MIC 6:14 Parallel Verse View

Note: This view shows ‘verses’ which are not natural language units and hence sometimes only part of a sentence will be visible—click on any Bible version abbreviation down the left-hand side to see the verse in more of its context. Normally the OET discourages the reading of individual ‘verses’, but this view is only designed as a tool for doing comparisons of different translations—the older translations are further down the page (so you can read up from the bottom to trace the English translation history). The OET segments on this page are still very early looks into the unfinished texts of the Open English Translation of the Bible—please double-check these texts in advance before using in public.

Text critical issues=small word differences Clarity of original=obscure Importance to us=normal (All still tentative.)

OET (OET-RV) You’ll eat but not be satisfied—your emptiness will remain inside you.
⇔ ≈ You’ll store goods away but not be able to save them, and what you do save I will be taken by force.

Key: khaki:verbs, red:negative.
Note: Automatic aligning of the OET-RV to the LV is done by some temporary software, hence the OET-RV alignments are incomplete (and may occasionally be wrong).

BrLXX Σὺ φάγεσαι, καὶ οὐ μὴ ἐμπλησθῇς, καὶ συσκοτάσει ἐν σοὶ καὶ ἐκνεύσει, καὶ οὐ μὴ διασωθῇς, καὶ ὅσοι ἂν διασωθῶσιν, εἰς ῥομφαίαν παραδοθήσονται·
(Su fagesai, kai ou maʸ emplaʸsthaʸs, kai suskotasei en soi kai ekneusei, kai ou maʸ diasōthaʸs, kai hosoi an diasōthōsin, eis ɽomfaian paradothaʸsontai; )

BrTr Thou shalt eat, and shalt not be satisfied; and there shall be darkness upon thee; and he shall depart from thee, and thou shalt not escape; and all that shall escape shall be delivered over to the sword.

ULT You will eat but not be satisfied;
⇔ your emptiness will remain inside you.
⇔ You will store goods away but not save,
⇔ and what you do save I will give to the sword.[fn]

Parts of this verse are difficult to understand, because there are two Hebrew words in it whose meanings are not known. As a result, various other readings have been proposed that some modern versions follow.

UST Soon you will eat food, but you will not have enough to satisfy you;
⇔ your stomachs will still feel as though they are empty.
⇔ You will try to save up money,
⇔ but you will be able to save nothing,
⇔ because I will send your enemies to take it from you in wars.

OEB You will eat but not be satisfied,
⇔ your stomach empty within you.
⇔ You will store up but lose everything,
⇔ because whatever you save I will give to the sword.

WEBBE You shall eat, but not be satisfied.
⇔ Your hunger will be within you.
⇔ You will store up, but not save,
⇔ and that which you save I will give up to the sword.

WMBB (Same as above)

NET You will eat, but not be satisfied.
⇔ Even if you have the strength to overtake some prey,
⇔ you will not be able to carry it away;
⇔ if you do happen to carry away something,
⇔ I will deliver it over to the sword.

LSV You eat, and you are not satisfied,
And your pit [is] in your midst,
And you remove, and do not deliver,
And that which you deliver, I give to a sword.

FBV You will eat, but never be satisfied; inside you will still feel hungry. Even though you try to save money, what you save won't be worth anything because I will give it to the sword.[fn]

6:14 “Give it to the sword.” This could mean either that what is saved will be destroyed, or that it will be taken by the invaders.

T4T Soon you will eat food, but you will not have enough to satisfy you;
⇔ your stomachs will still feel as though they are empty.
⇔ You will try to save up money,
⇔ but you will not be able to save anything,
⇔ because I will send your enemies to take it from you in wars [MTY].

LEB • You yourself will eat but not be satisfied; your hunger will be in your midst,
• and you will put away, but you will not save,
• and what you save I will hand over to the sword.

BBE You will have food, but not enough; your shame will be ever with you: you will get your goods moved, but you will not take them away safely; and what you do take away I will give to the sword.

