The Book of Micheas (Micah)

Micheas is the sixth of the twelve minor prophets, seven chapters in all. When Herod asked where the Christ should be born, the priests and scribes answered from this book: "In Bethlehem of Juda." Modern Bibles call it Micah; the Douay-Rheims follows the Vulgate's Michaeas and writes Micheas. Each chapter page sets the Latin Vulgate beside the Douay-Rheims; here we set out who the prophet was, when he preached, what the book says, and how the Church has read and prayed it.

Who wrote the Book of Micah?

The Church has received the book as the work of the prophet himself, Micheas the Morasthite. Its first verse is his signature: "The word of the Lord that came to Micheas the Morasthite, in the days of Joathan, Achaz, and Ezechias, kings of Juda: which he saw concerning Samaria and Jerusalem" (Micheas 1:1). He came from Moresheth, a country town near Geth, and preached chiefly in Jerusalem.

A century later his words were still remembered. When the priests and the prophets demanded the death of Jeremias for foretelling the ruin of the Temple, the elders of the land defended him with the example of Micheas: "Micheas of Morasthi was a prophet in the days of Ezechias king of Juda, and he spoke to all the people of Juda, saying: Thus saith the Lord of hosts: Sion shall be ploughed like a field, and Jerusalem shall be a heap of stones" (Jeremias 26:18). That is the oracle of Micheas 3:12, and the elders add that King Ezechias did not condemn him, but feared the Lord and besought His face, "and the Lord repented of the evil that he had spoken against them" (26:19).

His name means "Who is like the Lord?", and the book ends on that very question: "Who is a God like to thee, who takest away iniquity?" (Micheas 7:18). In English the name Micah is pronounced MY-kuh.

He is not Micheas the son of Jemla, who prophesied against King Achab of Israel more than a century earlier (3 Kings 22), though our prophet opens with that man's cry, "Hear, all ye people" (1:2; 3 Kings 22:28). Nor is he Michas of mount Ephraim, who set up an idol in his house in Judges 17.

The Pontifical Biblical Commission issued no decree on Micheas. Many modern scholars accept chapters 1–3 as his, but assign parts of chapters 4–7 to later hands. The 1913 Catholic Encyclopedia judged the arguments against chapters 4–5 unconvincing, since they rest on theories of how Messianic doctrine is supposed to have developed, and noted that the style and vocabulary of chapters 6–7 agree with the first part of the book.

When was the Book of Micah written?

The book dates itself by three kings of Juda: Joathan, Achaz and Ezechias. That places the prophet's ministry in the second half of the eighth century before Christ. The Catholic Encyclopedia dates these reigns from about 740 to 698 BC, which makes Micheas a contemporary of Isaias. St Augustine, noting that Micheas names the same kings as Osee, treats him with Osee, Amos and Isaias as the prophets of that age (City of God XVIII.27).

These were the years of the Assyrian advance. The prophet foretells that Samaria will become "as a heap of stones in the field" (1:6), and the city fell to the Assyrians in 722 BC, the ruin told in 4 Kings 17. The Catholic Encyclopedia dates chapters 1–3 just before that fall and chapters 4–5 just after. In chapter 6 the people are charged with having "kept the statutes of Amri, and all the works of the house of Achab" (6:16), the idolatrous kings of the north.

What is the Book of Micah about? A summary

The book falls into three movements, each passing from judgment to promise.

The Lord comes to judge Samaria and Jerusalem (chapters 1–3)

In chapter 1 the Lord comes forth "out of his place", and the mountains melt under Him "as wax before the fire". Samaria is to be laid waste for her idols, and the wound reaches "even to Jerusalem". The prophet mourns "stripped and naked" and runs through the towns of his own countryside, Geth, Lachis, Maresa, Odollam, with a play on each name.

Chapter 2 pronounces woe on the rich "that devise that which is unprofitable, and work evil in your beds", who covet fields and take houses by violence. Yet it closes with a promise: "I will assemble and gather together all of thee, O Jacob ... and their king shall pass before them, and the Lord at the head of them" (2:12–13).

Chapter 3 indicts the leaders one by one. The princes "have eaten the flesh of my people"; the false prophets "bite with their teeth, and preach peace" to whoever pays them; "her princes have judged for bribes, and her priests have taught for hire, and her prophets divined for money". Against them stands the true prophet: "I am filled with the strength of the spirit of the Lord, with judgment, and power: to declare unto Jacob his wickedness" (3:8). The section ends with the sentence Jeremias' elders remembered: Sion shall be ploughed as a field.

The mountain of the Lord and the ruler from Bethlehem (chapters 4–5)

The second movement begins in the last days. In chapter 4 the mountain of the Lord's house is raised above the hills, the nations flow to it, "for the law shall go forth out of Sion, and the word of the Lord out of Jerusalem", and swords are beaten into ploughshares. The same oracle stands in Isaias 2. Then the prophet looks closer: the daughter of Sion must go out "even to Babylon", and "there the Lord will redeem thee".

