Micah 3:7

Micah 3:7 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)Then shall the seers be ashamed, and the diviners confounded: yea, they shall all cover their lips; for there is no answer of God.
• New International Version (NIV)The seers will be ashamed and the diviners disgraced. They will all cover their faces because there is no answer from God.”
• English Standard Version (ESV)the seers shall be disgraced, and the diviners put to shame; they shall all cover their lips, for there is no answer from God.
• New King James Version (NKJV)So the seers shall be ashamed, And the diviners abashed; Indeed they shall all cover their lips; For there is no answer from God.”

Context of Micah 3:7

5This is what the Lord says: “The prophets who mislead my people are as good as dead. If someone gives them enough to eat, they offer an oracle of peace. But if someone does not give them food, they are ready to declare war on him. 6Therefore night will fall, and you will receive no visions; it will grow dark, and you will no longer be able to read the omens. The sun will set on these prophets, and the daylight will turn to darkness over their heads. The prophets will be ashamed; the omen readers will be humiliated. All of them will cover their mouths, for they will receive no divine oracles.” 8But I am full of the courage that the Lord’s Spirit gives, and have a strong commitment to justice. This enables me to confront Jacob with its rebellion, and Israel with its sin. 9Listen to this, you leaders of the family of Jacob, you rulers of the nation of Israel! You hate justice and pervert all that is right.

Micah 3:7 word by word

וּבֹ֣שׁוּ הַחֹזִ֗ים וְחָֽפְרוּ֙ הַקֹּ֣סְמִ֔ים וְעָט֥וּ עַל־שָׂפָ֖ם כֻּלָּ֑ם כִּ֛י אֵ֥ין מַעֲנֵ֖ה אֱלֹהִֽים׃Read the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• Then shall the seersחֹזֶהchôzeh · seerH2374
• be ashamedבּוֹשׁbûsh · be ashamedH954
• and the divinersקָסַםqâsam · to divineH7080
• confoundedחָפֵרchâphêr · be ashamedH2659
• yea, they shall all coverעָטָה‛âţâh · to enwrapH5844
• their lipsשָׂפָםώâphâm · mustacheH8222
• no answerמַעֲנֶהma‛ăneh · answerH4617
• of Godאֱלֹהִים'ĕlôhîym · GodH430

Cross-references for Micah 3:7

• Exodus 8:18When the magicians attempted to bring forth gnats by their secret arts, they could not. So there were gnats on people and on animals.
• Exodus 9:11The magicians could not stand before Moses because of the boils, for boils were on the magicians and on all the Egyptians.
• 1 Samuel 9:9(Now it used to be in Israel that whenever someone went to inquire of God he would say, “Come on, let’s go to the seer.” For today’s prophet used to be called a seer.)
• Isaiah 44:25who frustrates the omens of the empty talkers and humiliates the omen readers, who overturns the counsel of the wise men and makes their advice seem foolish,
• Isaiah 47:12Persist in trusting your amulets and your many incantations, which you have faithfully recited since your youth! Maybe you will be successful – maybe you will scare away disaster.
• Daniel 2:9If you don’t inform me of the dream, there is only one thing that is going to happen to you. For you have agreed among yourselves to report to me something false and deceitful until such time as things might change. So tell me the dream, and I will have confidence that you can disclose its interpretation.”
• Zechariah 13:4“Therefore, on that day each prophet will be ashamed of his vision when he prophesies and will no longer wear the hairy garment of a prophet to deceive the people.
• 2 Timothy 3:8And just as Jannes and Jambres opposed Moses, so these people – who have warped minds and are disqualified in the faith – also oppose the truth.
• Leviticus 13:45“As for the diseased person who has the infection, his clothes must be torn, the hair of his head must be unbound, he must cover his mustache, and he must call out ‘Unclean! Unclean!’
• Ezekiel 24:17Groan in silence for the dead, but do not perform mourning rites. Bind on your turban and put your sandals on your feet. Do not cover your lip and do not eat food brought by others.”
• 1 Samuel 14:37So Saul asked God, “Should I go down after the Philistines? Will you deliver them into the hand of Israel?” But he did not answer him that day.
• 1 Samuel 28:6So Saul inquired of the Lord, but the Lord did not answer him – not by dreams nor by Urim nor by the prophets.
• Psalms 74:9We do not see any signs of God’s presence; there are no longer any prophets and we have no one to tell us how long this will last.
• Amos 8:11Be certain of this, the time is coming,” says the sovereign Lord, “when I will send a famine through the land – not a shortage of food or water but an end to divine revelation!

Commentaries on Micah 3:7

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 7Shall the seers be ashamed - For the false visions of comfort and prosperity which they pretended to see. And the diviners confounded - Who pretended to foretell future prosperity; for they themselves are now thralled in that very captivity which the true prophets foretold, and which the false prophets said should not happen.Read the comment
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 7They shall cover their lips - Literally, the hair of the upper lip. This was an action enjoined on lepers Leviticus 13:45, and a token of mourning Ezekiel 24:17, Ezekiel 24:22; a token then of sorrow and uncleanness. With their lips they had lied, and now they should cover their lips, as men dumb and ashamed. “For there is no answer of God,” as these deceivers had pretended to have. When all things shall come contrary to what they had promised, it shall…Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 6-7Micah announced God's judgment on the false prophets. Without God's special messages, these seers and fortune-tellers were like the pagan court prophets of nations like Babylon, Mari, and especially Assyria. Those prophets were expected to say what the rulers wanted to hear, but they did not receive true messages from the Lord 1 Samuel 28:6; Amos 8:11–12).Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 77. cover their lips--The Orientals prided themselves on the moustache and beard ("upper lip," Margin). To cover it, therefore, was a token of shame and sorrow (Le 13:45; Eze 24:17, 22). "They shall be so ashamed of themselves as not to dare to open their mouths or boast of the name of prophet" [Calvin]. there is no answer of God--They shall no more profess to have responses from God, being struck dumb with calamities (Mi 3:6).Read the comment

Topics related to Micah 3:7

• Minister, Christian
• Mourning
• Prophets
• Sorcery

In the dictionaries

• God
• god, false god, goddess, idol, idolater, idolatrous, idolatry
• Divination
• Divine
• Mourn
• Pluck
• Seer
• Teach
• Confound
• Lip

Commentaries on Micah 3

• 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