Micah 7:4
New International Version
The best of them is like a brier, the most upright worse than a thorn hedge. The day God visits you has come, the day your watchmen sound the alarm. Now is the time of your confusion.

New Living Translation
Even the best of them is like a brier; the most honest is as dangerous as a hedge of thorns. But your judgment day is coming swiftly now. Your time of punishment is here, a time of confusion.

English Standard Version
The best of them is like a brier, the most upright of them a thorn hedge. The day of your watchmen, of your punishment, has come; now their confusion is at hand.

Berean Standard Bible
The best of them is like a brier; the most upright is sharper than a hedge of thorns. The day for your watchmen has come, the day of your visitation. Now is the time of their confusion.

King James Bible
The best of them is as a brier: the most upright is sharper than a thorn hedge: the day of thy watchmen and thy visitation cometh; now shall be their perplexity.

New King James Version
The best of them is like a brier; The most upright is sharper than a thorn hedge; The day of your watchman and your punishment comes; Now shall be their perplexity.

New American Standard Bible
The best of them is like a thorn bush, The most upright like a thorn hedge. The day when you post your watchmen, Your punishment is coming. Then their confusion will occur.

NASB 1995
The best of them is like a briar, The most upright like a thorn hedge. The day when you post your watchmen, Your punishment will come. Then their confusion will occur.

NASB 1977
The best of them is like a briar, The most upright like a thorn hedge. The day when you post a watchman, Your punishment will come. Then their confusion will occur.

Legacy Standard Bible
The best of them is like a briar, The most upright like a thorn hedge. The day when you post your watchmen, Your punishment will come. At that time their panic will happen.

Amplified Bible
The best of them is [injurious] like a briar; The most upright is [prickly] like a thorn hedge. The day of your watchmen [that is, the time predicted by the prophets] And your punishment comes; Now shall be their confusion.

Christian Standard Bible
The best of them is like a brier; the most upright is worse than a hedge of thorns. The day of your watchmen, the day of your punishment, is coming; at this time their panic is here.

Holman Christian Standard Bible
The best of them is like a brier; the most upright is worse than a hedge of thorns. The day of your watchmen, the day of your punishment, is coming; at this time their panic is here.

American Standard Version
The best of them is as a brier; the most upright is worse than a thorn hedge: the day of thy watchmen, even thy visitation, is come; now shall be their perplexity.

Aramaic Bible in Plain English
And they have rejected their goodness like a patch of cloth that a moth eats. The day of your Watchmen and of your salvation has come! From now on it shall be the house of their weeping

Brenton Septuagint Translation
therefore I will take away their goods as a devouring moth, and as one who acts by a rigid rule in a day of visitation. Woe, woe, thy times of vengeance are come; now shall be their lamentations.

Contemporary English Version
The most honest of them is worse than a thorn patch. Your doom has come! Lookouts sound the warning, and everyone panics.

Douay-Rheims Bible
He that is best among them, is as a brier: and he that is righteous, as the thorn of the hedge. The day of thy inspection, thy visitation cometh: now shall be their destruction.

English Revised Version
The best of them is as a brier: the most upright is worse than a thorn hedge: the day of thy watchmen, even thy visitation, is come; now shall be their perplexity.

GOD'S WORD® Translation
The best of them is like a briar. The most decent person is sharper than thornbushes. The day you thought you would be punished has come. Now is the time you will be confused.

Good News Translation
Even the best and most honest of them are as worthless as weeds. The day has come when God will punish the people, as he warned them through their watchmen, the prophets. Now they are in confusion.

International Standard Version
The best of them is like a thorn, and their most upright like a hedge of thorns. The day announced by your watchmen— and by your own calculations—approaches. Now it's your time to be confused!

JPS Tanakh 1917
The best of them is as a brier; The most upright is worse than a thorn hedge; The day of thy watchmen, even thy visitation, is come; Now shall be their perplexity.

Literal Standard Version
Their best one [is] as a brier, | The upright one—than a thorn-hedge, | The day of your watchmen—Your visitation—has come. Now is their perplexity.

Majority Standard Bible
The best of them is like a brier; the most upright is sharper than a hedge of thorns. The day for your watchmen has come, the day of your visitation. Now is the time of their confusion.

New American Bible
The best of them is like a brier, the most honest like a thorn hedge. The day announced by your sentinels! Your punishment has come; now is the time of your confusion.

NET Bible
The best of them is like a thorn; the most godly among them are more dangerous than a row of thorn bushes. The day you try to avoid by posting watchmen--your appointed time of punishment--is on the way, and then you will experience confusion.

