English Standard Version
Micah 2:4
4In that day they shall take up a taunt song against you and moan bitterly, and say, "We are utterly ruined; he changes the portion of my people; how he removes it from me! To an apostate he allots our fields."
Micah 2:4 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)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.
- New International Version (NIV)In that day people will ridicule you; they will taunt you with this mournful song: ‘We are utterly ruined; my people’s possession is divided up. He takes it from me! He assigns our fields to traitors.’ ”
- New King James Version (NKJV)In that day one shall take up a proverb against you, And lament with a bitter lamentation, saying: ‘We are utterly destroyed! He has changed the heritage of my people; How He has removed it from me! To a turncoat He has divided our fields.’ ”
- New Living Translation (NLT)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.”
Context of Micah 2:4
2They covet fields and seize them, and houses, and take them away; they oppress a man and his house, a man and his inheritance. 3Therefore thus says the Lord: behold, against this family I am devising disaster, from which you cannot remove your necks, and you shall not walk haughtily, for it will be a time of disaster. In that day they shall take up a taunt song against you and moan bitterly, and say, "We are utterly ruined; he changes the portion of my people; how he removes it from me! To an apostate he allots our fields." 5Therefore you will have none to cast the line by lot in the assembly of the Lord. 6"Do not preach"—thus they preach— "one should not preach of such things; disgrace will not overtake us."
Read all of Micah 2Micah 2:4 word by word
בַּיּ֨וֹם הַה֜וּא יִשָּׂ֧א עֲלֵיכֶ֣ם מָשָׁ֗ל וְנָהָ֨ה נְהִ֤י נִֽהְיָה֙ אָמַר֙ שָׁד֣וֹד נְשַׁדֻּ֔נוּ חֵ֥לֶק עַמִּ֖י יָמִ֑יר אֵ֚יךְ יָמִ֣ישׁ לִ֔י לְשׁוֹבֵ֥ב שָׂדֵ֖ינוּ יְחַלֵּֽק׃Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
- In that dayיוֹםyôm · dayH3117
- take upנָשָׂאnâώâ' nâsâh · to lift: loudH5375
- a parableמָשָׁלmâshâl · proverbH4912
- against you, and lamentנָהָהnâhâh · to wailH5091
- with a dolefulנִהְיָהnihyâh · lamentH5093
- lamentationנְהִיnehîy · wailingH5092
- sayאָמַר'âmar · to sayH559
- We be utterlyשָׁדַדshâdad · to ruinH7703
- he hath changedמוּרmûr · to changeH4171
- the portionחֵ֫לֶקchêleq · portionH2506
- of my peopleעַם‛am · peopleH5971
- how hath he removedמוּשׁmûsh · to removeH4185
- from me! turning awayשׁוּבshûb · to return: returnH7725
- he hath dividedחָלַקchâlaq · to divideH2505
- our fieldsשָׂדֶהώâdeh ώâday · land: countryH7704
Cross-references for Micah 2:4
- Numbers 23:7And Balaam took up his discourse and said, "From Aram Balak has brought me, the king of Moab from the eastern mountains: 'Come, curse Jacob for me, and come, denounce Israel!'
- Numbers 24:3and he took up his discourse and said, "The oracle of Balaam the son of Beor, the oracle of the man whose eye is opened,
- Job 27:1And Job again took up his discourse, and said:
- Isaiah 14:4you will take up this taunt against the king of Babylon: "How the oppressor has ceased, the insolent fury ceased!
- Ezekiel 16:44"Behold, everyone who uses proverbs will use this proverb about you: 'Like mother, like daughter.'
- Habakkuk 2:6Shall not all these take up their taunt against him, with scoffing and riddles for him, and say, "Woe to him who heaps up what is not his own— for how long?— and loads himself with pledges!"
- Mark 12:12And they were seeking to arrest him but feared the people, for they perceived that he had told the parable against them. So they left him and went away.
- 2 Samuel 1:17And David lamented with this lamentation over Saul and Jonathan his son,
- 2 Chronicles 35:25Jeremiah also uttered a lament for Josiah; and all the singing men and singing women have spoken of Josiah in their laments to this day. They made these a rule in Israel; behold, they are written in the Laments.
- Jeremiah 9:10"I will take up weeping and wailing for the mountains, and a lamentation for the pastures of the wilderness, because they are laid waste so that no one passes through, and the lowing of cattle is not heard; both the birds of the air and the beasts have fled and are gone.
- Jeremiah 14:18If I go out into the field, behold, those pierced by the sword! And if I enter the city, behold, the diseases of famine! For both prophet and priest ply their trade through the land and have no knowledge.'"
- Joel 1:8Lament like a virgin wearing sackcloth for the bridegroom of her youth.
- Amos 5:1Hear this word that I take up over you in lamentation, O house of Israel:
- Lamentations 1:1How lonely sits the city that was full of people! How like a widow has she become, she who was great among the nations! She who was a princess among the provinces has become a slave.
- Ezekiel 2:10And he spread it before me. And it had writing on the front and on the back, and there were written on it words of lamentation and mourning and woe.
- Deuteronomy 28:29and you shall grope at noonday, as the blind grope in darkness, and you shall not prosper in your ways. And you shall be only oppressed and robbed continually, and there shall be no one to help you.
Commentaries on Micah 2:4
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 4Take up a parable against you - Your wickedness and your punishment shall be subjects of common conversation; and a funeral dirge shall be composed and sung for you as for the dead. The lamentation is that which immediately follows: We be utterly spoiled; and ends, Are these his doings? Micah 2:7.Read the comment
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 4In that day shall one take up a parable against you - The mashal or likeness may, in itself, be any speech in which one thing is likened to another: 1) “figured speech,” 2) “proverb,” and, since such proverbs were often sharp sayings against others, 3) “taunting figurative speech.” But of the person himself it is always said, he “is made, becomes a proverb” Deuteronomy 28:37; 1 Kings 9:7; 2 Chronicles 7:20; Psalm 44:15; Psalm 69:12; Jeremiah 24:9; Ezekiel…Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 4The leaders would lose their wealth when their enemies took their property. The land they had taken unfairly from other Israelites would be taken away from them in return (Micah 2:5).Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 44. one take up a parable against you--that is, Some of your foes shall do so, taking in derision from your own mouth your "lamentation," namely, "We be spoiled," &c. lament with a doleful lamentation--literally, "lament with a lamentation of lamentations." Hebrew, naha, nehi, nihyah, the repetition representing the continuous and monotonous wail. he hath changed the portion of my people--a charge of injustice against Jehovah. He transfers to other nations…Read the comment
Topics related to Micah 2:4
In the dictionaries
Commentaries on Micah 2
- 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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