Micah 7:5

Micah's social lament — 'put no trust in a neighbor; have no confidence in a friend; guard the doors of your mouth from her who lies in your arms' — describes a society so comprehensively corrupt that even the most intimate relationships (spouse, family, verse 6) cannot sustain trust. The verse belongs to Micah 7:1-6's picture of total social breakdown, which serves as the dark foil for the individual's confession of trust in God alone (verses 7-9). Jesus cites Micah 7:6 in Matthew 10:34-36 and Luke 12:51-53 as a description of the social division that his mission will produce — discipleship to Jesus will divide households along the fault lines that Micah describes in an evil generation. The verse has theological significance as a diagnostic of moral collapse: trust fails at the level of the most intimate bonds as the final symptom of a society's decay.