Micah 1-3
Legacy Standard Bible
Calamity in Israel and Judah
1 The (A)word of [a]Yahweh which came to (B)Micah of Moresheth in the days of (C)Jotham, (D)Ahaz, and (E)Hezekiah, kings of Judah, which he beheld concerning Samaria and Jerusalem.
2 Hear, O peoples, all of [b]you;
(F)Give heed, O earth, as well as its fullness,
And let Lord Yahweh be a (G)witness against you,
The Lord from His holy temple.
3 For behold, Yahweh is (H)going forth from His place.
He will come down and (I)tread on the high places of the [c]earth.
4 (J)The mountains will melt under Him,
And the valleys will be split,
Like wax before the fire,
Like water poured down a steep place.
5 All this is for the transgression of Jacob
And for the sins of the house of Israel.
What is the (K)transgression of Jacob?
Is it not (L)Samaria?
What is the (M)high [d]place of Judah?
Is it not Jerusalem?
6 So I will make Samaria a (N)heap of ruins in the field,
(O)Planting places for a vineyard.
And I will (P)pour her stones down into the valley
And will (Q)lay bare her foundations.
7 And all of her (R)graven images will be smashed,
And all of her earnings will be burned with fire
And all of her idols I will make desolate,
For she collected them from a (S)harlot’s earnings,
And to the earnings of a harlot they will return.
8 Because of this I must lament and wail;
I must go (T)barefoot and naked;
I must make a lament like the (U)jackals
And a mourning like the ostriches.
9 For her [e](V)wound is incurable,
For (W)it has come to Judah;
It has reached the (X)gate of my people,
Even to Jerusalem.
10 (Y)Tell it not in Gath,
Weep not at all.
At [f]Beth-le-aphrah roll yourself in the dust.
11 [g]Pass on by, inhabitant of [h]Shaphir, in (Z)shameful nakedness.
The inhabitant of [i](AA)Zaanan does not go out.
The lamentation of [j]Beth-ezel: “He will take from you its [k]support.”
12 For the inhabitant of [l]Maroth
Writhes (AB)in waiting for good
Because a [m]calamity has come down from Yahweh
To the (AC)gate of Jerusalem.
13 Harness the chariot to the team of horses,
O inhabitant of (AD)Lachish—
She was the beginning of sin
To the daughter of Zion—
Because in you were found
The (AE)transgressions of Israel.
14 Therefore you will give parting (AF)gifts
On behalf of [n]Moresheth-gath;
The houses of [o](AG)Achzib will become a (AH)deception
To the kings of Israel.
15 Moreover, I will bring on you
The one who takes possession,
O inhabitant of [p](AI)Mareshah.
The glory of Israel will enter (AJ)Adullam.
16 Make yourself (AK)bald and cut off your hair,
Because of the children of your delight;
Extend your baldness like the eagle,
For they will (AL)go from you into exile.
An Evil Time
2 Woe to those who (AM)devise wickedness,
Who work out evil on their beds!
(AN)When the light of the morning comes, they do it,
For it is in the (AO)power of their hands.
2 And they (AP)covet fields and then (AQ)tear them away,
And houses, and take them away.
And they (AR)oppress a man and his house,
A man and his inheritance.
3 Therefore thus says Yahweh,
“Behold, I am (AS)devising against this (AT)family an evil demise
From which you (AU)cannot remove your necks;
And you will not walk (AV)haughtily,
For it will be an (AW)evil time.
4 On that day they will (AX)take up against you a [q]taunt
And [r](AY)utter a bitter wailing and say,
‘We are completely (AZ)devastated!
He exchanges the portion of my people;
How He removes it from me!
To the faithless one, He (BA)apportions our fields.’
5 Therefore you will have no one [s](BB)stretching a measuring line
For you by lot in the assembly of Yahweh.
6 ‘(BC)Do not speak, dripping out words,’ they say while dripping out words.
But if [t]they do (BD)not drip out words concerning these things,
(BE)Dishonor will not be turned back.
7 Is it being said, O house of Jacob:
‘Is the Spirit of Yahweh (BF)impatient?
