Micah 1
The Voice
1 These are the words of the Eternal One and the visions about the two capital cities of Israel and Judah, Samaria and Jerusalem, that were given to Micah of Moresheth during the reigns of kings Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah over Judah.
The Northern Kingdom of Israel, sometimes called Samaria after its capital city, was conquered by the Assyrian Empire in 722 b.c. The Southern Kingdom of Judah, where Micah lives and speaks, has been spared that fate, but at a high price: the people have lost the power to govern themselves, pay huge tributes to the Assyrians, and allow the corruption of their religious practices because of the Assyrians’ influence. All Israelites suffer under these conditions, but Micah’s attention is drawn especially to the poor and dispossessed; somehow, as often happens in wartime, rich people manage to get richer while the poor are exploited, and Micah is outraged at the way the rulers of Judah have taken advantage of those who had little—and now have less.
2 Listen, all of you people![a]
Pay attention, earth and all upon it!
The Eternal Lord gives evidence against you;
the Lord speaks from His holy temple.
3 Look at this: the Eternal is leaving His home in heaven,
and He is coming down to walk[b] over the high places of the earth.
4 The mountains will melt beneath His feet;
the valleys will burst open,
Like wax next to a raging fire,
as water pours from the heights.
5 Eternal One: All of this is happening because of the crimes of Jacob,
the wrongdoings of the people of Israel.
And what is the crime of Jacob? Isn’t it Samaria?
And what is the high place of Judah? Isn’t it Jerusalem?
6 And so I will turn Samaria into a pile of ruins in an open field.
To make her properly into a place to plant a vineyard,
I will roll her stones into the valley
and bare her foundations for all to see.
7 I will shatter her images and burn her immoral riches with fire,
and all her idols I will break down.
They came from the earning of prostitutes, servants of other gods,
and they will be used again to pay the wages of another prostitute.
8 Because of this, I will howl and wail;
this is why I will go barefoot and naked,
Why I will scream like the jackals
and screech like the ostriches as if in mourning.
9 Eternal One: For her wounds cannot be cured because Samaria’s transgression has reached Judah.
It now has reached the gate of My people, even in Jerusalem.
This listing of 11 conquered Israelite cities begins with David’s quote about Gath when he was lamenting the deaths of Saul and Jonathan (2 Samuel 1:20).
10 Do not tell this in Gath. Do not weep even a little.[c]
In Beth-le-aphrah, wallow in the dust as you mourn.
11 Travel on, you who live in Shaphir, no longer beautiful but naked and ashamed.
You who live in Zaanan, do not come out when the enemy approaches.
Beth-ezel is weeping, “He is tearing you away from His foundations,”
and she won’t be there to support her neighbors.
12 Those who live in Maroth wait anxiously for good news;
the Eternal sends disaster down to the gates of Jerusalem.
13 Harness your horses to the chariots, you who live in the stronghold called Lachish;
in you are the seeds of the sin of My daughter Zion;
in you are the crimes of Israel.
14 That is why you will pay a dowry to Moresheth-gath
when Israel departs for exile.
The houses of Achzib will deceive and disappoint the kings of Israel.
15 I will send a conqueror again to all of you living in Mareshah,
and the glory of Israel, her treasures and leaders, will come to Adullam for refuge as David once did.
The list of cities given here matches the path Sennacherib took when he marched against Jerusalem in 701 b.c.
16 Cut off your hair and shave your heads. Prepare yourselves for slavery
on account of the children whom you pampered and privileged.
Make yourself as bald as an eagle,
for they have been removed from you into exile.
Micah 1
King James Version
1 The word of the Lord that came to Micah the Morasthite in the days of Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah, which he saw concerning Samaria and Jerusalem.
2 Hear, all ye people; hearken, O earth, and all that therein is: and let the Lord God be witness against you, the Lord from his holy temple.
3 For, behold, the Lord cometh forth out of his place, and will come down, and tread upon the high places of the earth.
4 And the mountains shall be molten under him, and the valleys shall be cleft, as wax before the fire, and as the waters that are poured down a steep place.
5 For the transgression of Jacob is all this, and for the sins of the house of Israel. What is the transgression of Jacob? is it not Samaria? and what are the high places of Judah? are they not Jerusalem?
6 Therefore I will make Samaria as an heap of the field, and as plantings of a vineyard: and I will pour down the stones thereof into the valley, and I will discover the foundations thereof.
7 And all the graven images thereof shall be beaten to pieces, and all the hires thereof shall be burned with the fire, and all the idols thereof will I lay desolate: for she gathered it of the hire of an harlot, and they shall return to the hire of an harlot.
8 Therefore I will wail and howl, I will go stripped and naked: I will make a wailing like the dragons, and mourning as the owls.
9 For her wound is incurable; for it is come unto Judah; he is come unto the gate of my people, even to Jerusalem.
10 Declare ye it not at Gath, weep ye not at all: in the house of Aphrah roll thyself in the dust.
11 Pass ye away, thou inhabitant of Saphir, having thy shame naked: the inhabitant of Zaanan came not forth in the mourning of Bethezel; he shall receive of you his standing.
12 For the inhabitant of Maroth waited carefully for good: but evil came down from the Lord unto the gate of Jerusalem.
13 O thou inhabitant of Lachish, bind the chariot to the swift beast: she is the beginning of the sin to the daughter of Zion: for the transgressions of Israel were found in thee.
14 Therefore shalt thou give presents to Moreshethgath: the houses of Achzib shall be a lie to the kings of Israel.
15 Yet will I bring an heir unto thee, O inhabitant of Mareshah: he shall come unto Adullam the glory of Israel.
16 Make thee bald, and poll thee for thy delicate children; enlarge thy baldness as the eagle; for they are gone into captivity from thee.
The Voice Bible Copyright © 2012 Thomas Nelson, Inc. The Voice™ translation © 2012 Ecclesia Bible Society All rights reserved.