Micah 2:1
“Woe to them that devise iniquity, and work evil upon their beds! when the morning is light, they practise it, because it is in the power of their hand.”
King James Version (KJV)
Read this verse in context with translation switching:
Read Full Chapter →A woe falls on those who lie awake plotting evil and carry it out at dawn simply because they have the power to do so.
What Does Micah 2:1 Mean?
Micah turns from the cities to a specific sin: the powerful who lie on their beds scheming harm, then rise at dawn to do it. The deed is premeditated, born in the quiet of the night and executed in the light of morning.
What makes the sin so grievous is the reason given: 'because it is in the power of their hand.' They act simply because they can. Strength becomes its own justification. Yet God measures every plot, even those hatched in private, and the power to do wrong is never the right to do it. He sees what is devised in the dark.
In the Original Language
hoy (הוֹי), 'woe' -- a cry of grief and warning, lamenting a doom soon to fall.