Moff you may eat, but you shall never be satisfied,
⇔ feeling an inward void;
⇔ you may store, but you shall never save,
⇔ and what you save I let the sword sweep off;

JPS Thou shalt eat, but not be satisfied; and thy sickness shall be in thine inward parts; and thou shalt conceive, but shalt not bring forth; and whomsoever thou bringest forth will I give up to the sword.

ASV Thou shalt eat, but not be satisfied; and thy humiliation shall be in the midst of thee: and thou shalt put away, but shalt not save; and that which thou savest will I give up to the sword.

DRA Thou shalt eat, but shalt not be filled: and thy humiliation shall be in the midst of thee: and thou shalt take hold, but shalt not save: and those whom thou shalt save, I will give up to the sword.

YLT Thou — thou eatest, and thou art not satisfied, And thy pit [is] in thy midst, And thou removest, and dost not deliver, And that which thou deliverest, to a sword I give.

Drby Thou shalt eat, and not be satisfied, and thine emptiness [shall remain] in the midst of thee; and thou shalt take away, and not save; and what thou savest will I give up to the sword.

RV Thou shalt eat, but not be satisfied; and thy humiliation shall be in the midst of thee: and thou shalt remove, but shalt not carry away safe; and that which thou carriest away will I give up to the sword.
(Thou/You shalt/shall eat, but not be satisfied; and thy/your humiliation shall be in the midst of thee/you: and thou/you shalt/shall remove, but shalt/shall not carry away safe; and that which thou/you carriest away will I give up to the sword. )

SLT Thou shalt eat and not be satisfied; and thine emptiness in the midst of thee; and thou shalt remove and shalt not deliver; and what thou shalt save I will give to the sword.

Wbstr Thou shalt eat, but not be satisfied; and thy casting down shall be in the midst of thee; and thou shalt take hold, but shalt not deliver; and that which thou deliverest will I give up to the sword.

KJB-1769 Thou shalt eat, but not be satisfied; and thy casting down shall be in the midst of thee; and thou shalt take hold, but shalt not deliver; and that which thou deliverest will I give up to the sword.
(Thou/You shalt/shall eat, but not be satisfied; and thy/your casting down shall be in the midst of thee/you; and thou/you shalt/shall take hold, but shalt/shall not deliver; and that which thou/you deliverest/deliver will I give up to the sword. )

KJB-1611 Thou shalt eate, but not be satisfied, and thy casting downe shall be in the midst of thee, and thou shalt take holde, but shalt not deliuer: & that which thou deliuerest, will I giue vp to the sword.
(Modernised spelling is same as from KJB-1769 above, apart from punctuation)

Bshps Thou shalt eate, and not haue inough: yea, thou shalt bring thy selfe downe in the middes of thee, thou shalt flee, but not escape, and those that thou wouldest saue, wyll I deliuer to the sworde.
(Thou/You shalt/shall eat, and not have enough: yea, thou/you shalt/shall bring thyself/yourself down in the midst of thee/you, thou/you shalt/shall flee, but not escape, and those that thou/you wouldest save, will I deliver to the sword.)

Gnva Thou shalt eate and not be satisfied, and thy casting downe shall be in the mids of thee, and thou shalt take holde, but shalt not deliuer: and that which thou deliuerest, will I giue vp to the sworde.
(Thou/You shalt/shall eat and not be satisfied, and thy/your casting down shall be in the midst of thee/you, and thou/you shalt/shall take hold, but shalt/shall not deliver: and that which thou/you deliverest/deliver, will I give up to the sword. )

Cvdl Thou shalt eate, & not haue ynough: yee thou shalt bringe thy self downe. Thou shalt fle, but not escape: ad those yt thou woldest saue, wil I delyuer to the swerde.
(Thou/You shalt/shall eat, and not have enough: ye/you_all thou/you shalt/shall bring thy/your self down. Thou/You shalt/shall flee, but not escape: and those it thou/you would save, will I deliver to the sword.)

Wycl Thou schalt ete, and schalt not be fillid, and thi mekyng is in the middil of thee; and thou schalt take, and schalt not saue; and which thou schalt saue, Y schal yyue in to swerd.
(Thou/You shalt/shall eat, and shalt/shall not be filled, and thy/your meking is in the middil of thee/you; and thou/you shalt/shall take, and shalt/shall not save; and which thou/you shalt/shall save, I shall give in to sword.)

