The good man is perished out of the earth: and there is none upright among men: they all lie in wait for blood; they hunt every man his brother with a net.
Parallel translations
- WEB The godly man has perished out of the earth, and there is no one upright among men. They all lie in wait for blood; every man hunts his brother with a net.
- BSB The godly man has perished from the earth; there is no one upright among men. They all lie in wait for blood; they hunt one another with a net.
- NKJV The faithful man has perished from the earth, And there is no one upright among men. They all lie in wait for blood; Every man hunts his brother with a net.
- NASB The godly person has perished from the land, And there is no upright person among mankind. All of them lie in wait for bloodshed; Each of them hunts the other with a net.
- NLT The godly people have all disappeared; not one honest person is left on the earth. They are all murderers, setting traps even for their own brothers.
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 godly have vanished and everyone lies in wait to shed his brother's blood. It describes the collapse of human decency and trust.
Overview
Micah declares that faithful and upright people have perished from the land, while violence and treachery dominate, each hunting his neighbor "with a net." The total absence of righteousness underscores universal human sinfulness, echoed in Paul's "there is none righteous" (Romans 3). It magnifies the grace of God, who provides the righteous Redeemer the world cannot produce.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 16
- Ps 12:1Help, LORD; for the godly man ceaseth; for the faithful fail from among the children of men.
- Isa 59:7Their feet run to evil, and they make haste to shed innocent blood: their thoughts are thoughts of iniquity; wasting and destruction are in their paths.
- Ps 14:1–3The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God. They are corrupt, they have done abominable works, there is none that doeth good.
- Isa 57:1The righteous perisheth, and no man layeth it to heart: and merciful men are taken away, none considering that the righteous is taken away from the evil to come.
- Jer 5:26For among my people are found wicked men: they lay wait, as he that setteth snares; they set a trap, they catch men.
- Prov 1:11If they say, Come with us, let us lay wait for blood, let us lurk privily for the innocent without cause:
- Jer 16:16Behold, I will send for many fishers, saith the LORD, and they shall fish them; and after will I send for many hunters, and they shall hunt them from every mountain, and from every hill, and out of the holes of the rocks.
- 1 Sam 24:11Moreover, my father, see, yea, see the skirt of thy robe in my hand: for in that I cut off the skirt of thy robe, and killed thee not, know thou and see that there is neither evil nor transgression in mine hand, and I have not sinned against thee; yet thou huntest my soul to take it.
- 1 Sam 26:20Now therefore, let not my blood fall to the earth before the face of the LORD: for the king of Israel is come out to seek a flea, as when one doth hunt a partridge in the mountains.
- Prov 12:6The words of the wicked are to lie in wait for blood: but the mouth of the upright shall deliver them.
- Ps 57:6They have prepared a net for my steps; my soul is bowed down: they have digged a pit before me, into the midst whereof they are fallen themselves. Selah.
- Hab 1:15–17They take up all of them with the angle, they catch them in their net, and gather them in their drag: therefore they rejoice and are glad.
- Lam 4:18They hunt our steps, that we cannot go in our streets: our end is near, our days are fulfilled; for our end is come.
- Mic 3:10They build up Zion with blood, and Jerusalem with iniquity.
- Jer 5:16Their quiver is as an open sepulchre, they are all mighty men.
- Rom 3:10–18As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one:
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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 7:2 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
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