New Revised Standard Version
The best of them is like a brier, the most upright of them a thorn hedge. The day of their sentinels, of their punishment, has come; now their confusion is at hand.

New Heart English Bible
The best of them is like a brier. The most upright is worse than a thorn hedge. The day of your watchmen, even your visitation, has come; now is the time of their confusion.

Webster's Bible Translation
The best of them is as a brier: the most upright is sharper than a thorn hedge: the day of thy watchmen and thy visitation cometh; now shall be their perplexity.

World English Bible
The best of them is like a brier. The most upright is worse than a thorn hedge. The day of your watchmen, even your visitation, has come; now is the time of their confusion.

Young's Literal Translation
Their best one is as a brier, The upright one -- than a thorn-hedge, The day of thy watchmen -- Thy visitation -- hath come. Now is their perplexity.

Additional Translations ...
Audio Bible



Context
Israel's Great Misery
3Both hands are skilled at evil; the prince and the judge demand a bribe. When the powerful utters his evil desire, they all conspire together. 4The best of them is like a brier; the most upright is sharper than a hedge of thorns. The day for your watchmen has come, the day of your visitation. Now is the time of their confusion. 5Do not rely on a friend; do not trust in a companion. Seal the doors of your mouth from her who lies in your arms.…

Cross References
Isaiah 10:3
What will you do on the day of reckoning when devastation comes from afar? To whom will you flee for help? Where will you leave your wealth?

Isaiah 22:5
For the Lord GOD of Hosts has set a day of tumult and trampling and confusion in the Valley of Vision--of breaking down the walls and crying to the mountains.

Jeremiah 11:23
There will be no remnant, for I will bring disaster on the people of Anathoth in the year of their punishment."

Jeremiah 46:21
Even the mercenaries among her are like fattened calves. They too will turn back; together they will flee, they will not stand their ground, for the day of calamity is coming upon them--the time of their punishment.

Ezekiel 2:6
But you, son of man, do not be afraid of them or their words. Do not be afraid, though briers and thorns surround you, and you dwell among scorpions. Do not be afraid of their words or dismayed by their presence, though they are a rebellious house.

Ezekiel 28:24
For the people of Israel will no longer face a pricking brier or a painful thorn from all around them who treat them with contempt. Then they will know that I am the Lord GOD.'

Hosea 9:7
The days of punishment have come; the days of retribution have arrived--let Israel know it. The prophet is called a fool, and the inspired man insane, because of the greatness of your iniquity and hostility.


Treasury of Scripture

The best of them is as a brier: the most upright is sharper than a thorn hedge: the day of your watchmen and your visitation comes; now shall be their perplexity.

is a.

2 Samuel 23:6,7
But the sons of Belial shall be all of them as thorns thrust away, because they cannot be taken with hands: …

Isaiah 55:13
Instead of the thorn shall come up the fir tree, and instead of the brier shall come up the myrtle tree: and it shall be to the LORD for a name, for an everlasting sign that shall not be cut off.

Ezekiel 2:6
And thou, son of man, be not afraid of them, neither be afraid of their words, though briers and thorns be with thee, and thou dost dwell among scorpions: be not afraid of their words, nor be dismayed at their looks, though they be a rebellious house.

the day.

Ezekiel 12:23,24
Tell them therefore, Thus saith the Lord GOD; I will make this proverb to cease, and they shall no more use it as a proverb in Israel; but say unto them, The days are at hand, and the effect of every vision…

Hosea 9:7,8
The days of visitation are come, the days of recompence are come; Israel shall know it: the prophet is a fool, the spiritual man is mad, for the multitude of thine iniquity, and the great hatred…

Amos 8:2
And he said, Amos, what seest thou? And I said, A basket of summer fruit. Then said the LORD unto me, The end is come upon my people of Israel; I will not again pass by them any more.

thy.

Isaiah 10:3
And what will ye do in the day of visitation, and in the desolation which shall come from far? to whom will ye flee for help? and where will ye leave your glory?

Jeremiah 8:12
Were they ashamed when they had committed abomination? nay, they were not at all ashamed, neither could they blush: therefore shall they fall among them that fall: in the time of their visitation they shall be cast down, saith the LORD.

Jeremiah 10:15
They are vanity, and the work of errors: in the time of their visitation they shall perish.

now.

Isaiah 22:5
For it is a day of trouble, and of treading down, and of perplexity by the Lord GOD of hosts in the valley of vision, breaking down the walls, and of crying to the mountains.

