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Judgment against Wealthy Oppressors

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.
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.

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.”

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.[a]
Others will set your boundaries then,
    and the Lord’s people will have no say
    in how the land is divided.

True and False Prophets

“Don’t say such things,”
    the people respond.[b]
“Don’t prophesy like that.
    Such disasters will never come our way!”

Should you talk that way, O family of Israel?[c]
    Will the Lord’s Spirit have patience with such behavior?
If you would do what is right,
    you would find my words comforting.
Yet to this very hour
    my people rise against me like an enemy!
You steal the shirts right off the backs
    of those who trusted you,
making them as ragged as men
    returning from battle.
You have evicted women from their pleasant homes
    and forever stripped their children of all that God would give them.
10 Up! Begone!
    This is no longer your land and home,
for you have filled it with sin
    and ruined it completely.

11 Suppose a prophet full of lies would say to you,
    “I’ll preach to you the joys of wine and alcohol!”
That’s just the kind of prophet you would like!

Hope for Restoration

12 “Someday, O Israel, I will gather you;
    I will gather the remnant who are left.
I will bring you together again like sheep in a pen,
    like a flock in its pasture.
Yes, your land will again
    be filled with noisy crowds!
13 Your leader will break out
    and lead you out of exile,
out through the gates of the enemy cities,
    back to your own land.
Your king will lead you;
    the Lord himself will guide you.”

Footnotes

  1. 2:4 Or to those who took us captive.
  2. 2:6 Or the prophets respond; Hebrew reads they prophesy.
  3. 2:7 Hebrew O house of Jacob? See note on 1:5a.

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