Micah 7:4

Micah 7:4 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)The best of them is as a brier: the most upright is sharper than a thorn hedge: the day of thy watchmen and thy visitation cometh; now shall be their perplexity.
• New International Version (NIV)The best of them is like a brier, the most upright worse than a thorn hedge. The day God visits you has come, the day your watchmen sound the alarm. Now is the time of your confusion.
• English Standard Version (ESV)The best of them is like a brier, the most upright of them a thorn hedge. The day of your watchmen, of your punishment, has come; now their confusion is at hand.
• New King James Version (NKJV)The best of them is like a brier; The most upright is sharper than a thorn hedge; The day of your watchman and your punishment comes; Now shall be their perplexity.

Context of Micah 7:4

2There are no longer any people here who obey God. There are no good, honest people. Everyone is waiting to kill someone else. They are all like hunters, who try to catch each other. 3They know very well how to work together to do bad things. Rulers demand gifts and judges ask for money. Powerful bad people always get what they want. All these people work together to do what is bad. The best of them are dangerous like wild plants with thorns. The most honest of them are worse than thorn bushes. The bad time that your prophets told you about is coming. Soon God will punish you, and you will be confused. 5Do not believe anyone, even somebody that you know well. You cannot be sure that your friend will always be honest with you. Be careful what you say to your wife. Be careful even when you are hugging her. 6Sons think that their fathers are fools. And daughters refuse to obey their mothers. Wives quarrel with their husbands' mothers. A man's enemies are the people who live in his own house now.

Micah 7:4 word by word

טוֹבָ֣ם כְּחֵ֔דֶק יָשָׁ֖ר מִמְּסוּכָ֑ה י֤וֹם מְצַפֶּ֙יךָ֙ פְּקֻדָּתְךָ֣ בָ֔אָה עַתָּ֥ה תִהְיֶ֖ה מְבוּכָתָֽם׃Read the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• The bestטוֹבţôb · pleasantH2896
• as a brierחֵ֫דֶקchêdeq · briarH2312
• the most uprightיָשָׁרyâshâr · uprightH3477
• than a thorn hedgeמְסוּכָהmesûkâh · hedgeH4534
• the dayיוֹםyôm · dayH3117
• of thy watchmenצָפָהtsâphâh · to watchH6822
• thy visitationפְּקֻדָּהpeqûddâh · punishmentH6486
• comethבּוֹאbô' · to come (in): comeH935
• now shall be their perplexityמְבוּכָהmebûkâh · confusionH3998

Cross-references for Micah 7:4

• 2 Samuel 23:6But God will remove all wicked people. He will throw them away like weeds. They are like thorn bushes that you cannot pull out with your hands.
• Isaiah 55:13Where thorn bushes have been growing, pine trees will grow instead. Myrtle bushes will grow where there are weeds now. Those things will show everyone that the Lord is great. It will be a sign to people for ever.
• Ezekiel 2:6You must not be afraid of them, son of man. Do not be afraid of their words either. It may seem that you are living with thorn bushes all around you. You may think that they can hurt you like dangerous scorpions. But do not be afraid of what they say to you, or how they look at you. Remember that they refuse to obey me.
• Hebrews 6:8But a field where only weeds and thorn bushes grow is worth nothing. God will very soon speak against that ground. In the end, fire will burn all of it.
• Ezekiel 12:23But you must say to them, “This is what the Almighty Lord says: I will soon stop you from saying the words of that proverb.” Instead, say to them “The time will soon be here when every vision will truly happen.
• Hosea 9:7The time for Israel's punishment has arrived! The Lord must now pay them back for their sins. The Israelites will soon know about it! You do many sins and you hate the Lord. Because of that, you say that his prophets are fools. You think that his messengers are crazy.
• Amos 8:2He asked me, ‘Amos, what do you see?’ I answered him, ‘I see a basket of summer fruit.’ Then the Lord said to me, ‘The time has now come to punish my people. I will not forgive them any longer.
• Isaiah 10:3It will be bad for you on the day when God comes to judge people. You will not escape the punishment that he will bring from far away. There will be nobody to help you. There will be no safe place to hide your valuable things.
• Jeremiah 8:12They are not ashamed of the disgusting things that they do. They do not even know what shame is. They have forgotten how to be ashamed. So they will fall to the ground, as other people have fallen. When I punish them, that will be the end of them.’ That is what the Lord says.
• Jeremiah 10:15They are useless things that people should laugh at. When the time for their punishment arrives, God will destroy them.
• Isaiah 22:5The Lord, the Almighty Lord, has decided to bring great trouble to Vision Valley. It is a day of fear. People run here and there because they do not know what to do. The enemy knocks down the city's walls. People shout to the hills for help.
• Luke 21:25‘You will see strange things happen to the sun and to the moon and to the stars. Down on earth, things that happen will make people in many countries very afraid. The sea will move up and down and make a lot of noise. There will be great storms.

Commentaries on Micah 7:4

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 4The best of them is as a brier - They are useless in themselves, and cannot be touched without wounding him that comes in contact with them. He alludes to the thick thorn hedges, still frequent in Palestine. The day of thy watchmen - The day of vengeance, which the prophets have foreseen and proclaimed, is at hand. Now shall be their perplexity; no more wrapping up, all shall be unfolded. In that day every man will wish that he were different from what he…Read the comment
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 4The best of them is as a brier - The gentlest of them is a thorn, strong, hard, piercing, which letteth nothing unresisting pass by but it taketh from it, “robbing the fleece, and wounding the sheep.” “The most upright”, those who, in comparison of others still worse, seem so, “is sharper than a thorn hedge”, (literally, the upright, them a thorn hedge.) They are not like it only, but worse, and that in all ways; none is specified, and so none excepted…Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 4The day for your watchmen has come: The people of Israel will soon be conquered by the Assyrians. The people of Judah will soon face destruction by the Babylonians. All the people of the earth will soon face God in judgment.Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 44. as a brier--or thorn; pricking with injury all who come in contact with them (2Sa 23:6, 7; Is 55:13; Eze 2:6). the day of thy watchmen--the day foretold by thy (true) prophets, as the time of "thy visitation" in wrath [Grotius]. Or, "the day of thy false prophets being punished"; they are specially threatened as being not only blind themselves, but leading others blindfold [Calvin]. now--at the time foretold, "at that time"; the prophet transporting…Read the comment

Topics related to Micah 7:4

• Depravity of Man
• Despondency
• Hedge
• Rulers
• Sin
• Thorn
• Wicked (People)

In the dictionaries

• Apple
• Brier
• Light
• Mouth
• Net
• Thorn
• Hedge
• Micah (2)
• Thorns, Thistles, Etc.
• Visitation

Commentaries on Micah 7

• 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