Bible Strands
Micah 1:12
For the dwellers of Maroth pined for good, but calamity came down from the LORD, even to the gate of Jerusalem.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — The prophet Micah pronounces judgment on the inhabitants of Maroth and neighboring Judahite towns during a period of advancing invasion. The message targets those hoping for relief while warning that divine action is moving directly toward Jerusalem.
The words — The Hebrew חָלָה (Cha.lah) means "she is in anguish," describing Maroth's desperate state, while יָרַד (Ya.rad) literally means "it has come down," indicating the descent of רָע (ra'), "calamity."
The thread — This pattern of localized judgment escalating to the capital appears in Micah 1:9, where the wound reaches Jerusalem, and is echoed in Amos 3:6, which asks if calamity comes to a city without the LORD causing it.
Why it lands — The text states that human longing for good cannot prevent divine judgment from reaching the gate of Jerusalem, requiring readers to accept that sovereign action precedes and overrides human expectation.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
For the inhabitant of Maroth waited carefully for good: but evil came down from the Lord unto the gate of Jerusalem.
Cross-references
- Jeremiah 14:19 Have You rejected Judah completely? Do You despise Zion? Why have You stricken us so that we are beyond healing? We hoped for peace, but no good has come, and for the time of healing, but there was only terror.
- Amos 3:6 If a ram’s horn sounds in a city, do the people not tremble? If calamity comes to a city, has not the LORD caused it?
- Micah 1:9 For her wound is incurable; it has reached even Judah; it has approached the gate of my people, as far as Jerusalem itself.
- Job 30:26 But when I hoped for good, evil came; when I looked for light, darkness fell.
- Isaiah 45:7 I form the light and create the darkness; I bring prosperity and create calamity. I, the LORD, do all these things.
- Isaiah 59:9 Therefore justice is far from us, and righteousness does not reach us. We hope for light, but there is darkness; for brightness, but we walk in gloom.
- Jeremiah 8:15 We hoped for peace, but no good has come, for a time of healing, but there was only terror.
- Ruth 1:20 “Do not call me Naomi,” she replied. “Call me Mara, because the Almighty has dealt quite bitterly with me.
- 1 Samuel 4:13 When he arrived, there was Eli, sitting on his chair beside the road and watching, because his heart trembled for the ark of God. When the man entered the city to give a report, the whole city cried out.