Luth Du sollst nicht genug zu essen haben und sollst verschmachten. Und was du erhaschest, soll doch nicht davonkommen; und was davonkommt, will ich doch dem Schwert überantworten.
(You(sg) should not enough to/for eat have and should languish/swelter. And what/which you(sg) erhaschest, should though/but not of_thatkommen; and what/which of_thatkommt, will I though/but to_him sword hand_over.)

ClVg Tu comedes, et non saturaberis, et humiliatio tua in medio tui: et apprehendes, et non salvabis, et quos salvaveris, in gladium dabo.
(You(sg) you_will_eat, and not/no saturaberis, and humiliatio your in/into/on in_the_middle yours(sg): and apprehendes, and not/no savebis, and which saveveris, in/into/on a_sword I_will_give. )

SOTN SIL Open Translator’s Notes:

Section 6:9–16: The LORD will punish his people for their dishonesty

This section has three parts. In 6:9–12, the LORD charged the people of Jerusalem and the tribe of Judah with theft, dishonesty, deception, and violence. In 6:13–15, he stated how he will punish them. In 6:16, the LORD restated in a short summary the people’s sin and their punishment. In this section, the LORD was the speaker except for 6:9, in which Micah told the people of the city to listen.

Here are some other examples of section headings:

Cheating and Violence to Be Punished (NRSV)

Israel’s Guilt and Punishment (NIV)

Accusations and Covenant CursesSuggestion by A&F (pages 541–544)

Paragraph 6:9–16

In this paragraph, the LORD accused the people of committing several kinds of sin. Most were sins committed by wealthy people. Some were sins by the general population.

6:14–15

Verses 14 and 15 consist of a series of curses. Each curse describes a hypothetical situation in which a normal activity, such as eating or farming, has an unexpected, undesirable outcome.

These curses are figures of speech that add emphasis to the previous statements in 6:13.A&F (pages 543–544) identify 6:14–15 as a threefold curse that uses the figure of speech known as “sorites.” The curses indicate how complete and serious the punishment from the LORD will be.

Each curse is addressed to “you^(sing),” which continues to refer collectively to the people of Jerusalem and Judah as in 6:9–13. In some languages, it will be more natural to use “you^(plur)” for a group of people.

6:14a–b

Notice the parallel lines that are similar in meaning:

^14a You will eat but not be satisfied,

^14b and your hunger will remain with you.

There is an ellipsis (a deliberately omitted phrase) in 6:14b. In some languages, it may be necessary to supply the missing words from 6:14a. For example:

^14b you shall eat, and your hunger will remain with you.

Together, these parallel lines are a curse about hunger. The underlined part describes the normal activity of eating food. The parts in bold print describe the unexpected, undesirable result.

6:14a

You will eat but not be satisfied,

You^(sing/plur) will eat, but you will not be full.
Although you will eat, the food will not be enough.

You will eat but not be satisfied: This clause probably means that a person will remain hungry after eating.

Here are some other ways to translate this clause:

You will eat, but you won’t become full (NCV)

You will eat but never have enough. (NLT)

6:14b

and your hunger will remain with you.

You^(sing/plur) will still be empty inside.
You will remain very hungry.

and your hunger will remain with you: The phrase your hungerThe Hebrew word occurs only here in the Old Testament. The meaning “hunger” is a best guess that fits the context well and makes good sense. See TWOT #924a, DRD (page 135), NAC (pages 118–119), and KD (page 338). will remain with youThe Hebrew word is literally “in your midst.” Here it has the sense of the inside of a person, not the midst of a group of people. BDB #7130 lists this sense as 1a “inward part of the human body.” is another way to describe a lack of satisfaction from the food.

Here are some other ways to translate this clause:

So you will always be hungry. (GW)

your stomach will still be empty (NIV)

General Comment on 6:14a–b

In some languages, it may be more natural to combine and/or reorder these lines. For example.

You will eat, but still be hungry (CEV)

6:14c–d

The REB has been used as the source line for 6:14c–d because it allows for the recommended interpretation.

