Verse Lens · Concise explanation

Micah 7:3 Explained in Context

Use this verse as a doorway into the larger passage—not as an isolated saying.

Selected verse

Verse 3. That they may do evil with both hands earnestly, the prince asketh, and the judge asketh for a reward; and the great man, he uttereth his mischievous desire: so they wrap it up.

King James Version — public domain in the United States · Bible text and permissions

Quick Meaning

This verse portrays prince, judge, and powerful person coordinating bribe, desire, and evil with both hands.

Read It With

  • Micah 7:1-7

Read Micah 7:3 with 7:1-7. This verse portrays prince, judge, and powerful person coordinating bribe, desire, and evil with both hands. The complete unit establishes this movement: The speaker laments a society in which violence, bribery, elite collusion, and fractured trust reach even households, yet turns from generalized suspicion to patient hope that God will hear.

Why This Verse Appears Here

The lament voices what systemic corruption feels like from within while verse 7 prevents fear from becoming the final posture. Within that movement, this verse portrays prince, judge, and powerful person coordinating bribe, desire, and evil with both hands.

Read Micah 7:1–7 together

Why these verses belong together: Empty harvest, corruption, broken trust, household danger, and the turn to waiting form one lament.

Verse 1. Woe is me! for I am as when they have gathered the summer fruits, as the grapegleanings of the vintage: there is no cluster to eat: my soul desired the firstripe fruit.

Verse 2. The good man is perished out of the earth: and there is none upright among men: they all lie in wait for blood; they hunt every man his brother with a net.

Verse 3. That they may do evil with both hands earnestly, the prince asketh, and the judge asketh for a reward; and the great man, he uttereth his mischievous desire: so they wrap it up.

Verse 4. 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.

Verse 5. Trust ye not in a friend, put ye not confidence in a guide: keep the doors of thy mouth from her that lieth in thy bosom.

Verse 6. For the son dishonoureth the father, the daughter riseth up against her mother, the daughter in law against her mother in law; a man’s enemies are the men of his own house.

Verse 7. Therefore I will look unto the LORD; I will wait for the God of my salvation: my God will hear me.

Phrase-by-Phrase Explanation

“wrap it up”

In plain language: weave or twist the corrupt scheme together

portrays prince, judge, and powerful person coordinating bribe, desire, and evil with both hands. Corruption becomes systemic when offices weave private desire and paid judgment together.

Why it matters: The wording identifies this verse's distinct contribution to the complete unit.

How certain? strong

What Remains True

Corruption becomes systemic when offices weave private desire and paid judgment together.

How It Can Shape Life

  • Investigate networks, incentives, and coordinated decisions rather than only one visible offender.

Continue in Context

The full thought-unit study remains the final contextual authority for this Verse Lens.

Read Micah 7:1-7 — A Lament over Social Breakdown Turns to Waiting
Sources used for this Verse Lens

How certain is this explanation? strong

These are the sources used directly for this lens. Language, grammar, disagreements, and the complete source shelf remain attached to the full thought-unit research record.

Biblical text

King James (Authorized) Version — eng-kjv2006

eBible.org and CrossWire Bible Society

USFM archive eng-kjv2006_usfm.zip; source files dated 2026-08-19; downloaded 2026-08-24; archive SHA-256 aec1b3b26c622fd3d963d2bbac963016b9513246ffbfa20da00bb100372ea007; normalized corpus SHA-256 09aef51d90488aa7b9722b3fd9a93f4b25f6bf2064c5fd798fb39673c300ddf2.

Supports: Exact reader-facing Scripture wording, paragraph markers, supplied-word markup, and complete verse coverage.

Exact location: Micah 7:1-7, pinned eng-kjv2006 USFM corpus

Open source ↗

hebrew text and morphology

Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible: Micah

Open Scriptures

Open Scriptures, release 2.2

Supports: Masoretic Hebrew wording, morphology, clause relationships, wordplays, names, and the base text behind translation discussion.

Exact location: Open Scriptures MorphHB v.2.2, commit 6a5db284c715c18b239422e57bb89684e6a19f00, wlc/Mic.xml, 7:1-7

Open source ↗

translation and translator notes

NET Bible: Micah with translators' notes

Biblical Studies Press

Biblical Studies Press, 2006

Supports: Verse-level translation, syntax, textual, literary, historical, and uncertainty notes.

Exact location: NET Bible Micah PDF, printed pp. 1750, translation and notes on 7:1-7

Open source ↗
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