Micah 3:4
in Micah 3Then they will cry out to the LORD, but He will not answer them. At that time He will hide His face from them because of the evil they have done.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Then shall they cry unto Jehovah, but he will not answer them; yea, he will hide his face from them at that time, according as they have wrought evil in their doings.
KJV
Then shall they cry unto the Lord, but he will not hear them: he will even hide his face from them at that time, as they have behaved themselves ill in their doings.
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This verse in Micah 3
Commentary
6 notes on this verseThen shall they cry - When calamity comes upon these oppressors, they shall cry for deliverance: but they shall not be heard; because, in their unjust exactions upon the people, they went on ruthlessly, and would not hear the cry of the oppressed.
This site's exposition
Then shall they cry unto the Lord
The judgment answers the crime in kind: the judges who refused to hear the cries of those they oppressed will themselves cry to the Lord and not be heard, his face hidden from them exactly as they hid theirs from justice. The commentators name the principle as the same measure-for-measure law the whole book applies elsewhere, the doings that caused the silence now causing a silence of their own. It is behaviour, not mere fate, that the verse names as the cause.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
(Chapter III, verses 1 and following) And I said: Listen, leaders of Jacob, and rulers of the house of Israel. Is it not for you to know judgment, you who hate good and love evil, who violently take off their skin from them, and their flesh from their bones, who have eaten the flesh of my people, and have stripped off their skin from them, and have broken their bones and cut them up like meat in a pot.
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
Then shall they cry unto the Lord, but he will not hear them,....
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
Their prayer shall be rejected, because it is the mere cry of nature for deliverance from pain, not that of repentance for deliverance from sin. ill in their doings--Men cannot expect to do ill and fare well.
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
Then shall they cry unto the Lord - “Then.” The prophet looks on to the Day of the Lord, which is always before his mind. So the Psalmist, speaking of a time or place not expressed, says, “There were they in great fear” Psa 53:5. He sees it, points to it, as seeing what those to whom he spoke, saw not, and the more awfully, because he saw, with superhuman (certain) vision, what was “hidden from their eyes.” The then was not then, “in the time of grace,” but when the Day of grace should be over, and the Day of Judgment should be come. So of that day, when judgment should set in, God says in Jeremiah, “Behold I will bring evil upon them which they shall not be able to go forth of, and they will cry unto Me, and I will not hearken unto them” Jer 11:11. And David, “They cried and there was none to save; unto the Lord, and He answered them not” Psa 18:41. And Solomon; “Whoso stoppeth his ears at the cry of the poor, he shall cry himself and shall not be heard” Pro 21:13. And James, “He shall have judgment without mercy, that hath shewed no mercy” Jas 2:13. The prayer is never too late, until judgment comes ; the day of grace is over, when the time of judgment has arrived. “They shall cry unto the Lord, and shall not be heard, because they too did not hear those who asked them, and the Lord shall turn His Face from them, because they too turned their face from those who prayed them.” He will even hide His Face - He will not look in mercy on those who would not receive His look of grace. Your sins, He says by Isaiah, “have hid His face from you, that He heareth not.” O what will that turning away of the Face be, on which hangs eternity! As - There is a proportion between the sin and the punishment . As I have done, so God hath requited me. “They have behaved themselves ill in their doings. […]
The words behind it
15 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| אָ֚ז | ʾaz | then | H227 → | |
| יִזְעֲק֣וּ | yizaku | they will cry out | H2199 → | |
| אֶל־ | ʾel- | to | H413 → | 5510 times |
| יְהוָ֔ה | yahweh | Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
| וְלֹ֥א | velo' | and not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| יַעֲנֶ֖ה | yaaneh | he will answer | H6030 → | 331 times |
| אוֹתָ֑ם | ʾotam | <obj.> them | H853 → | 10935 times |
| וְיַסְתֵּ֨ר | veyaster | and he will hide | H5641 → | |
| פָּנָ֤יו | panav | face his | H6440 → | 2123 times |
| מֵהֶם֙ | mehem | from them | ||
| בָּעֵ֣ת | baet | at the time | H6256 → | 296 times |
| הַהִ֔יא | hahi' | <the> that | H1931 → | 1879 times |
| כַּאֲשֶׁ֥ר | kaasher | <as> since | H834 → | 5497 times |
| הֵרֵ֖עוּ | hereu | they have made evil | H7489 → | |
| מַעַלְלֵיהֶֽם׃ פ | maaleihem | deeds their | H4611 → | 41 times |
אָ֚זthen
ʾazH227 →
יִזְעֲק֣וּthey will cry out
yizakuH2199 →
אֶל־to
ʾel-H413 →5510 times
יְהוָ֔הYahweh
yahwehH3068 →6520 times
וְלֹ֥אand not
velo'H3808 →5168 times
יַעֲנֶ֖הhe will answer
yaanehH6030 →331 times
אוֹתָ֑ם<obj.> them
ʾotamH853 →10935 times
וְיַסְתֵּ֨רand he will hide
veyasterH5641 →
פָּנָ֤יוface his
panavH6440 →2123 times
מֵהֶם֙from them
mehem
בָּעֵ֣תat the time
baetH6256 →296 times
הַהִ֔יא<the> that
hahi'H1931 →1879 times
כַּאֲשֶׁ֥ר<as> since
kaasherH834 →5497 times
הֵרֵ֖עוּthey have made evil
hereuH7489 →
מַעַלְלֵיהֶֽם׃ פdeeds their
maaleihemH4611 →41 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Isaiah 1:15When you spread out your hands in prayer, I will hide My eyes from you; even though you multiply your prayers, I will not listen. Your hands are covered with blood.
it leads to
- Zechariah 7:13
And just as I had called and they would not listen, so when they called I would not listen, says the LORD of Hosts.
Reached by 3 separate paths from here.
- Proverbs 1:28
Then they will call on me, but I will not answer; they will earnestly seek me, but will not find me.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Isaiah 59:2–3
But your iniquities have built barriers between you and your God, and your sins have hidden His face from you, so that He does not hear.
- Jeremiah 7:8–10
But look, you keep trusting in deceptive words to no avail.
- Zechariah 7:13
Through
Proverbs 1:28Then they will call on me, but I will not answer; they will earnestly seek me, but will not find me.
it leads to
- Isaiah 1:15
When you spread out your hands in prayer, I will hide My eyes from you; even though you multiply your prayers, I will not listen. Your hands are covered with blood.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Jeremiah 11:11
Therefore this is what the LORD says: ‘I am about to bring upon them a disaster that they cannot escape. They will cry out to Me, but I will not listen to them.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- James 4:3
And when you do ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may squander it on your pleasures.
- Matthew 25:10–12
But while they were on their way to buy it, the bridegroom arrived. Those who were ready went in with him to the wedding banquet, and the door was shut.
- Isaiah 1:15
About Micah
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; Jerome, Commentary on Micah; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament and John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763).