Micah

Micah, chapter 2, New English Translation and King James Version

Chapter 2 New English Translation

Land Robbers Will Lose their Land

   1 Those who devise sinful plans are as good as dead, those who dream about doing evil as they lie in bed. As soon as morning dawns they carry out their plans, because they have the power to do so.
   2 They confiscate the fields they desire, and seize the houses they want. They defraud people of their homes, and deprive people of the land they have inherited.
   3 Therefore the LORD says this: "Look, I am devising disaster for this nation! It will be like a yoke from which you cannot free your neck. You will no longer walk proudly, for it will be a time of catastrophe.
   4 In that day people will sing this taunt song to you - they will mock you with this lament: 'We are completely destroyed; they sell off the property of my people. How they remove it from me! They assign our fields to the conqueror.' 5 Therefore no one will assign you land in the LORD's community.
   6 'Don't preach with such impassioned rhetoric, ' they say excitedly. 'These prophets should not preach of such things; we will not be overtaken by humiliation.'
   7 Does the family of Jacob say, 'The LORD's patience can't be exhausted - he would never do such things'? To be sure, my commands bring a reward for those who obey them,
   8 but you rise up as an enemy against my people. You steal a robe from a friend, from those who pass by peacefully as if returning from a war.
   9 You wrongly evict widows among my people from their cherished homes. You defraud their children of their prized inheritance.
   10 But you are the ones who will be forced to leave! For this land is not secure! Sin will thoroughly destroy it!
   11 If a lying windbag should come and say, 'I'll promise you blessings of wine and beer,' he would be just the right preacher for these people!

The LORD Will Restore His People

   12 I will certainly gather all of you, O Jacob, I will certainly assemble those Israelites who remain. I will bring them together like sheep in a fold, like a flock in the middle of a pasture; they will be so numerous that they will make a lot of noise.
   13 The one who can break through barriers will lead them out they will break out, pass through the gate, and leave. Their king will advance before them, The LORD himself will lead them.

King James Version

   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.
   6 Prophesy ye not, say they to them that prophesy: 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 his doings? do not my words do good to him that walketh uprightly?
   8 Even of late my people is risen up as an enemy: ye pull off the 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 my glory for ever.
   10 Arise ye, and depart; for this is not your rest: because it is polluted, it shall destroy you, even with a sore destruction.
   11 If a man walking in the spirit and falsehood do lie, saying, 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, 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 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 on the head of them.