Micah 6 14

Micah 6:14 kjv

Thou shalt eat, but not be satisfied; and thy casting down shall be in the midst of thee; and thou shalt take hold, but shalt not deliver; and that which thou deliverest will I give up to the sword.

Micah 6:14 nkjv

You shall eat, but not be satisfied; Hunger shall be in your midst. You may carry some away, but shall not save them; And what you do rescue I will give over to the sword.

Micah 6:14 niv

You will eat but not be satisfied; your stomach will still be empty. You will store up but save nothing, because what you save I will give to the sword.

Micah 6:14 esv

You shall eat, but not be satisfied, and there shall be hunger within you; you shall put away, but not preserve, and what you preserve I will give to the sword.

Micah 6:14 nlt

You will eat but never have enough.
Your hunger pangs and emptiness will remain.
And though you try to save your money,
it will come to nothing in the end.
You will save a little,
but I will give it to those who conquer you.

Micah 6 verses

Micah 6 14 meaning

Micah 6:14 conveys a stark prophetic judgment against the people of Israel and Judah, depicting a severe reversal of covenant blessings. Despite their efforts to acquire and consume, they will find no true satisfaction, plagued by an unceasing inner hunger. Their attempts to protect and store their possessions will be futile, as any gathered wealth will ultimately be delivered by divine decree to the devastating power of the sword, symbolizing total loss and destruction. This verse underscores the futility of human striving and reliance on material security in the face of God's righteous judgment against injustice and covenant breaking.

Micah 6 14 Context

Micah 6 is structured as a powerful covenant lawsuit, where the Lord presents His case against Israel and Judah. It opens with God summoning creation as a witness to His steadfast love and their persistent unfaithfulness (Mic 6:1-5). The people's response demonstrates a misunderstanding of God's true requirements, offering increasingly extravagant sacrifices rather than obedience (Mic 6:6-7). The prophet then clarifies what God truly desires: justice, mercy, and humility (Mic 6:8). The subsequent verses (Mic 6:9-16), including verse 14, detail the curses and judgments that will befall the nation due to their deep-seated idolatry, pervasive social injustice (dishonest weights and measures, violence), and oppression of the poor. These curses echo the covenant stipulations found in Deuteronomy 28 and Leviticus 26, outlining a reversal of blessings and the experience of economic hardship, failed harvests, and military defeat as a direct consequence of their actions and departure from God's ways.

Micah 6 14 Word analysis

• תֹאכַל (tōʾḵal) - You shall eat: This verb, second person masculine singular, denotes direct agency. It highlights human effort in consumption, suggesting the pursuit of resources and sustenance through their usual means of provision.
• וְלֹא תִשְׂבָּע (wəlōʾ tiśbāʿ) - but not be satisfied/full: This emphasizes a divine curse on the very act of eating. The intended outcome of satiety (śāḇaʿ) will be withheld, reflecting an inner void and continuous longing, despite physical consumption. This points to a deeper spiritual deprivation.
• וְיֶשְׁכְּךָ בְקִרְבֶּךָ (wəyešḵəḵā bəqirbeḵā) - and your emptiness/hollowness shall be in your inwards/midst: The term יֶשֶׁךְ (yešekh) signifies hollowness, a sense of having an internal vacuum. The phrase "in your inwards/midst" powerfully localizes this unsatisfaction within the very core of one's being, preventing peace or contentment.
• תַּסִּיג (tassîḡ) - You shall carry away/remove: This Hiphil verb implies active effort in moving or putting away possessions, possibly for safekeeping (e.g., in a fortress or private storehouse) during times of trouble or plunder. It speaks to a human attempt to secure resources.
• וְלֹא תַצְלִיחַ (wəlōʾ taṣlîaḥ) - but not succeed/prosper: Despite the action of "carrying away," the divine decree is that these efforts will not prosper (ṣālaḥ). Their attempts to preserve will fail, signifying a reversal of divine favor, where no human effort can guarantee success.
• וַאֲשֶׁר תְּפַלֵּט (waʾăšer təfallēṭ) - and what you save/rescue/escape: The verb פָּלַט (pālaṭ), here in the Piel, conveys an intense effort to rescue or deliver from danger. It refers to items or people actively protected and guarded, perhaps from invading forces, reflecting a desperate attempt to retain something valuable.
• וְאֶתֵּן לַחֶרֶב (wəʾetten laḥerev) - I will give to the sword: This is a definitive declaration of divine judgment. "I will give" ("ethen" - from n-t-n) directly asserts God's sovereignty over the fate of their possessions. The "sword" (ḥerev) represents war, invasion, violence, and ultimate destruction, often carried out by foreign powers as instruments of God's wrath.

Words-group by words-group analysis:

• "You shall eat, but not be satisfied; your hunger shall remain": This forms a couplet expressing perpetual deprivation despite effort. It highlights an inner spiritual emptiness that external provision cannot fill, a key theme in wisdom literature regarding the futility of ill-gotten gains or relying on external things apart from God. The curse directly affects their well-being, even amidst apparent consumption.
• "You shall carry away, but shall not save; and what you save I will give to the sword": This describes the futility of seeking physical security or wealth preservation. Human efforts to accumulate or protect possessions ("carry away," "save/rescue") will be explicitly overturned by divine judgment ("I will give to the sword"). It underlines the concept that all possessions and efforts are ultimately subject to God's will and judgment, showing that attempts to secure oneself without God are doomed to failure.

Micah 6 14 Bonus section

The imagery in Micah 6:14 also alludes to the ancient Near Eastern understanding of covenant blessings and curses. Prosperity, full barns, and secure families were considered divine blessings, while hunger, barrenness, and defeat by the sword were covenant curses. By directly reversing these expectations, God communicates that Israel has fundamentally broken their covenant with Him. This reversal serves as a polemic against the false security and complacent prosperity the people of Judah believed they possessed, assuming their religious rituals and temple offerings would protect them despite their unrighteous living. The mention of the "sword" points to the historical reality of invasion and deportation by powers like Assyria and later Babylon, which served as instruments of God's judgment, bringing total desolation and seizing wealth. This judgment is not arbitrary but flows directly from their pervasive social injustice and spiritual unfaithfulness, demonstrating God's unwavering commitment to His moral law and the consequences for violating it.

Micah 6 14 Commentary

Micah 6:14 encapsulates a profound spiritual and material barrenness pronounced as divine judgment. It functions as a direct consequence for Israel's ethical and religious apostasy, vividly detailed earlier in the chapter (dishonest scales, violence, idol worship). The verse first speaks of unfulfilling consumption, implying that material provision, acquired often through injustice, brings no genuine contentment. This isn't merely a physical hunger but a gnawing inner void that earthly satisfaction cannot appease. The subsequent judgment on security is equally devastating: human efforts to protect their wealth or flee danger will be futile. Whatever is desperately guarded or rescued from plunder will be handed over to the "sword," representing complete loss through warfare and invasion—often facilitated by the Assyrians in Micah's historical context. The verse fundamentally argues against self-reliance and misplaced trust in material accumulation, affirming that ultimate security and satisfaction derive only from alignment with God's righteousness, justice, and mercy, as articulated in Micah 6:8. Without such alignment, the very things they covet and protect become instruments of their own demise.