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Punishment for Those Who Abuse Their Power

Doomed! You're doomed!
At night you lie in bed,
    making evil plans.
And when morning comes,
you do what you've planned
    because you have the power.
You grab any field or house
    that you want;
you cheat families
    out of homes and land.

But here is what the Lord says:
“I am planning trouble for you.
Your necks will be caught
    in a noose,
and you will be disgraced
    in this time of disaster.”

When that happens,
this sorrowful song
    will be sung about you:
“Ruined! Completely ruined!
The Lord has taken our land
    and given it to traitors.”[a]
And so you will never again
own property
    among the Lord's people.

“Enough of your preaching!”
    That's what you tell me.
“We won't be disgraced,
    so stop preaching!”

Descendants of Jacob,
    is it right for you to claim
that the Lord did what he did
    because he was angry?
Doesn't he always bless
    those who do right?
My people, you have turned against
    one another!
You have even stolen
    clothes right off the backs
of innocent neighbors
    who pass by in peace.[b]
You take over lovely homes
that belong to the women
    of my nation.
Then you cheat their children
out of the inheritance
    that comes from the Lord.[c]

10 Get out of here, you crooks!
    You'll find no rest here.
You're not fit to belong
to the Lord's people,
    and you will be destroyed.[d]
11 The only prophet you want
is a liar who will say,
    “Drink and get drunk!”

A Promise of Hope

12 I, the Lord, promise
    to bring together
the people of Israel
    who have survived.
I will gather them,
    just as a shepherd
brings sheep together,
    and there will be many.
13 I will break down the gate
and lead them out—
    then I will be their king.

Footnotes

  1. 2.4 The Lord … traitors: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text.
  2. 2.8 of innocent neighbors … peace: Or “of your unsuspecting soldiers returning home from battle.”
  3. 2.9 inheritance … Lord: The Hebrew text has “my glory,” which refers to the inheritance of land that the Lord had promised his people.
  4. 2.10 destroyed: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text.

Human Plans and God’s Plans

Woe to those who plan iniquity,
    to those who plot evil(A) on their beds!(B)
At morning’s light they carry it out
    because it is in their power to do it.
They covet fields(C) and seize them,(D)
    and houses, and take them.
They defraud(E) people of their homes,
    they rob them of their inheritance.(F)

Therefore, the Lord says:

“I am planning disaster(G) against this people,
    from which you cannot save yourselves.
You will no longer walk proudly,(H)
    for it will be a time of calamity.
In that day people will ridicule you;
    they will taunt you with this mournful song:
‘We are utterly ruined;(I)
    my people’s possession is divided up.(J)
He takes it from me!
    He assigns our fields to traitors.’”

Therefore you will have no one in the assembly of the Lord
    to divide the land(K) by lot.(L)

False Prophets

“Do not prophesy,” their prophets say.
    “Do not prophesy about these things;
    disgrace(M) will not overtake us.(N)
You descendants of Jacob, should it be said,
    “Does the Lord become[a] impatient?
    Does he do such things?”

“Do not my words do good(O)
    to the one whose ways are upright?(P)
Lately my people have risen up
    like an enemy.
You strip off the rich robe
    from those who pass by without a care,
    like men returning from battle.
You drive the women of my people
    from their pleasant homes.(Q)
You take away my blessing
    from their children forever.
10 Get up, go away!
    For this is not your resting place,(R)
because it is defiled,(S)
    it is ruined, beyond all remedy.
11 If a liar and deceiver(T) comes and says,
    ‘I will prophesy for you plenty of wine and beer,’(U)
    that would be just the prophet for this people!(V)

Deliverance Promised

12 “I will surely gather all of you, Jacob;
    I will surely bring together the remnant(W) of Israel.
I will bring them together like sheep in a pen,
    like a flock in its pasture;
    the place will throng with people.(X)
13 The One who breaks open the way will go up before(Y) them;
    they will break through the gate(Z) and go out.
Their King will pass through before them,
    the Lord at their head.”

Footnotes

  1. Micah 2:7 Or Is the Spirit of the Lord