Do not rely on a friend; do not trust in a companion. Seal the doors of your mouth from her who lies in your arms.
Parallel translations
- WEB Don’t trust in a neighbor. Don’t put confidence in a friend. With the woman lying in your embrace, be careful of the words of your mouth!
- KJV Trust ye not in a friend, put ye not confidence in a guide: keep the doors of thy mouth from her that lieth in thy bosom.
- NKJV Do not trust in a friend; Do not put your confidence in a companion; Guard the doors of your mouth From her who lies in your bosom.
- NASB Do not trust in a neighbor; Do not have confidence in a close friend. Guard your lips From her who lies in your arms.
- NLT Don’t trust anyone— not your best friend or even your wife!
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
So pervasive is treachery that one cannot trust a neighbor, friend, or even a spouse. It pictures the breakdown of the closest human bonds.
Overview
Micah warns against confiding even in a friend or the wife in one's embrace, because betrayal has infected every relationship. The collapse of trust shows how deeply sin corrodes community. Jesus would later quote the next verses regarding division (Matthew 10), and the passage reminds us that ultimate security is found not in people but in the faithful God.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 5
- Jer 9:4“Let everyone guard against his neighbor; do not trust any brother, for every brother deals craftily, and every friend spreads slander.
- Ps 118:8–9It is better to take refuge in the LORD than to trust in man.
- Matt 10:16Behold, I am sending you out like sheep among wolves; therefore be as shrewd as snakes and as innocent as doves.
- Job 6:14–15A despairing man should have the kindness of his friend, even if he forsakes the fear of the Almighty.
- Judg 16:5–20The lords of the Philistines went to her and said, “Entice him and find out the source of his great strength and how we can overpower him to tie him up and subdue him. Then each one of us will give you eleven hundred shekels of silver.”
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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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 7:5 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.