Bible Strands
Micah 5:11
I will remove the cities of your land and tear down all your strongholds.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — The LORD addresses Judah and Israel during a prophetic declaration of future judgment. This pronouncement falls within a sequence detailing the dismantling of military, occult, and political power "in that day."
The words — The Hebrew verbs הִכְרַתִּי (hikh.rati) and הָרַסְתִּי (ha.rasti) literally mean "I will cut off" and "I will tear down." They target the cities (עָרֵי) and fortresses (מִבְצָרֶיךָ) of the land (אַרְצֶךָ).
The thread — This dismantling motif echoes Isaiah 6:11, where cities lie ruined and uninhabited, and anticipates the judgment on secure but unwalled settlements in Ezekiel 38:11. It also aligns with the Day of the Lord’s humbling of exalted powers in Isaiah 2:12.
Why it lands — The text declares a sovereign removal of human military and political security before demanding reliance on God alone. It requires a reader to abandon trust in fortified systems and accept divine judgment as absolute.
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
And I will cut off the cities of thy land, and throw down all thy strong holds:
Cross-references
- Isaiah 2:12 For the Day of the LORD of Hosts will come against all the proud and lofty, against all that is exalted—it will be humbled—
- Isaiah 6:11 Then I asked: “How long, O Lord?” And He replied: “Until the cities lie ruined and without inhabitant, until the houses are left unoccupied and the land is desolate and ravaged,
- Ezekiel 38:11 You will say, ‘I will go up against a land of unwalled villages; I will come against a quiet people who dwell securely, all of them living without walls or bars or gates—
- Hosea 10:14 the roar of battle will rise against your people, so that all your fortresses will be demolished as Shalman devastated Beth-arbel in the day of battle, when mothers were dashed to pieces along with their children.
- Amos 5:9 He flashes destruction on the strong, so that fury comes upon the stronghold.
- Zechariah 4:6 So he said to me, “This is the word of the LORD to Zerubbabel: Not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit, says the LORD of Hosts.