Chapter 5 holds the heart of the book. Out of Bethlehem Ephrata, "a little one among the thousands of Juda", shall come the ruler of Israel, "and his going forth is from the beginning, from the days of eternity". He shall be magnified "even to the ends of the earth", and "this man shall be our peace". The remnant of Jacob shall be among the nations "as a dew from the Lord"; Challoner reads this of the Apostles, "whose doctrine, like dew, shall make the plants of the converted Gentiles grow up". The chapter ends with the Lord taking away horses, chariots, sorceries and idols.

The Lord's case against His people, and the prophet's hope (chapters 6–7)

The third movement is a trial. In chapter 6 the mountains are called as witnesses, "for the Lord will enter into judgment with his people, and he will plead against Israel". God speaks first: "O my people, what have I done to thee?" He recalls the Exodus, Moses, Aaron and Mary, and the plot of Balach and Balaam told in Numbers 22–24. The people ask what sacrifice would appease Him, and the answer is the most quoted verse of the book (6:8). The chapter closes on wicked balances and deceitful weights.

Chapter 7 opens with a lament: "The holy man is perished out of the earth", and "a man's enemies are they of his own household". Then the prophet turns, in the name of the whole people, to confident prayer: "I will look towards the Lord, I will wait for God my Saviour." The book ends in praise of the God who pardons and keeps His oath to Abraham.

The message of Micah and the Catholic reading

God requires justice, mercy and humility, not empty sacrifice. The famous answer of Micheas 6:8 is not a rejection of sacrifice, which God Himself had commanded, but of sacrifice offered by men who rob the poor. Our Lord says the same of the Pharisees, who left "the weightier things of the law; judgment, and mercy, and faith" (Matthew 23:23). We treat this virtue at length in what God says about justice.

Christ, born in time at Bethlehem, begotten from eternity. When the Magi came to Jerusalem, the chief priests and scribes answered Herod: "In Bethlehem of Juda. For so it is written by the prophet: And thou Bethlehem the land of Juda art not the least among the princes of Juda: for out of thee shall come forth the captain that shall rule my people Israel" (Matthew 2:5–6). The crowds at Jerusalem knew it too: "Doth not the scripture say ... from Bethlehem the town where David was?" (John 7:42).

St Justin Martyr cites the verse to the pagans (First Apology 34), and St Augustine says the prophet "predicts the very place in which Christ was born" (City of God XVIII.30). Challoner explains the second half of the verse, "his going forth is from the beginning": "he who as man shall be born in thee, as God was born of his Father from all eternity." In one verse Micheas teaches both births of the Son, the eternal and the temporal; see the Incarnation and Christmas.

She that travaileth. The next verse says God will give His people up "even till the time wherein she that travaileth shall bring forth" (5:3). The Catholic Encyclopedia calls it an allusion to the virgin who "shall conceive, and bear a son" of Isaias 7:14: the mother of the ruler from Bethlehem is the Virgin.

The Church of the nations. St Augustine reads chapter 4 as the prophet "representing Christ under the figure of a great mountain" (City of God XVIII.30): it is to Him that the nations come, to learn the law that goes out of Sion. Challoner draws the moral of the ploughshares: "The law of Christ is a law of peace; and all his true subjects, as much as lies in them love and keep peace with all the world."

The God who casts our sins into the sea. The closing verses are among the most consoling in the prophets: "He will turn again, and have mercy on us: he will put away our iniquities: and he will cast all our sins into the bottom of the sea" (7:19). With the confession of 7:9, "I will bear the wrath of the Lord, because I have sinned against him", they trace true penance from contrition to pardon; see how to go to Confession and what God says about forgiveness.

The literary style of Micah: a divine lawsuit

Micheas writes as a poet: chapter 1 is a lament full of puns on the names of towns, and chapters 6–7 are cast as a drama. The Lord summons the mountains as a court, states His case, and asks His people to answer. This is why the book is often said to present a "divine lawsuit": the Vulgate reads judicium Domini cum populo suo, et cum Israel dijudicabitur, the Lord's case is with His people, and with Israel He will plead (6:2). Throughout, oracles of doom and of salvation follow one another without warning.

Famous verses of Micah

Micah 5:2 (the Bethlehem prophecy). "And thou, Bethlehem Ephrata, art a little one among the thousands of Juda: out of thee shall he come forth unto me that is to be the ruler in Israel" (Micheas 5:2). In Hebrew Bibles this verse is numbered 5:1.

Micah 6:8 (do justly, love mercy, walk humbly). "To do judgment, and to love mercy, and to walk solicitous with thy God" (Micheas 6:8). Modern versions read "walk humbly with thy God"; the Vulgate has sollicitum ambulare cum Deo tuo, to walk carefully, attentively, before Him.

Micah 4:3 (swords into ploughshares). "They shall beat their swords into ploughshares, and their spears into spades: nation shall not take sword against nation: neither shall they learn war any more" (Micheas 4:3).

Micah 7:6. "A man's enemies are they of his own household" (Micheas 7:6). Our Lord takes it up when He warns His disciples of persecution (Matthew 10:36).

