The Meaning of Micah 7:13 Explained

Micah 7:13

KJV: Notwithstanding the land shall be desolate because of them that dwell therein, for the fruit of their doings.

YLT: And the land hath been for a desolation, Because of its inhabitants, Because of the fruit of their doings.

Darby: But the land shall be desolate because of them that dwell therein, for the fruit of their doings.

ASV: Yet shall the land be desolate because of them that dwell therein, for the fruit of their doings.

KJV Reverse Interlinear

Notwithstanding the land  shall be desolate  because of them that dwell  therein, for the fruit  of their doings. 

What does Micah 7:13 Mean?

Verse Meaning

Before that, however, the earth will become desolate because God will judge its inhabitants for their sinful deeds (cf. Isaiah 24:1; Isaiah 34-35). This will happen in the Tribulation and in the judgment of the nations that will immediately follow the Lord"s second coming (cf. Matthew 25:32-33; Matthew 25:46).

Context Summary

Micah 7:1-20 - God's Compassion For An Erring People
Things had come to an awful pass in the favored city. Oppression, bribery, and bloodshed, were everywhere in the ascendant. Men wrought evil with both hands. Husbands could not trust their wives. At such a time there is no refuge for God's children save in God, Micah 7:7-13.
When we have learned our lesson we find God appearing for our help. He brings forth to the light and vindicates us. Then those that hated us, and suggested that He had forsaken, will be compelled to admit that He has completely vindicated us from their reproach. Be of good cheer, believer; wait for God. He will bring out thy righteousness as the light and thy judgment as the noonday, Micah 7:10-12.
Next, the prophet pleads with Israel's Shepherd to repeat the marvels of the Exodus. He knows that God will not only pardon iniquities but subdue them, trampling them beneath His feet. This anticipates the Ascension, Ephesians 1:20-23. When a stone sinks into ocean depths, it cannot be recovered; and when sin is forgiven God never recalls it either here or hereafter. [source]

Chapter Summary: 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

What do the individual words in Micah 7:13 mean?

And yet shall be the land desolate because of those who dwell in it and for the fruit of their deeds -
וְהָיְתָ֥ה הָאָ֛רֶץ לִשְׁמָמָ֖ה עַל־ יֹֽשְׁבֶ֑יהָ מִפְּרִ֖י מַֽעַלְלֵיהֶֽם ס

וְהָיְתָ֥ה  And  yet  shall  be 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Verb, Qal, Conjunctive perfect, third person feminine singular
Root: אֶהְיֶה 
Sense: to be, become, come to pass, exist, happen, fall out.
הָאָ֛רֶץ  the  land 
Parse: Article, Noun, feminine singular
Root: אֶרֶץ  
Sense: land, earth.
לִשְׁמָמָ֖ה  desolate 
Parse: Preposition-l, Noun, feminine singular
Root: שְׁמָמָה 
Sense: devastation, waste, desolation.
עַל־  because 
Parse: Preposition
Root: עַל 
Sense: upon, on the ground of, according to, on account of, on behalf of, concerning, beside, in addition to, together with, beyond, above, over, by, on to, towards, to, against.
יֹֽשְׁבֶ֑יהָ  of  those  who  dwell  in  it 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Participle, masculine plural construct, third person feminine singular
Root: יָשַׁב 
Sense: to dwell, remain, sit, abide.
מִפְּרִ֖י  and  for  the  fruit 
Parse: Preposition-m, Noun, masculine singular construct
Root: פְּרִי  
Sense: fruit.
מַֽעַלְלֵיהֶֽם  of  their  deeds 
Parse: Noun, masculine plural construct, third person masculine plural
Root: מַעֲלִיל 
Sense: deed, practice.
ס  - 
Parse: Punctuation