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The voice of the LORD calls out to the city (and it is sound wisdom to fear Your name): “Heed the rod and the One who ordained it.
Micah 6:9 · Berean Standard Bible
Parallel translations
  • WEB Yahweh’s voice calls to the city, and wisdom sees your name: “Listen to the rod, and he who appointed it.
  • KJV The LORD’s voice crieth unto the city, and the man of wisdom shall see thy name: hear ye the rod, and who hath appointed it.
  • NKJV The Lord’s voice cries to the city— Wisdom shall see Your name: “Hear the rod! Who has appointed it?
  • NASB ¶The voice of the Lord will call to the city— And it is sound wisdom to fear Your name: “Hear, you tribe. Who has designated its time?
  • NLT Fear the Lord if you are wise! His voice calls to everyone in Jerusalem: “The armies of destruction are coming; the Lord is sending them.

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 LORD's voice cries out to the city, and the wise will heed the disciplining rod and the One who appointed it. It calls people to listen to God's corrective judgment.

Overview

God addresses Jerusalem, and true wisdom consists in fearing His name and submitting to the "rod" of coming chastisement, recognizing that He has appointed it. The Hebrew of this verse is difficult and translations vary, but its thrust is a summons to reverent attention. Discipline from God is an act of fatherly love meant to turn His people back, a theme the New Testament applies to believers as well.

Cross-references & the web

Cross-references · 38

  • Hos 14:9Whoever is wise, let him understand these things; whoever is discerning, let him know them. For the ways of the LORD are right, and the righteous walk in them but the rebellious stumble in them.
  • Rev 3:19Those I love, I rebuke and discipline. Therefore be earnest and repent.
  • Isa 30:27Behold, the Name of the LORD comes from afar, with burning anger and dense smoke. His lips are full of fury, and His tongue is like a consuming fire.
  • Zeph 3:2She heeded no voice; she accepted no correction. She does not trust in the LORD; she has not drawn near to her God.
  • Lam 3:39–42Why should any mortal man complain, in view of his sins?
  • Isa 40:6–8A voice says, “Cry out!” And I asked, “What should I cry out?” “All flesh is like grass, and all its glory like the flowers of the field.
  • Ps 83:18May they know that You alone, whose name is the LORD, are Most High over all the earth.
  • Job 10:2I will say to God: Do not condemn me! Let me know why You prosecute me.
  • Jer 26:18“Micah the Moreshite prophesied in the days of Hezekiah king of Judah and told all the people of Judah that this is what the LORD of Hosts says: ‘Zion will be plowed like a field, Jerusalem will become a heap of rubble, and the temple mount a wooded ridge.’
  • Exod 34:5–7And the LORD descended in a cloud, stood with him there, and proclaimed His name, the LORD.
  • Amos 2:5So I will send fire upon Judah to consume the citadels of Jerusalem.”
  • Joel 2:11–18The LORD raises His voice in the presence of His army. Indeed, His camp is very large, for mighty are those who obey His command. For the Day of the LORD is great and very dreadful. Who can endure it?
  • Amos 4:6–12“I beset all your cities with cleanness of teeth and all your towns with lack of bread, yet you did not return to Me,” declares the LORD.
  • Amos 3:8–15The lion has roared—who will not fear? The Lord GOD has spoken—who will not prophesy?
  • Jer 19:11–13and you are to proclaim to them that this is what the LORD of Hosts says: I will shatter this nation and this city, like one shatters a potter’s jar that can never again be repaired. They will bury the dead in Topheth until there is no more room to bury them.
  • Isa 24:10–12The city of chaos is shattered; every house is closed to entry.
  • Jonah 3:4–10On the first day of his journey, Jonah set out into the city and proclaimed, “Forty more days and Nineveh will be overturned!”
  • Ps 107:43Let him who is wise pay heed to these things and consider the loving devotion of the LORD.
  • Isa 27:10For the fortified city lies deserted—a homestead abandoned, a wilderness forsaken. There the calves graze, and there they lie down; they strip its branches bare.
  • Isa 10:5–6Woe to Assyria, the rod of My anger; the staff in their hands is My wrath.
  • Prov 22:3The prudent see danger and take cover, but the simple keep going and suffer the consequences.
  • Mic 3:12Therefore, because of you, Zion will be plowed like a field, Jerusalem will become a heap of rubble, and the temple mount a wooded ridge.
  • Amos 6:1Woe to those at ease in Zion and those secure on Mount Samaria, the distinguished ones of the foremost nation, to whom the house of Israel comes.
  • 2 Sam 21:1During the reign of David there was a famine for three successive years, and David sought the face of the LORD. And the LORD said, “It is because of the blood shed by Saul and his family, because he killed the Gibeonites.”
  • Job 5:17Blessed indeed is the man whom God corrects; so do not despise the discipline of the Almighty.
  • Jer 37:8–10Then the Chaldeans will return and fight against this city. They will capture it and burn it down.
  • Ps 9:16The LORD is known by the justice He brings; the wicked are ensnared by the work of their hands. Higgaion Selah
  • Jer 26:6then I will make this house like Shiloh, and I will make this city an object of cursing among all the nations of the earth.’”
  • Isa 66:6Hear the uproar from the city; listen to the voice from the temple! It is the voice of the LORD, repaying His enemies what they deserve!
  • Isa 26:11O LORD, Your hand is upraised, but they do not see it. They will see Your zeal for Your people and be put to shame. The fire set for Your enemies will consume them!
  • Ps 48:10Your name, O God, like Your praise, reaches to the ends of the earth; Your right hand is full of righteousness.
  • 2 Kgs 22:11–20When the king heard the words of the Book of the Law, he tore his clothes
  • Hag 1:5–7Now this is what the LORD of Hosts says: “Consider carefully your ways.
  • Jer 14:18–22If I go out to the country, I see those slain by the sword; if I enter the city, I see those ravaged by famine! For both prophet and priest travel to a land they do not know.’”
  • Isa 9:13But the people did not return to Him who struck them; they did not seek the LORD of Hosts.
  • Job 5:6–8For distress does not spring from the dust, and trouble does not sprout from the ground.
  • Hos 13:16Samaria will bear her guilt because she has rebelled against her God. They will fall by the sword; their little ones will be dashed to pieces, and their pregnant women ripped open.
  • Isa 32:13–14and for the land of my people, overgrown with thorns and briers—even for every house of merriment in this city of revelry.

Themes, concepts, people & topics

Topics (2)

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 6:9YouTube · 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 6:9 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.