KJV King James Version
They shall lick the dust like a serpent, they shall move out of their holes like worms of the earth: they shall be afraid of the LORD our God, and shall fear because of thee.
VERSE STUDY • KJV
Micah 7:17
They shall lick the dust like a serpent, they shall move out of their holes like worms of the earth: they shall be afraid of the LORD our God, and shall fear because of thee.
Read it in 5 translations
BSB Berean Standard Bible
They will lick the dust like a snake, like reptiles slithering on the ground. They will come trembling from their strongholds in the presence of the LORD our God; they will tremble in fear of You.
WEB World English Bible
They will lick the dust like a serpent. Like crawling things of the earth they shall come trembling out of their dens. They will come with fear to Yahweh our God, and will be afraid because of you.
ASV American Standard Version
They shall lick the dust like a serpent; like crawling things of the earth they shall come trembling out of their close places; they shall come with fear unto Jehovah our God, and shall be afraid because of thee.
YLT Young’s Literal Translation
They lick dust as a serpent, as fearful things of earth, They tremble from their enclosures, Of Jehovah our God they are afraid, Yea, they are afraid of Thee.
Surrounding context — Micah 7
14 Feed thy people with thy rod, the flock of thine heritage, which dwell solitarily [in] the wood, in the midst of Carmel: let them feed [in] Bashan and Gilead, as in the days of old.
15 According to the days of thy coming out of the land of Egypt will I shew unto him marvellous [things].
16 The nations shall see and be confounded at all their might: they shall lay [their] hand upon [their] mouth, their ears shall be deaf.
17 They shall lick the dust like a serpent, they shall move out of their holes like worms of the earth: they shall be afraid of the LORD our God, and shall fear because of thee.
18 Who [is] a God like unto thee, that pardoneth iniquity, and passeth by the transgression of the remnant of his heritage? he retaineth not his anger for ever, because he delighteth [in] mercy.
19 He will turn again, he will have compassion upon us; he will subdue our iniquities; and thou wilt cast all their sins into the depths of the sea.
20 Thou wilt perform the truth to Jacob, [and] the mercy to Abraham, which thou hast sworn unto our fathers from the days of old.
Topics connected to this verse
Original-language word links
These Hebrew/Greek tokens are linked by Strong's number. Click one for its lexicon definition and other occurrences.
יְלַחֲכ֤וּH3897 · la.chakhto lickעָפָר֙H6083 · a.phardustכַּנָּחָ֔שׁH5175 · na.chashserpentכְּזֹחֲלֵ֣יH2119 · za.chalto crawlאֶ֔רֶץH776 · e.retsland: country/planetיִרְגְּז֖וּH7264 · ra.gazto trembleמִמִּסְגְּרֹֽתֵיהֶ֑םH4526 · mis.ge.retperimeterאֶל־H413 · elto(wards)יְהוָ֤הH3068 · ye.ho.vahLORDאֱלֹהֵ֙ינוּ֙H430 · e.lo.himGodיִפְחָ֔דוּH6342 · pa.chadto dreadוְיִֽרְא֖וּH3372 · ya.reto fearמִמֶּֽךָּ׃H4480 · minfrom
Cross-references
Isaiah 49:23And kings shall be thy nursing fathers, and their queens thy nursing mothers: they shall bow down to thee with [their] face toward the earth, and lick up the dust of thy feet; and thou shalt know that I [am] the LORD: for they shall not be ashamed that wait for me.Psalm 72:9They that dwell in the wilderness shall bow before him; and his enemies shall lick the dust.Psalm 18:45The strangers shall fade away, and be afraid out of their close places.Revelation 6:15-17And the kings of the earth, and the great men, and the rich men, and the chief captains, and the mighty men, and every bondman, and every free man, hid themselves in the dens and in the rocks of the mountains;Genesis 3:14-15And the LORD God said unto the serpent, Because thou hast done this, thou [art] cursed above all cattle, and above every beast of the field; upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life:Isaiah 64:2As [when] the melting fire burneth, the fire causeth the waters to boil, to make thy name known to thine adversaries, [that] the nations may tremble at thy presence!Jeremiah 33:9And it shall be to me a name of joy, a praise and an honour before all the nations of the earth, which shall hear all the good that I do unto them: and they shall fear and tremble for all the goodness and for all the prosperity that I procure unto it.Exodus 15:14-16The people shall hear, [and] be afraid: sorrow shall take hold on the inhabitants of Palestina.Lamentations 3:29He putteth his mouth in the dust; if so be there may be hope.Isaiah 60:14The sons also of them that afflicted thee shall come bending unto thee; and all they that despised thee shall bow themselves down at the soles of thy feet; and they shall call thee, The city of the LORD, The Zion of the Holy One of Israel.Isaiah 65:25The wolf and the lamb shall feed together, and the lion shall eat straw like the bullock: and dust [shall be] the serpent’s meat. They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain, saith the LORD.Isaiah 25:3Therefore shall the strong people glorify thee, the city of the terrible nations shall fear thee.Jeremiah 16:16Behold, I will send for many fishers, saith the LORD, and they shall fish them; and after will I send for many hunters, and they shall hunt them from every mountain, and from every hill, and out of the holes of the rocks.Psalm 9:20Put them in fear, O LORD: [that] the nations may know themselves [to be but] men. Selah.Zechariah 14:5And ye shall flee [to] the valley of the mountains; for the valley of the mountains shall reach unto Azal: yea, ye shall flee, like as ye fled from before the earthquake in the days of Uzziah king of Judah: and the LORD my God shall come, [and] all the saints with thee.Isaiah 2:19-21And they shall go into the holes of the rocks, and into the caves of the earth, for fear of the LORD, and for the glory of his majesty, when he ariseth to shake terribly the earth.Joshua 9:24And they answered Joshua, and said, Because it was certainly told thy servants, how that the LORD thy God commanded his servant Moses to give you all the land, and to destroy all the inhabitants of the land from before you, therefore we were sore afraid of our lives because of you, and have done this thing.Revelation 3:9Behold, I will make them of the synagogue of Satan, which say they are Jews, and are not, but do lie; behold, I will make them to come and worship before thy feet, and to know that I have loved thee.
HISTORICAL INTERPRETATION
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