Micah in the canon and in the liturgy

In the Hebrew order and the Vulgate it is the sixth of the twelve minor prophets, after Jonas (Jonah) and before Nahum; in the Greek Septuagint it stands third, after Osee and Amos. The Council of Trent, Session IV (1546), lists it by name among "the twelve minor prophets" in its decree on the canon. Because it is protocanonical, it is in every Catholic, Orthodox and Protestant Bible alike; only the spelling differs. In the Douay-Rheims Bible it is "The Prophecy of Micheas", translated from the Latin Vulgate, Prophetia Michaeae.

The Church prays Micheas at the great hinges of her year. On Good Friday, during the adoration of the Cross, the choir sings the Improperia, the Reproaches, whose refrain is taken from the Lord's words in Micheas 6:3: Popule meus, quid feci tibi? aut in quo contristavi te? Responde mihi; see Good Friday. On the Epiphany the Gospel (Matthew 2:1–12) carries the Bethlehem prophecy; see the Epiphany. On Ember Saturday of September the 1962 Missal reads, among its lessons, Micheas 7:14, 16, 18–20: "Feed thy people with thy rod ... Who is a God like to thee". And in November, when the Breviary reads Ezechiel, Daniel and the twelve minor prophets at Matins, Micheas has his place among them. The liturgical calendar shows each day as it comes.

How to read the Book of Micah

The book takes less than half an hour to read. Begin with Jeremias 26, to hear how a later generation remembered him. Then read the three movements one at a time: chapters 1–3 as an examination of conscience for those who govern and teach, chapters 4–5 in Advent, as the promise of the ruler from Bethlehem, and chapters 6–7 in Lent, with the Reproaches of Good Friday in mind. With the Latin beside the English you will recognise Et tu, Bethlehem Ephrata and Popule meus.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the Book of Micah about?

The Book of Micah (Micheas) is a seven-chapter prophecy against the sins of Samaria and Jerusalem in the eighth century before Christ: idolatry, the oppression of the poor, bribed judges and hireling prophets. It foretells the conversion of the nations, the birth of the ruler of Israel at Bethlehem, and ends in praise of God who pardons sin.

What is the main message of the Book of Micah?

Its message is that God wants justice and mercy from His people more than sacrifices offered with unjust hands, and that He will judge those who oppress the poor. It is summed up in Micheas 6:8: "to do judgment, and to love mercy, and to walk solicitous with thy God."

Who wrote the Book of Micah?

Tradition and the book itself name the prophet Micheas the Morasthite, from Moresheth near Geth in Juda (Micheas 1:1). The Book of Jeremias quotes him by name a century later (Jeremias 26:18). Many modern scholars attribute parts of chapters 4–7 to later writers, but the Church has received the whole book under his name.

When was the Book of Micah written?

Micheas prophesied under Joathan, Achaz and Ezechias, kings of Juda, in the second half of the eighth century before Christ; the Catholic Encyclopedia gives about 740 to 698 BC. He was a contemporary of Isaias, and his oracles against Samaria come shortly before its fall to Assyria in 722 BC.

Where is the Book of Micah in the Bible?

Micah is in the Old Testament, the sixth of the twelve minor prophets. It comes after Jonas (Jonah) and before Nahum; Nahum is the book between Micah and Habacuc (Habakkuk). In the Douay-Rheims it is called the Prophecy of Micheas.

How many chapters are in the Book of Micah?

The Book of Micah has seven chapters. The verse numbers of chapters 4 and 5 differ slightly from the Hebrew, so that the Bethlehem prophecy is 5:2 in the Douay and the King James but 5:1 in the Hebrew. All seven chapters are here, Latin and English side by side.

Is the Book of Micah in the Catholic Bible?

Yes. Micheas is in every Catholic Bible, and the Council of Trent names it among the twelve minor prophets in its decree on the canon of Scripture (1546). It is not one of the disputed deuterocanonical books, so Protestant Bibles have it too, under the name Micah.

What does the Book of Micah teach us about Jesus?

Micheas foretells that the ruler of Israel will be born in Bethlehem and that "his going forth is from the beginning, from the days of eternity" (5:2), which St Matthew applies to the birth of Christ. Our Lord Himself quotes Micheas 7:6 in Matthew 10:36. On Good Friday the Church sets His complaint, "O my people, what have I done to thee?" (6:3), on the lips of Christ crucified.

Is Micah in the Book of Judges the same as the prophet?

No. Michas of mount Ephraim in Judges 17–18 lived in the time of the Judges and made an idol for his household shrine. The prophet Micheas lived centuries later, under the kings of Juda.

Read the whole Book of Micheas verse by verse, in Latin and English side by side, in the Iter Fidei Catholic Bible app.

Sources. The Prophecy of Micheas, with Jeremias 26, 3 Kings 22, Judges 17, Isaias 2 and 7, Matthew 2, 10 and 23, John 7 (Douay-Rheims, Challoner revision, with Challoner's notes; Clementine Vulgate); St Justin Martyr, First Apology 34; St Augustine, City of God XVIII.27 and XVIII.30; Council of Trent, Session IV, Decree on the Canonical Scriptures (1546); Catholic Encyclopedia (1913), "Micheas"; Roman Missal (1962), Good Friday, Epiphany, Ember Saturday of September; Roman Breviary (1962), Matins in November.