Micah 3:7
in Micah 3Then the seers will be ashamed and the diviners will be disgraced. They will all cover their mouths because there is no answer from God.”
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And the seers shall be put to shame, and the diviners confounded; yea, they shall all cover their lips; for there is no answer of God.
KJV
Then shall the seers be ashamed, and the diviners confounded: yea, they shall all cover their lips; for there is no answer of God.
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This verse in Micah 3
Commentary
7 notes on this verseA commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
They shall cover their lips - Literally, the hair of the upper lip . This was an action enjoined on lepers Lev 13:45, and a token of mourning Eze 24:17, Eze 24:22; a token then of sorrow and uncleanness. With their lips they had lied, and now they should cover their lips, as men dumb and ashamed. “For there is no answer of God,” as these deceivers had pretended to have. When all things shall come contrary to what they had promised, it shall be clear that God did not send them.
This site's exposition
prophets that make my people err
on Micah 3:5-7
The target shifts to prophets who sell their message, crying peace to whoever feeds them and preparing war, a hostile oracle, against whoever will not, a corruption of the prophetic office paralleling the corrupt judges just named. Verses 6 and 7 answer with darkness as the fitting judgment, night instead of vision, no divination, the sun going down at noon over the prophets, seers and diviners ashamed and covering their lips because there is no answer of God. The commentators read the silencing as literal, these men's gift for hire taken from them, not merely their reputation.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
(V. 5 seq.) This is what the Lord says about the prophets who deceive my people: they bite with their teeth and proclaim peace. But if someone does not give them something to eat, they declare war against him. Therefore, night will be for you instead of a vision and darkness instead of divination. The sun will go down on the prophets and the day will be darkened for them. Those who see visions will be put to shame, and the diviners will be confounded. They will all cover their faces because there is no answer from God.
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
8 But truly I am full of power by the spirit of the L ORD , and of judgment, and of might, to declare unto Jacob his transgression, and to Israel his sin. 9 Hear this, I pray you, ye heads of the house of Jacob, and princes of the house of Israel, that abhor judgment, and pervert all equity. 10 They build up Zion with blood, and Jerusalem with iniquity.
quarantine:scripture (2026-07-29) — scripture-overlap:97%@v8-10
Then shall the seers be ashamed, and the diviners confounded,....
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
To cover it, therefore, was a token of shame and sorrow (Le 13:45; "They shall be so ashamed of themselves as not to dare to open their mouths or boast of the name of prophet" [CALVIN]. there is no answer of God--They shall no more profess to have responses from God, being struck dumb with calamities (Mic 3:6).
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — unbalanced-parens
Shall the seers be ashamed - For the false visions of comfort and prosperity which they pretended to see. And the diviners confounded - Who pretended to foretell future prosperity; for they themselves are now thralled in that very captivity which the true prophets foretold, and which the false prophets said should not happen.
The words behind it
12 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וּבֹ֣שׁוּ | uvoshu | and they will be ashamed | H954 → | |
| הַחֹזִ֗ים | hachozim | the seers | H2374 → | |
| וְחָֽפְרוּ֙ | vechaferu | and they will be abashed | H2659 → | |
| הַקֹּ֣סְמִ֔ים | hakosemim | those [who] divine | H7080 → | 20 times |
| וְעָט֥וּ | veatu | and they will cover | H5844 → | |
| עַל־ | ʾal- | over | H5921 → | 5755 times |
| שָׂפָ֖ם | safam | a moustache | H8222 → | |
| כֻּלָּ֑ם | kulam | all of them | H3605 → | 5413 times |
| כִּ֛י | ki | for | H3588 → | 4482 times |
| אֵ֥ין | ʾein | there not | H369 → | 789 times |
| מַעֲנֵ֖ה | maaneh | [will be] an answer of | H4617 → | |
| אֱלֹהִֽים׃ | ʾelohim | God | H430 → | 2601 times |
וּבֹ֣שׁוּand they will be ashamed
uvoshuH954 →
הַחֹזִ֗יםthe seers
hachozimH2374 →
וְחָֽפְרוּ֙and they will be abashed
vechaferuH2659 →
הַקֹּ֣סְמִ֔יםthose [who] divine
hakosemimH7080 →20 times
וְעָט֥וּand they will cover
veatuH5844 →
עַל־over
ʾal-H5921 →5755 times
שָׂפָ֖םa moustache
safamH8222 →
כֻּלָּ֑םall of them
kulamH3605 →5413 times
כִּ֛יfor
kiH3588 →4482 times
אֵ֥יןthere not
ʾeinH369 →789 times
מַעֲנֵ֖ה[will be] an answer of
maanehH4617 →
אֱלֹהִֽים׃God
ʾelohimH430 →2601 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 44:25who foils the signs of false prophets and makes fools of diviners, who confounds the wise and turns their knowledge into nonsense,
it leads to
- Psalms 33:10
The LORD frustrates the plans of the nations; He thwarts the devices of the peoples.
- Job 5:12–14
He thwarts the schemes of the crafty, so that their hands find no success.
- 2 Samuel 15:31
Now someone told David: “Ahithophel is among the conspirators with Absalom.” So David pleaded, “O LORD, please turn the counsel of Ahithophel into foolishness!”
- Jeremiah 50:36
A sword is against her false prophets, and they will become fools. A sword is against her warriors, and they will be filled with terror.
- Psalms 33:10
Through
1 Samuel 28:6He inquired of the LORD, but the LORD did not answer him by dreams or Urim or prophets.
it leads to
- Numbers 12:6
He said, “Hear now My words: If there is a prophet among you, I, the LORD, will reveal Myself to him in a vision; I will speak to him in a dream.
- 1 Samuel 14:37
So Saul inquired of God, “Shall I go down after the Philistines? Will You give them into the hand of Israel?” But God did not answer him that day.
- Lamentations 2:9
Her gates have sunk into the ground; He has destroyed and shattered their bars. Her king and her princes are exiled among the nations, the law is no more, and even her prophets find…
- Numbers 27:21
He shall stand before Eleazar the priest, who will seek counsel for him before the LORD by the judgment of the Urim. At his command, he and all the Israelites with him—the entire congregation—will…
- Numbers 12:6
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); Carl Friedrich Keil, The Twelve Minor Prophets; Edward Bouverie Pusey, The Minor Prophets: A Commentary; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; Jerome, Commentary on Micah; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.