Micah 4:12

Micah 4:12 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)But they know not the thoughts of the Lord, neither understand they his counsel: for he shall gather them as the sheaves into the floor.
• New International Version (NIV)But they do not know the thoughts of the Lord; they do not understand his plan, that he has gathered them like sheaves to the threshing floor.
• English Standard Version (ESV)But they do not know the thoughts of the Lord; they do not understand his plan, that he has gathered them as sheaves to the threshing floor.
• New King James Version (NKJV)But they do not know the thoughts of the Lord, Nor do they understand His counsel; For He will gather them like sheaves to the threshing floor.

Context of Micah 4:12

10People in Zion, you will have a lot of pain, like a woman who is giving birth to a baby. She rolls about and she screams with pain. Soon you will have to leave your city and you will have to live in the fields. You will have to go to Babylon, but there the Lord will save you. He will make you free again from the authority of your enemies. 11But now, at this time, many countries have come together to attack your city. They say: ‘We will destroy Jerusalem and we will enjoy ourselves. We want to see Zion's people in trouble.’ But they do not know the Lord's thoughts. They do not understand how he will punish them. He will bring them together, as people bring bundles of wheat together at harvest time. He will punish them, as people thresh wheat to get the seeds out. 13‘People in Zion, get up and fight your enemies,’ God says to you. ‘Hit them like people thresh the wheat. I will make you very strong. Then you will be like dangerous animals with iron horns and metal feet. You will beat enemies from many countries, as men crush things into small pieces. The people from those countries became rich, because they did bad things. But you will bring their riches to me, because I am the Lord of all the earth.’

Micah 4:12 word by word

וְהֵ֗מָּה לֹ֤א יָֽדְעוּ֙ מַחְשְׁב֣וֹת יְהוָ֔ה וְלֹ֥א הֵבִ֖ינוּ עֲצָת֑וֹ כִּ֥י קִבְּצָ֖ם כֶּעָמִ֥יר גֹּֽרְנָה׃Read the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• But they knowיָדַעyâda‛ · to knowH3045
• not the thoughtsמַחֲשָׁבָהmachăshâbâh machăshebeth · plotH4284
• of the Lordיְהֹוָהyehôvâh · LORDH3068
• neither understandבִּיןbîyn · to understandH995
• they his counselעֵצָה‛êtsâh · counselH6098
• for he shall gatherקָבַץqâbats · to gatherH6908
• them as the sheavesעָמִיר‛âmîyr · sheafH5995
• into the floorגֹּ֫רֶןgôren · threshing floorH1637

Cross-references for Micah 4:12

• Isaiah 55:8The Lord says, ‘Remember! My thoughts are not the same as your thoughts. The way that you do things is not the same as the way that I do things.
• Jeremiah 29:11I, the Lord, tell you this: I have decided what I will do for you. I have plans to help you to do well. I do not want to hurt you. I want to give you hope for a good life in the future.
• Romans 11:33Yes! God is very great! He has everything! He knows and he understands all things! Nobody can completely understand the things that he decides. Nobody can explain the ways in which he works.
• Isaiah 21:10Yes, my people, Babylon's army has hurt you very much. But now I have reported to you the message from the Lord Almighty, Israel's God.
• Joel 3:12‘Wake up the people in all the countries! Bring them into the Valley of Jehoshaphat. I will sit there to judge the people from every place.
• Zechariah 14:1There will be a day when your enemies will take away everything. They will take away everything that is yours. They will each have some of your things.
• Luke 3:17He is like a farmer that brings the wheat home from his field. He uses a special tool to throw the wheat up in the air. He does this to make the wheat seeds separate from what remains. Then he cleans his yard. He carefully stores all the seeds to keep them safe. But he burns everything else in a great fire that nobody can put out.’
• Revelation 14:14Then I looked, and I saw a white cloud in front of me. I saw someone who was like a son of man. He was sitting on the cloud. He had a gold crown on his head and a sharp knife in his hand.

Commentaries on Micah 4:12

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 12But they know not the thoughts of the Lord - These think that God has utterly rejected his people, and they shall have a troublesome neighbor no more: but this is not his design; he will afflict them for a time; but these, the enemies of his people, he will gather as sheaves into the threshing-floor, there to be trodden, and the wheel to go over them. This is the counsel, the purpose of God, which these do not understand. The persons here referred to are…Read the comment
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 12But they know not the thoughts of the Lord, neither understand they His counsel - The pagan did, for their own ends, what God willed for His. The first step was the same; God willed that His people should be punished; they willed to punish them. But all which lay beyond, they saw not; that God willed (on their repentance) to pardon His own people, but to punish themselves for their pride Isaiah 10:7, Isaiah 10:12 and cruelty Zechariah 1:15, Zechariah…Read the comment
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 9-13Verses 9-13 Many nations would assemble against Zion to rejoice in her calamities. They would not understand that the Lord had collected them as sheaves are gathered to be threshed; and that Zion would be strengthened to beat them to pieces. Nothing has yet taken place in the history of the Jewish church agreeing with this prediction. When God has conquering work for his people to do, he will furnish them with strength and ability for it. Believers should…Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 12God reveals his plans to his servants (Daniel 2:19–23; Amos 3:7), but the nations do not know. They are not aware of God's great plans or his actions behind the scenes for his people. The hopes and plans of the nations around Israel were in vain. The Lord's plans for his unique people will succeed, and he will rule the nations (Genesis 12:1–3; 15:12–21; Exodus 19:4–6; Isaiah 45:23; 66:23). At the threshing floor, people beat and trampled grain to separate…Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 1212. thoughts of the Lord--Their unsearchable wisdom, overruling seeming disaster to the final good of His people, is the very ground on which the restoration of Israel hereafter (of which the restoration from Babylon is a type) is based in Is 55:8; compare with Mi 4:3, 12, 13, which prove that Israel, not merely the Christian Church, is the ultimate subject of the prophecy; also in Ro 11:13. God's counsel is to discipline His people for a time with the…Read the comment

Topics related to Micah 4:12

• Blindness

In the dictionaries

• Agriculture
• Gather
• Micah (2)
• Threshing

Commentaries on Micah 4

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
• Tyndale Open Study Notes
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
• Rashi on Tanakh
• Calvin’s Commentaries
• Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
• John Wesley’s Notes
• Darby Translation Notes
• Geneva Bible Translation Notes
• Kingcomments
• Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
• Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
• Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
• Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
• EGW Writings