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?
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?’”
- BSB 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?’”
- 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 profiteth the graven image that the maker thereof hath graven it; the molten image, and a teacher of lies, that the maker of his work trusteth therein, to make dumb idols?
- Ps 115:8They that make them are like unto them; so is every one that trusteth in them.
- Isa 44:18–20They have not known nor understood: for he hath shut their eyes, that they cannot see; and their hearts, that they cannot understand.
- Rev 17:2With whom the kings of the earth have committed fornication, and the inhabitants of the earth have been made drunk with the wine of her fornication.
- Ezek 23:5And Aholah played the harlot when she was mine; and she doted on her lovers, on the Assyrians her neighbours,
- Jer 51:17Every man is brutish by his knowledge; every founder is confounded by the graven image: for his molten image is falsehood, and there is no breath in them.
- Jer 50:38A drought is upon her waters; and they shall be dried up: for it is the land of graven images, and they are mad upon their idols.
- Judg 17:13Then said Micah, Now know I that the LORD will do me good, seeing I have a Levite to my priest.
- Acts 19:26Moreover ye see and hear, that not alone at Ephesus, but almost throughout all Asia, this Paul hath persuaded and turned away much people, saying that they be no gods, which are made with hands:
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.