Are these His deeds?’
Do not My words (BG)do good
To the one (BH)walking uprightly?
8 [u]And recently My people have arisen as an (BI)enemy—
You (BJ)strip the [v]robe off the garment
From (BK)unsuspecting passers-by,
From those returned from war.
9 The women of My people you (BL)drive out,
Each one from her pleasant house.
From her infants you take My (BM)splendor forever.
10 Arise and go,
For this is no place (BN)of rest
Because of the (BO)uncleanness that wreaks destruction,
A painful destruction.
11 If a man walking after wind and (BP)lying
Had acted falsely and said,
‘I will speak, dripping out words to you concerning (BQ)wine and liquor,’
He would be one who drips out words as a spokesman to (BR)this people.
12 “I will surely (BS)assemble all of you, Jacob;
I will surely gather the (BT)remnant of Israel.
I will put them together like sheep in the fold;
Like a flock in the midst of its pasture
They will be noisy with men.
13 The breaker goes up before them;
They break out, pass through the gate, and go out by it.
So their king goes on before them,
And Yahweh at their head.”
Yahweh Will Not Answer
3 And I said,
“(BU)Hear now, heads of Jacob
And rulers of the house of Israel.
Is it not for you to (BV)know justice?
2 You who hate good and love evil,
Who (BW)tear off their skin from them
And their flesh from their bones,
3 And who (BX)eat the flesh of my people,
Strip off their skin from them,
Break their bones,
And (BY)spread them out as for the pot
And as meat in a caldron.”
4 Then they will (BZ)cry out to Yahweh,
But He will not answer them.
Instead, He will (CA)hide His face from them at that time
Because they have (CB)practiced evil deeds.
5 Thus says Yahweh concerning the prophets who (CC)lead my people astray;
When they have something to bite with their teeth,
They (CD)call out, “Peace,”
But against him who puts nothing in their mouths,
They set themselves apart for war.
6 Therefore it will be (CE)night for you—without vision,
And darkness for you—without divination.
The (CF)sun will go down on the prophets,
And the day will grow black over them.
7 The seers will be (CG)ashamed,
And the (CH)diviners will be humiliated.
Indeed, they will all (CI)cover their [w]mouths
Because there is (CJ)no answer from God.
8 On the other hand (CK)I am filled with power—
With the Spirit of Yahweh—
And with justice and might
To (CL)declare to Jacob his transgression,
Even to Israel his sin.
9 Now hear this, (CM)heads of the house of Jacob
And rulers of the house of Israel,
Who (CN)abhor justice
And twist everything that is straight,
10 Who (CO)build Zion with bloodshed
And Jerusalem with violent injustice.
11 Her heads pronounce (CP)judgment for a bribe,
And her (CQ)priests instruct for a price,
And her prophets divine for money.
Yet they lean on Yahweh saying,
“(CR)Is not Yahweh in our midst?
Evil will not come upon us.”
12 Therefore, on account of you
(CS)Zion will be plowed as a field;
(CT)Jerusalem will become a heap of ruins,
And the (CU)mountain of the house of God will become high places of a forest.
Footnotes
- Micah 1:1 The personal covenant name of God, a form of I AM WHO I AM, cf. Ex 3:14-15
- Micah 1:2 Lit them
- Micah 1:3 Or land
- Micah 1:5 Lit places
- Micah 1:9 Lit wounds are
- Micah 1:10 Lit house of dust
- Micah 1:11 Go into captivity
- Micah 1:11 Lit pleasantness
- Micah 1:11 Lit going out
- Micah 1:11 Lit house of removal
- Micah 1:11 Lit standing place
- Micah 1:12 Lit bitterness
- Micah 1:12 Lit evil
- Micah 1:14 Lit possession of Gath
- Micah 1:14 Lit deception
- Micah 1:15 Lit to take possession
- Micah 2:4 Or proverb
- Micah 2:4 Lit lament
- Micah 2:5 Lit casting
- Micah 2:6 God’s prophets
- Micah 2:8 Lit And yesterday
- Micah 2:8 Or ornaments
- Micah 3:7 Lit mustache
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