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

10Writhe and groan like a woman in labor, you people of Jerusalem, for now you must leave this city to live in the open country. You will soon be sent in exile to distant Babylon. But the Lord will rescue you there; he will redeem you from the grip of your enemies. 11Now many nations have gathered against you. “Let her be desecrated,” they say. “Let us see the destruction of Jerusalem.” But they do not know the Lord’s thoughts or understand his plan. These nations don’t know that he is gathering them together to be beaten and trampled like sheaves of grain on a threshing floor. 13“Rise up and crush the nations, O Jerusalem!” says the Lord. “For I will give you iron horns and bronze hooves, so you can trample many nations to pieces. You will present their stolen riches to the Lord, their wealth to 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 55:8“My thoughts are nothing like your thoughts,” says the Lord. “And my ways are far beyond anything you could imagine.
• Jeremiah 29:11For I know the plans I have for you,” says the Lord. “They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope.
• Romans 11:33Oh, how great are God’s riches and wisdom and knowledge! How impossible it is for us to understand his decisions and his ways!
• Isaiah 21:10O my people, threshed and winnowed, I have told you everything the Lord of Heaven’s Armies has said, everything the God of Israel has told me.
• Joel 3:12“Let the nations be called to arms. Let them march to the valley of Jehoshaphat. There I, the Lord, will sit to pronounce judgment on them all.
• Zechariah 14:1Watch, for the day of the Lord is coming when your possessions will be plundered right in front of you!
• Luke 3:17He is ready to separate the chaff from the wheat with his winnowing fork. Then he will clean up the threshing area, gathering the wheat into his barn but burning the chaff with never-ending fire.”
• Revelation 14:14Then I saw a white cloud, and seated on the cloud was someone like the Son of Man. He had a gold crown on his head and a sharp sickle 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