Bible Strands
Micah 3:12
Therefore, because of you, Zion will be plowed like a field, Jerusalem will become a heap of rubble, and the temple mount a wooded ridge.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — Micah pronounces judgment on Judah’s corrupt leaders, priests, and prophets who exploit their offices while falsely claiming God’s protection. He delivers this oracle during King Hezekiah’s reign as a direct response to their self-deceived assurances of security.
The words — The phrase בִּגְלַלְכֶם (biglalkhem) translates literally to “on account of you,” tying the coming disaster directly to the people’s collective actions. The verb תֵּחָרֵשׁ (techares) means “it will be plowed,” describing Zion’s sacred ground being reduced to ordinary agricultural use.
The thread — The warning appears in Jeremiah 26:18 as a recorded past prophecy, surfaces in Psalm 79:1 as a lament over the defiled temple, and stands in contrast to Micah 4:1’s future vision of the temple mount’s restoration.
Why it lands — The text states that Zion will be plowed, Jerusalem will become rubble, and the temple mount a wooded ridge because of the people’s corruption. Readers must recognize that institutional claims of divine presence do not override the concrete consequences of systemic injustice.
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
Therefore shall Zion for your sake be plowed as a field, and Jerusalem shall become heaps, and the mountain of the house as the high places of the forest.
Cross-references
- Jeremiah 26:18 “Micah the Moreshite prophesied in the days of Hezekiah king of Judah and told all the people of Judah that this is what the LORD of Hosts says: ‘Zion will be plowed like a field, Jerusalem will become a heap of rubble, and the temple mount a wooded ridge.’
- Psalms 79:1 A Psalm of Asaph. The nations, O God, have invaded Your inheritance; they have defiled Your holy temple and reduced Jerusalem to rubble.
- Micah 4:1 In the last days the mountain of the house of the LORD will be established as the chief of the mountains; it will be raised above the hills, and the peoples will stream to it.
- Psalms 107:34 and fruitful land into fields of salt, because of the wickedness of its dwellers.
- Micah 1:6 Therefore I will make Samaria a heap of rubble in the open field, a planting area for a vineyard. I will pour her stones into the valley and expose her foundations.
- Matthew 24:2 “Do you see all these things?” He replied. “Truly I tell you, not one stone here will be left on another; every one will be thrown down.”
- Isaiah 2:2 In the last days the mountain of the house of the LORD will be established as the chief of the mountains; it will be raised above the hills, and all nations will stream to it.
- Acts 6:13 where they presented false witnesses who said, “This man never stops speaking against this holy place and against the law.