English Standard Version
Micah 1:8
8For this I will lament and wail; I will go stripped and naked; I will make lamentation like the jackals, and mourning like the ostriches.
Micah 1:8 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)Therefore I will wail and howl, I will go stripped and naked: I will make a wailing like the dragons, and mourning as the owls.
- New International Version (NIV)Because of this I will weep and wail; I will go about barefoot and naked. I will howl like a jackal and moan like an owl.
- New King James Version (NKJV)Therefore I will wail and howl, I will go stripped and naked; I will make a wailing like the jackals And a mourning like the ostriches,
- New Living Translation (NLT)Therefore, I will mourn and lament. I will walk around barefoot and naked. I will howl like a jackal and moan like an owl.
Context of Micah 1:8
6Therefore I will make Samaria a heap in the open country, a place for planting vineyards, and I will pour down her stones into the valley and uncover her foundations. 7All her carved images shall be beaten to pieces, all her wages shall be burned with fire, and all her idols I will lay waste, for from the fee of a prostitute she gathered them, and to the fee of a prostitute they shall return. For this I will lament and wail; I will go stripped and naked; I will make lamentation like the jackals, and mourning like the ostriches. 9For her wound is incurable, and it has come to Judah; it has reached to the gate of my people, to Jerusalem. 10Tell it not in Gath; weep not at all; in Beth-le-aphrah roll yourselves in the dust.
Read all of Micah 1Micah 1:8 word by word
עַל־זֹאת֙ אֶסְפְּדָ֣ה וְאֵילִ֔ילָה אֵילְכָ֥ה שׁוֹלָ֖ל וְעָר֑וֹם אֶעֱשֶׂ֤ה מִסְפֵּד֙ כַּתַּנִּ֔ים וְאֵ֖בֶל כִּבְנ֥וֹת יַעֲנָֽה׃Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
- Therefore I will wailסָפַדsâphad · to mournH5594
- and howlיָלַלyâlal · to wailH3213
- I will goיָלַךְyâlak · to walkH3212
- strippedשׁוֹלָלshôlâl shêylâl · barefootH7758
- and nakedעָרוֹם‛ârôm ‛ârôm · nakedH6174
- I will makeעָשָׂה‛âώâh · to makeH6213
- a wailingמִסְפֵּדmispêd · mourningH4553
- like the dragonsתַּןtannîyn tannîym · jackalH8577
- and mourningאֵ֫בֶל'êbel · mourningH60
- as the owlsיַעֲנָהya‛ănâh · ostrichH3284
- as the owlsבַּתbath · daughterH1323
Cross-references for Micah 1:8
- Isaiah 16:9Therefore I weep with the weeping of Jazer for the vine of Sibmah; I drench you with my tears, O Heshbon and Elealeh; for over your summer fruit and your harvest the shout has ceased.
- Isaiah 21:3Therefore my loins are filled with anguish; pangs have seized me, like the pangs of a woman in labor; I am bowed down so that I cannot hear; I am dismayed so that I cannot see.
- Isaiah 22:4Therefore I said: "Look away from me; let me weep bitter tears; do not labor to comfort me concerning the destruction of the daughter of my people."
- Jeremiah 4:19My anguish, my anguish! I writhe in pain! Oh the walls of my heart! My heart is beating wildly; I cannot keep silent, for I hear the sound of the trumpet, the alarm of war.
- Jeremiah 9:1Oh that my head were waters, and my eyes a fountain of tears, that I might weep day and night for the slain of the daughter of my people!
- Jeremiah 48:36Therefore my heart moans for Moab like a flute, and my heart moans like a flute for the men of Kir-hareseth. Therefore the riches they gained have perished.
- Isaiah 20:2at that time the Lord spoke by Isaiah the son of Amoz, saying, "Go, and loose the sackcloth from your waist and take off your sandals from your feet," and he did so, walking naked and barefoot.
- Job 30:29I am a brother of jackals and a companion of ostriches.
- Psalms 102:6I am like a desert owl of the wilderness, like an owl of the waste places;
Commentaries on Micah 1:8
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 8I will make a wailing like the dragons - Newcome translates: - I will make a wailing like the foxes, (or jackals), And mourning like the daughters of the ostrich. This beast, the jackal or shiagal, we have often met with in the prophets. Travellers inform us that its howlings by night are most lamentable; and as to the ostrich, it is remarkable for its fearful shrieking and agonizing groanings after night. Dr. Shaw says he has often heard them groan as if…Read the comment
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 8Therefore I will - Therefore I would Wail - (properly, beat, that is, on the breast). And howl - “Let me alone,” he would say, “that I may vent my sorrow in all ways of expressing sorrow, beating on the breast and wailing, using all acts and sounds of grief.” It is as we would say, “Let me mourn on,” a mourning inexhaustible, because the woe too and the cause of grief was unceasing. The prophet becomes in words, probably in acts too, an image of his…Read the comment
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 8-16Verses 8-16 The prophet laments that Israel's case is desperate; but declare it not in Gath. Gratify not those that make merry with the sins or with the sorrows of God's Israel. Roll thyself in the dust, as mourners used to do; let every house in Jerusalem become a house of Aphrah, "a house of dust." When God makes the house dust it becomes us to humble ourselves to the dust under his mighty hand. Many places should share this mourning. The names have…Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 8-16In response to the Lord’s predicted judgment, Micah walked barefoot and naked to show mourning (see Isaiah 20:2; Lamentations 2:10; Ezekiel 24:17). This act vividly showed what would happen to Samaria (Israel) and Jerusalem (Judah). They would lose their wealth, power, and population. A jackal and an owl make sad sounds and live in deserted wilderness areas (see Isaiah 34:13; Jeremiah 50:39).Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 88. Therefore I will wail--The prophet first shows how the coming judgment affects himself, in order that he might affect the minds of his countrymen similarly. stripped--that is, of shoes, or sandals, as the Septuagint translates. Otherwise "naked" would be a tautology. naked--"Naked" means divested of the upper garment (Is 20:2). "Naked and barefoot," the sign of mourning (2Sa 15:30). The prophet's upper garment was usually rough and coarse-haired (2Ki…Read the comment
Topics related to Micah 1:8
In the dictionaries
Commentaries on Micah 1
- 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
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