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Prophesy ye not, say they to them that prophesy: they shall not prophesy to them, that they shall not take shame.
Micah 2:6 · King James Version
Parallel translations
  • WEB “Don’t prophesy!” They prophesy. “Don’t prophesy about these things. Disgrace won’t overtake us.”
  • BSB “Do not preach,” they preach. “Do not preach these things; disgrace will not overtake us.”
  • NKJV “Do not prattle,” you say to those who prophesy. So they shall not prophesy to you; They shall not return insult for insult.
  • NASB ¶‘Do not prophesy,’ so they prophesy. But if they do not prophesy about these things, Insults will not be turned back.
  • NLT “Don’t say such things,” the people respond. “Don’t prophesy like that. Such disasters will never come our way!”

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

The people tell Micah not to prophesy such things, insisting disgrace will not come upon them. It exposes their refusal to hear God's warning.

Overview

The false prophets and complacent people silence true preaching, claiming judgment will never overtake them. Their demand to hear only comfortable words reveals a heart unwilling to repent. Rejecting the prophet's warning, they cling to a false security that the coming events will shatter.

Cross-references & the web

Cross-references · 18

  • Amos 2:12But ye gave the Nazarites wine to drink; and commanded the prophets, saying, Prophesy not.
  • Isa 30:10Which say to the seers, See not; and to the prophets, Prophesy not unto us right things, speak unto us smooth things, prophesy deceits:
  • Ezek 3:26And I will make thy tongue cleave to the roof of thy mouth, that thou shalt be dumb, and shalt not be to them a reprover: for they are a rebellious house.
  • Acts 5:40And to him they agreed: and when they had called the apostles, and beaten them, they commanded that they should not speak in the name of Jesus, and let them go.
  • Acts 5:28Saying, Did not we straitly command you that ye should not teach in this name? and, behold, ye have filled Jerusalem with your doctrine, and intend to bring this man’s blood upon us.
  • Jer 6:14–15They have healed also the hurt of the daughter of my people slightly, saying, Peace, peace; when there is no peace.
  • Amos 8:11–13Behold, the days come, saith the Lord GOD, that I will send a famine in the land, not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the LORD:
  • 1 Th 2:15–16Who both killed the Lord Jesus, and their own prophets, and have persecuted us; and they please not God, and are contrary to all men:
  • Ezek 20:46Son of man, set thy face toward the south, and drop thy word toward the south, and prophesy against the forest of the south field;
  • Jer 26:20–23And there was also a man that prophesied in the name of the LORD, Urijah the son of Shemaiah of Kirjathjearim, who prophesied against this city and against this land according to all the words of Jeremiah:
  • Jer 26:8–9Now it came to pass, when Jeremiah had made an end of speaking all that the LORD had commanded him to speak unto all the people, that the priests and the prophets and all the people took him, saying, Thou shalt surely die.
  • Acts 4:17But that it spread no further among the people, let us straitly threaten them, that they speak henceforth to no man in this name.
  • Mic 6:16For the statutes of Omri are kept, and all the works of the house of Ahab, and ye walk in their counsels; that I should make thee a desolation, and the inhabitants thereof an hissing: therefore ye shall bear the reproach of my people.
  • Amos 7:13But prophesy not again any more at Bethel: for it is the king’s chapel, and it is the king’s court.
  • Ezek 21:2Son of man, set thy face toward Jerusalem, and drop thy word toward the holy places, and prophesy against the land of Israel,
  • Ps 74:9We see not our signs: there is no more any prophet: neither is there among us any that knoweth how long.
  • Acts 7:51Ye stiffnecked and uncircumcised in heart and ears, ye do always resist the Holy Ghost: as your fathers did, so do ye.
  • Jer 8:11–12For they have healed the hurt of the daughter of my people slightly, saying, Peace, peace; when there is no peace.

Themes, concepts, people & topics

Topics (1)

Resources, by level

Commentaries & study tools

  • VideoBibleProject — Micah videosBibleProject · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.

  • VideoWatch teaching on Micah 2:6YouTube · Lay · Free

    Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.

  • CommentaryEnduring Word — verse-by-verseDavid Guzik · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.

  • CommentaryClassic commentaries for this verseBibleHub (20+ works) · Pastoral · Free

    Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.

  • CommentaryMatthew Henry on MicahMatthew Henry · Pastoral · Free · evangelical

    The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).

  • ReferenceInterlinear, lexicon & Strong'sBlue Letter Bible · Seminary · Free

    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 2:6 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.