Luke 21:25
And there shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars; and upon the earth distress of nations, with perplexity; the sea and the waves roaring;

Jump to Previous
Best Briar Brier Confusion Fate Hand Hedge Occur Ones Perplexity Plant Post Punishment Sharper Sorrow Thorn Thorns Time Trouble Upright Visitation Visits Wall Waste Watchmen Worse
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Best Briar Brier Confusion Fate Hand Hedge Occur Ones Perplexity Plant Post Punishment Sharper Sorrow Thorn Thorns Time Trouble Upright Visitation Visits Wall Waste Watchmen Worse
Micah 7
1. The church, complaining of her small number,
3. and the general corruption,
5. puts her confidence not in man, but in God.
8. She triumphs over her enemies.
14. She prays to God.
15. God comforts her by promises of confusion to her enemies;
18. and by his mercies.














(4) The day of thy watchmen--i.e., the time which thy prophets have foreseen, about which they have continually warned thee. "Also I set watchmen over you, saying, Hearken to the sound of the trumpet. But they said, We will not hearken" (Jeremiah 6:17).

Verse 4. - The best of them is as a briar; hard and piercing, catching and holding all that passes by. The plant intended by the word chedek is a thorny one used for hedges (Proverbs 15:19). Under another aspect thorns are a symbol of what is noxious and worthless (2 Samuel 23:6), or of sin and temptation. The most upright is sharper (worse) than a thorn hedge. Those who seem comparatively upright are more injurious, tangled, and inaccessible than a hedge of thorns. In punishment of all this corruption, the prophet points to the day of judgment. The day of thy watchmen. The day of retribution foretold by the prophets (Isaiah 21:6; Jeremiah 6:17; Ezekiel 3:17). And (even) thy visitation; in apposition with the day, the time, and explanatory of punishment. Cometh; is come - the perfect tense denoting the certainty of the future event. Septuagint, Οὐαὶ αἱ ἐκδικήσεις σου ἥκασι, "Woe! thy vengeance is come." Now shall be their perplexity. When this day of the Lord comes, there shall be confusion (Isaiah 22:5); it shall bring chastise ment before deliverance. The prophet here, as elsewhere, changes from the second to the third person, speaking of the people gene rally. Septuagint, Νῦν ἔσονται κλαυθμοὶ αὐτῶν "Now shall be their weeping;" so the Syriac. Pusey notes the paronomasia here. They were as bad as a thorn hedge (merucah); they shall fall into perplexity (mebucah).

Parallel Commentaries ...


Hebrew
The best of them [is]
טוֹבָ֣ם (ṭō·w·ḇām)
Noun - masculine singular construct | third person masculine plural
Strong's 2896: Pleasant, agreeable, good

like a brier;
כְּחֵ֔דֶק (kə·ḥê·ḏeq)
Preposition-k | Noun - masculine singular
Strong's 2312: A prickly plant

the most upright [is sharper]
יָשָׁ֖ר (yā·šār)
Adjective - masculine singular
Strong's 3477: Straight, right

then a hedge of thorns.
מִמְּסוּכָ֑ה (mim·mə·sū·ḵāh)
Preposition-m | Noun - feminine singular
Strong's 4534: A hedge

The day
י֤וֹם (yō·wm)
Noun - masculine singular construct
Strong's 3117: A day

you post your watchmen,
מְצַפֶּ֙יךָ֙ (mə·ṣap·pe·ḵā)
Verb - Piel - Participle - masculine plural construct | second person masculine singular
Strong's 6822: To lean forward, to peer into the distance, to observe, await

your punishment
פְּקֻדָּתְךָ֣ (pə·qud·dā·ṯə·ḵā)
Noun - feminine singular construct | second person masculine singular
Strong's 6486: Oversight, mustering, visitation, store

will come;
בָ֔אָה (ḇā·’āh)
Verb - Qal - Perfect - third person feminine singular
Strong's 935: To come in, come, go in, go

then
עַתָּ֥ה (‘at·tāh)
Adverb
Strong's 6258: At this time

their confusion
מְבוּכָתָֽם׃ (mə·ḇū·ḵā·ṯām)
Noun - feminine singular construct | third person masculine plural
Strong's 3998: Confusion, confounding

will arise.
תִהְיֶ֖ה (ṯih·yeh)
Verb - Qal - Imperfect - third person feminine singular
Strong's 1961: To fall out, come to pass, become, be


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OT Prophets: Micah 7:4 The best of them is like (Mc Mic. Mi)
Micah 7:3
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