He replied, “You took the gods I had made, and my priest, and went away. What else do I have? How can you say to me, ‘What is the matter with you?’”
Parallel translations
- WEB He said, “You have taken away my gods which I made, and the priest, and have gone away! What more do I have? How can you ask me, ‘What ails you?’”
- KJV And he said, Ye have taken away my gods which I made, and the priest, and ye are gone away: and what have I more? and what is this that ye say unto me, What aileth thee?
- NKJV So he said, “You have taken away my gods which I made, and the priest, and you have gone away. Now what more do I have? How can you say to me, ‘What ails you?’ ”
- NASB And he said, “You have taken my gods which I made, and the priest, and have gone away; what more do I have? So how can you say to me, ‘What is the matter with you?’ ”
- NLT “What do you mean, ‘What’s the matter?’” Micah replied. “You’ve taken away all the gods I have made, and my priest, and I have nothing left!”
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Micah laments that they have taken his gods and his priest, asking what he has left. His sorrow exposes how his hope rested on idols.
Overview
Micah's anguished cry, 'you have taken my gods which I made,' lays bare the folly of worshiping handmade objects. A god that can be carried off by thieves cannot save. His emptiness illustrates Isaiah's later mockery of idols and points, by contrast, to the living God who alone cannot be taken from His people.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 9
- Hab 2:18–19What use is an idol, that a craftsman should carve it—or an image, a teacher of lies? For its maker trusts in his own creation; he makes idols that cannot speak.
- Ps 115:8Those who make them become like them, as do all who trust in them.
- Isa 44:18–20They do not comprehend or discern, for He has shut their eyes so they cannot see and closed their minds so they cannot understand.
- Rev 17:2The kings of the earth were immoral with her, and those who dwell on the earth were intoxicated with the wine of her immorality.”
- Ezek 23:5Oholah prostituted herself while she was still Mine. She lusted after her lovers, the Assyrians—warriors
- Jer 51:17Every man is senseless and devoid of knowledge; every goldsmith is put to shame by his idols. For his molten images are a fraud, and there is no breath in them.
- Jer 50:38A drought is upon her waters, and they will be dried up. For it is a land of graven images, and the people go mad over idols.
- Judg 17:13Then Micah said, “Now I know that the LORD will be good to me, because a Levite has become my priest.”
- Acts 19:26And you can see and hear that not only in Ephesus, but in nearly the whole province of Asia, Paul has persuaded a great number of people to turn away. He says that man-made gods are no gods at all.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Christ at the center
Israel's cycle of sin and rescue through flawed deliverers cries out for a Savior who never fails — the true and final Judge and Deliverer who saves his people not for a season but forever.
How Judges 18:24 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.