6:14c

What you acquire, you will not preserve;

Your^(sing/plur) time to have a child will come, but the child will not be safely born.
You will become pregnant, but you will miscarry.
You will be able to carry a child in your womb, but not deliver it alive.

(REB) you will come to labour: There is a combined textual and interpretation issue with the Hebrew word that the REB translates as you will come to labour. Here are the two main options:

The Hebrew word is a form of nāśag, “to reach,” or “attain to.” Here it means to reach the time for a child to be conceived or born. For example:
You have been conceiving without bearing young, and what you bore I would deliver to the sword. (NJPS) (NJPS, REB)
The Hebrew word is a form of sûg, “to remove, carry away.” Here it means “put away” as in storing food or property for safekeeping. For example:
you will store up but never keep safe; what you do keep safe I shall hand over to the sword (NJB) (BSB, ESV, GW, NAB, NASB, NCV, NIV, NJB, NLT, GNT)

It is recommended that you follow option/interpretation (1). It has good support from commentators, both traditional and modern.Waltke 2007 (pages 402–403) cites support in favor of nāsag as the word root from ancient versions, medieval Jewish commentators and modern Jewish exegetes. All interpreted the word in this way. See also NICOT (page 380) and TOTC (pages 216–217). Option/interpretation (2) assumes an unattested meaning for the Hebrew word.Waltke 2007 (pages 402–403) notes that elsewhere the root sûg in the hiphil means “to displace,” always with the object “boundary marker.” The extension of meaning “to remove” an implied object such as goods or articles lacks a parallel. This same point is made by BDB #5381 which states that in hiphil the usual meaning of sûg is “displace or move back a boundary mark.” Micah 6:14 is the only instance in the Old Testament for which this unique meaning is proposed. See also TOTC (pages 216–217).

This phrase is part of a curse on childbirth. It describes the process of pregnancy that normally would result in childbirth.

(REB) but not bring forth: This phrase is more literally “and/but not you will bring to safety.” There is an interpretation issue with the Hebrew word that the REB translates as bring forth. The same Hebrew word also occurs in 6:14d. Both occurrences are underlined below. Here are the main interpretations:

The word means “bring an infant to safety” as in a safe delivery from a womb. For example:
^14cYou will come to labour, but not bring forth; ^14deven if you bear a child I shall give it to the sword (REB) (NJPS, REB)
The word means “bring something to store in safety” as in storing food or treasures in a safe place. For example:
^14cyou will store up but never keep safe; ^14dwhat you do keep safe I shall hand over to the sword (NJB) (BSB, ESV, GW, NAB, NASB, NCV, NIV, NJB, NLT, GNT)

It is recommended that you follow interpretation (1). It has good support from commentators.Waltke 2007 (pages 402–403), TOTC (pages 216–217), and Pusey (page 87). Waltke 2007 and TOTC both cite Job 21:10 which refers to delivering in birth. See also Job 21:10.

This phrase describes the undesirable outcome of the pregnancy. The child is not safely born. Some language groups may have euphemisms to refer to miscarriage or to a stillborn child. Translate this phrase in a culturally appropriate way.

6:14d

and what you save, I will give to the sword.

Even if somehow you^(sing/plur) do bear a child, I will give it to an enemy to be killed by the sword.
Whatever children you manage to have, I will make sure they die in war.

(REB) even if you bear a child I shall give it to the sword: This clause continues the curse on childbirth from 6:14c. This is a conditional clause. When the condition, you bear a child, is true, the result is that the LORD will give it to the sword.

Verse 6:14c says that no more children will be born. This verse part, 6:14d, describes an imagined situation in which someone was still able to give birth to children. Even if that could happen, the children would nevertheless be killed. See Hosea 9:11–12, 16 for similar curses.

(REB) give it to the sword: This expression means to give the child to an enemy to be killed.Waltke 2007 (page 403) notes that life, not property, is what is given over to the sword.

(REB) the sword: This phrase refers to violence and destruction in war.NAC (page 119). Some versions make the context of war explicit without using the word sword. For example:

I will give it to those who conquer you (NLT)

I will destroy in war (GNT)

Parallel MIC 6:14