Micah 3 · Verse 7

Micah 3:7

Then shall the seers be ashamed, and the diviners confounded: yea, they shall all cover their lips; for there is no answer of God.
Micah 3:7, King James Version

Micah 3:7 in other translations

BSBThen the seers will be ashamed and the diviners will be disgraced. They will all cover their mouths because there is no answer from God.”
WEBThe seers shall be disappointed, and the diviners confounded. Yes, they shall all cover their lips, for there is no answer from God.”
ASVAnd 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.
YLTAnd ashamed have been the seers, And confounded have been the diviners, And covered their lip have all of them, For their is no answer, O God.
DARBYAnd the seers shall be ashamed, and the diviners confounded; and they shall all cover their lips, for there will be no answer of God.
BBEAnd the seers will be shamed, and the readers of the future will be at a loss, all of them covering their lips; for there is no answer from God.
WebsterThen shall the seers be ashamed, and the diviners confounded: yes, they shall all cover their lips; for there is no answer of God.

What does Micah 3:7 mean?

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown
7. cover their lips--The Orientals prided themselves on the moustache and beard ("upper lip," Margin). To cover it, therefore, was a token of shame and sorrow (Le 13:45; Eze 24:17, 22). "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 (Mi 3:6).

Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown, 1871 · public domain

Adam Clarke's Commentary
Verse 7 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.

Adam Clarke, 1831 · public domain

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on Micah 3:1-8

Men cannot expect to do ill, and fare well; but to find that done to them which they did to others. How seldom do wholesome truths reach the ears of those in high stations or in authority! Those who deceive others are preparing confusion for their own faces. The prophet had ardent love to God and to the souls of men; deep concern for his glory and their salvation, and zeal against sin. The difficulties he met with…

Read the full comment on Micah 3:1-8 →

Micah 3:7 in the original Hebrew

Word-by-word with transliteration, English gloss and Strong's number. Tap a number for the full definition and every place the word is used.

וּבֹ֣שׁוּu.Vo.shuand they will be ashamedH954
הַחֹזִ֗יםha.cho.Zimthe seersH2374
וְחָֽפְרוּ֙ve.cha.fe.Ruand they will be abashedH2659
הַקֹּ֣סְמִ֔יםha.Ko.se.Mimthose [who] divineH7080
וְעָט֥וּve.'a.Tuand they will coverH5844
עַל\־'al-overH5921
שָׂפָ֖םsa.Fama moustacheH8222
כֻּלָּ֑םku.Lamall of themH3605
כִּ֛יkiforH3588
אֵ֥ין'einthere notH369
מַעֲנֵ֖הma.'a.Neh[will be] an answer ofH4617
אֱלֹהִֽים\׃'E.lo.HimGodH430

Source: STEPBible TAHOT/TAGNT (Tyndale House, CC BY 4.0).

Cross references for Micah 3:7

  • Isaiah 44:25

    That frustrateth the tokens of the liars, and maketh diviners mad; that turneth wise men backward, and maketh their knowledge foolish;

  • Zechariah 13:4

    And it shall come to pass in that day, that the prophets shall be ashamed every one of his vision, when he hath prophesied; neither shall they wear a rough garment to deceive:

  • 1 Samuel 28:6

    And when Saul enquired of the Lord, the Lord answered him not, neither by dreams, nor by Urim, nor by prophets.

  • Amos 8:11

    Behold, the days come, saith the Lord God, that I will send a famine in the land, not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the Lord:

  • Leviticus 13:45

    And the leper in whom the plague is, his clothes shall be rent, and his head bare, and he shall put a covering upon his upper lip, and shall cry, Unclean, unclean.

  • Isaiah 47:12-14

    Stand now with thine enchantments, and with the multitude of thy sorceries, wherein thou hast laboured from thy youth; if so be thou shalt be able to profit, if so be thou mayest prevail. Thou art wearied in the multitude of thy counsels. Let now the astrologers, the stargazers, the monthly prognosticators, stand up, and save thee from these things that shall come upon thee. Behold, they shall be as stubble; the fire shall burn them; they shall not deliver themselves from the power of the flame: there shall not be a coal to warm at, nor fire to sit before it.

  • Ezekiel 24:17

    Forbear to cry, make no mourning for the dead, bind the tire of thine head upon thee, and put on thy shoes upon thy feet, and cover not thy lips, and eat not the bread of men.

  • 1 Samuel 9:9

    (Beforetime in Israel, when a man went to enquire of God, thus he spake, Come, and let us go to the seer: for he that is now called a Prophet was beforetime called a Seer.)

  • Micah 7:16

    The nations shall see and be confounded at all their might: they shall lay their hand upon their mouth, their ears shall be deaf.

  • Psalms 74:9

    We see not our signs: there is no more any prophet: neither is there among us any that knoweth how long.

  • Exodus 9:11

    And the magicians could not stand before Moses because of the boils; for the boil was upon the magicians, and upon all the Egyptians.

  • Ezekiel 24:22

    And ye shall do as I have done: ye shall not cover your lips, nor eat the bread of men.

Ranked by reader votes · OpenBible.info cross references (CC BY).

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
the seers.
Ex 8:18,19; 9:11; 1Sa 9:9; Isa 44:25; 47:12-14; Da 2:9-11; Zec 13:4
2Ti 3:8,9
cover.
Le 13:45; Eze 24:17,22
lips. Heb. upper lip. no.
1Sa 14:37; 28:6,15; Ps 74:9; Am 8:11

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (Samuel Bagster, c. 1836) · public domain

Context

  • Micah 3:6

    Therefore night shall be unto you, that ye shall not have a vision; and it shall be dark unto you, that ye shall not divine; and the sun shall go down over the prophets, and the day shall be dark over them.

  • Micah 3:7

    Then shall the seers be ashamed, and the diviners confounded: yea, they shall all cover their lips; for there is no answer of God.

  • Micah 3:8

    But truly I am full of power by the spirit of the Lord, and of judgment, and of might, to declare unto Jacob his transgression, and to Israel his sin.

Read all of Micah 3

Micah 3:7 in other languages

Spanish
Reina-Valera 1909
Y serán avergonzados los profetas, y confundiránse los adivinos; y ellos todos cubrirán su labio, porque no hay respuesta de Dios.
French
Bible J.N. Darby 1885
Et les voyants seront honteux, et les devins seront confondus, et ils se couvriront tous la barbe, parce qu’ il n’y a pas de réponse de Dieu.
German
Elberfelder 1871
Und die Seher werden beschämt und die Wahrsager zu Schanden werden, und sie werden allesamt den Bart verhüllen, weil keine Antwort Gottes da ist.
Latin
Clementine Vulgate
Et confundentur qui vident visiones, et confundentur divini; et operient omnes vultos suos, quia non est responsum Dei.