What does Micah 6:14 mean?
What is the meaning of Micah 6:14?

You will eat but not be satisfied

Micah pictures a table loaded with food, yet the people never feel full. Their rebellion has broken fellowship with the One who alone satisfies.

Leviticus 26:26 echoes the same covenant warning: “you will eat but not be satisfied.”

Haggai 1:6 expands the idea—working hard, eating, drinking, but remaining empty.

• By contrast, Proverbs 13:25 says, “A righteous man eats to his heart’s content,” showing that fulfillment is God-given, not circumstance-given.

The verse exposes the futility of sin: physical provision without the blessing of God cannot fill the soul.


and your hunger will remain with you

The ache lingers. A stomach may be distended, yet the inner gnawing continues.

Psalm 106:15 records that God “gave them their request, but sent leanness into their soul.”

Amos 8:11 warns of a deeper famine—“not a famine of bread… but of hearing the words of the LORD.”

Persistent hunger is both a judgment and an invitation: until the heart returns to God, the craving never ends.


What you acquire, you will not preserve

The people will keep gathering, storing, investing—only to watch it slip away.

Deuteronomy 28:39-40 foretells vineyards tended but no wine enjoyed, olives grown but no oil used.

Proverbs 23:5 asks, “When you fix your gaze on wealth, it is gone.”

Jeremiah 17:11 likens ill-gotten gain to stolen eggs that hatch disaster.

Possessions without righteousness are like sand through open fingers.


and what you save, I will give to the sword

Even the portion successfully tucked away will be seized in violent judgment.

Deuteronomy 28:33 warns that “a people you do not know will eat the produce of your land.”

Jeremiah 50:37 speaks of “a sword against her treasures.”

Amos 4:10 recalls God sending the sword against Israel’s young men when they refused to repent.

The sword signifies invasion, loss, and the end of every illusion of security.


summary

Micah 6:14 paints a four-part portrait of covenant curse: unsatisfied appetites, lingering emptiness, evaporating gain, and final violent loss. The verse underscores a single truth: when hearts turn from God, nothing—food, wealth, savings, or defenses—can satisfy or protect. Only restored obedience transforms hunger into contentment and scarcity into blessing.

How does Micah 6:13 challenge modern views on divine retribution?
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