2 Samuel 23:6-7

23:6 But evil people are like thorns –

all of them are tossed away,

for they cannot be held in the hand.

23:7 The one who touches them

must use an iron instrument

or the wooden shaft of a spear.

They are completely burned up right where they lie!”

Micah 7:4

7:4 The best of them is like a thorn;

the most godly among them are more dangerous than a row of thorn bushes.

The day you try to avoid by posting watchmen –

your appointed time of punishment – is on the way,

and then you will experience confusion.

Micah 7:1

Micah Laments Judah’s Sin

7:1 I am depressed!

Indeed, it is as if the summer fruit has been gathered,

and the grapes have been harvested.

There is no grape cluster to eat,

no fresh figs that I crave so much.

Micah 5:2-3

A King Will Come and a Remnant Will Prosper

5:2 (5:1) As for you, Bethlehem Ephrathah,

seemingly insignificant among the clans of Judah –

from you a king will emerge who will rule over Israel on my behalf,

one whose origins are in the distant past.

5:3 So the Lord will hand the people of Israel over to their enemies

until the time when the woman in labor gives birth.

Then the rest of the king’s countrymen will return

to be reunited with the people of Israel.