountains will be able to stop them. Assyria, and [from] the fortified cities, and from the fortress even to the river, and from sea to sea, and [from] mountain to mountain.
13 Notwithstanding the land shall be desolate because of them that dwell therein, for the fruit of Before this grace appears, he shows how grievously the hypocrites themselves will be punished, seeing that the earth itself, which cannot sin, will be made waste because of their wickedness. their doings.
14 The Prophet prays to God to be merciful to his Church, when they would be scattered abroad as in solitary places in Babylon, and to be beneficial to them as in times past.Feed thy people with thy rod, the flock of thine heritage, which dwell solitarily [in] the wood, in the midst of Carmel: let them feed [in] Bashan and Gilead, as in the days of old.
15 God promises to be favourable to his people, as he had been before.According to the days of thy coming out of the land of Egypt will I shew unto him marvellous [things].
16 The nations shall see and be confounded at all their might: they shall They will be as dumb men, and dare brag no more. lay [their] hand upon [their] mouth, They will be astonished and afraid to hear men speak, lest they should hear of their destruction. their ears shall be deaf.
17 They shall They will fall flat on the ground because of fear. lick the dust like a serpent, they shall move out of their holes like worms of the earth: they shall be afraid of the LORD our God, and shall fear because of thee.
18 Who [is] a God like unto thee, that pardoneth iniquity, and As though he did not see it, ignoring it. passeth by the transgression of the remnant of his heritage? he retaineth not his anger for ever, because he delighteth [in] mercy.
19 He will turn again, he will have compassion upon us; he will subdue our iniquities; and thou wilt cast all Meaning his elect. their sins into the depths of the sea.
20 Thou wilt perform the The Church is assured that God will perform the truth of his merciful promise, which he had made long ago to Abraham, and to all that would apprehend the promise by faith. truth to Jacob, [and] the mercy to Abraham, which thou hast sworn unto our fathers from the days of old.