Woe to them that devise iniquity, and work evil upon their beds! when the morning is light, they practise it, because it is in the power of their hand.
Parallel translations
- WEB Woe to those who devise iniquity and work evil on their beds! When the morning is light, they practice it, because it is in the power of their hand.
- BSB Woe to those who devise iniquity and plot evil on their beds! At morning’s light they accomplish it because the power is in their hands.
- NKJV Woe to those who devise iniquity, And work out evil on their beds! At morning light they practice it, Because it is in the power of their hand.
- NASB Woe to those who devise wrongdoing, Who practice evil on their beds! When morning comes, they do it, Because it is in the power of their hands.
- NLT What sorrow awaits you who lie awake at night, thinking up evil plans. You rise at dawn and hurry to carry them out, simply because you have the power to do so.
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
Woe is pronounced on those who lie awake plotting evil and carry it out as soon as they can. It condemns premeditated, power-abusing wickedness.
Overview
These oppressors scheme injustice in the night and execute it at dawn simply because they have the power to do so. Micah indicts not impulsive sin but calculated exploitation of the weak. The 'woe' signals coming judgment on those who use their strength to harm rather than protect their neighbors.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 26
- Ps 36:4He deviseth mischief upon his bed; he setteth himself in a way that is not good; he abhorreth not evil.
- Isa 32:7The instruments also of the churl are evil: he deviseth wicked devices to destroy the poor with lying words, even when the needy speaketh right.
- Ps 7:14–16Behold, he travaileth with iniquity, and hath conceived mischief, and brought forth falsehood.
- Hos 7:6–7For they have made ready their heart like an oven, whiles they lie in wait: their baker sleepeth all the night; in the morning it burneth as a flaming fire.
- Nah 1:11There is one come out of thee, that imagineth evil against the LORD, a wicked counsellor.
- Prov 6:12–19A naughty person, a wicked man, walketh with a froward mouth.
- Rom 1:30Backbiters, haters of God, despiteful, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents,
- Prov 4:16For they sleep not, except they have done mischief; and their sleep is taken away, unless they cause some to fall.
- Jer 18:18Then said they, Come, and let us devise devices against Jeremiah; for the law shall not perish from the priest, nor counsel from the wise, nor the word from the prophet. Come, and let us smite him with the tongue, and let us not give heed to any of his words.
- Prov 3:27Withhold not good from them to whom it is due, when it is in the power of thine hand to do it.
- Acts 23:12And when it was day, certain of the Jews banded together, and bound themselves under a curse, saying that they would neither eat nor drink till they had killed Paul.
- John 19:11Jesus answered, Thou couldest have no power at all against me, except it were given thee from above: therefore he that delivered me unto thee hath the greater sin.
- Isa 59:3For your hands are defiled with blood, and your fingers with iniquity; your lips have spoken lies, your tongue hath muttered perverseness.
- Luke 22:2–6And the chief priests and scribes sought how they might kill him; for they feared the people.
- Deut 28:32Thy sons and thy daughters shall be given unto another people, and thine eyes shall look, and fail with longing for them all the day long: and there shall be no might in thine hand:
- Gen 31:29It is in the power of my hand to do you hurt: but the God of your father spake unto me yesternight, saying, Take thou heed that thou speak not to Jacob either good or bad.
- Luke 20:19And the chief priests and the scribes the same hour sought to lay hands on him; and they feared the people: for they perceived that he had spoken this parable against them.
- Prov 12:2A good man obtaineth favour of the LORD: but a man of wicked devices will he condemn.
- Ps 140:1–8Deliver me, O LORD, from the evil man: preserve me from the violent man;
- Acts 23:15Now therefore ye with the council signify to the chief captain that he bring him down unto you to morrow, as though ye would enquire something more perfectly concerning him: and we, or ever he come near, are ready to kill him.
- Mark 15:1And straightway in the morning the chief priests held a consultation with the elders and scribes and the whole council, and bound Jesus, and carried him away, and delivered him to Pilate.
- Matt 27:1–2When the morning was come, all the chief priests and elders of the people took counsel against Jesus to put him to death:
- Esth 9:25But when Esther came before the king, he commanded by letters that his wicked device, which he devised against the Jews, should return upon his own head, and that he and his sons should be hanged on the gallows.
- Ezek 11:2Then said he unto me, Son of man, these are the men that devise mischief, and give wicked counsel in this city:
- Esth 3:8And Haman said unto king Ahasuerus, There is a certain people scattered abroad and dispersed among the people in all the provinces of thy kingdom; and their laws are diverse from all people; neither keep they the king’s laws: therefore it is not for the king’s profit to suffer them.
- Esth 5:14Then said Zeresh his wife and all his friends unto him, Let a gallows be made of fifty cubits high, and to morrow speak thou unto the king that Mordecai may be hanged thereon: then go thou in merrily with the king unto the banquet. And the thing pleased Haman; and he caused the gallows to be made.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
Resources, by level
Commentaries & study tools
Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.
Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.
Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.
Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.
The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).
Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.
Christ at the center
Micah names the town — 'But you, Bethlehem... from you shall come forth one who is to be ruler in Israel, whose origins are from of old' — the birthplace of the eternal King.
How Micah 2:1 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.