Micah 1:9-2:13

English Standard Version

⁹^(A)For her wound is incurable,
and it has come to Judah;
it has reached to the gate of my people,
to Jerusalem.

¹⁰^(B)Tell it not in ^(C)Gath;
    weep not at all;
in Beth-le-aphrah
    ^(D)roll yourselves in the dust.
¹¹Pass on your way,
    inhabitants of Shaphir,
    ^(E)in nakedness and shame;
the inhabitants of Zaanan
    do not come out;
the lamentation of Beth-ezel
    shall take away from you its standing place.
¹²For the inhabitants of Maroth
    wait anxiously for good,
because disaster has come down ^(F)from the Lord
    to the gate of Jerusalem.
¹³Harness the steeds to the chariots,
    inhabitants of ^(G)Lachish;
it was the beginning of sin
    to the daughter of Zion,
for in you were found
    ^(H)the transgressions of Israel.
¹⁴Therefore you shall give parting gifts^[a]
    to ^(I)Moresheth-gath;
the houses of ^(J)Achzib shall be a deceitful thing
    to the kings of Israel.
¹⁵I will again bring ^(K)a conqueror to you,
    inhabitants of ^(L)Mareshah;
the glory of Israel
    shall come to ^(M)Adullam.
¹⁶^(N)Make yourselves bald and cut off your hair,
    for the children of your delight;
^(O)make yourselves as bald as the eagle,
    for they shall go from you into exile.

Woe to the Oppressors

2 ^(P)Woe to those who devise wickedness
    and work evil ^(Q)on their beds!
When the morning dawns, they perform it,
    because it is in the power of their hand.
²They covet fields and ^(R)seize them,
    and houses, and take them away;
they oppress a man and his house,
    a man and his inheritance.
³Therefore thus says the Lord:
behold, against ^(S)this family I am devising disaster,^[b]
    from which you cannot remove your necks,
and you ^(T)shall not walk haughtily,
    ^(U)for it will be a time of disaster.
⁴In that day ^(V)they shall take up a taunt song against you
    and moan bitterly,
and say, “We are utterly ruined;
    ^(W)he changes the portion of my people;
^(X)how he removes it from me!
    ^(Y)To an apostate he allots our fields.”
⁵Therefore you will have none ^(Z)to cast the line by lot
    in the assembly of the Lord.

⁶^(AA)“Do not preach”—thus they preach—
    ^(AB)“one should not preach of such things;
    ^(AC)disgrace will not overtake us.”
⁷Should this be said, O house of Jacob?
    ^(AD)Has the Lord grown impatient?^[c]
    Are these his deeds?
Do not my words do good
    to him who walks uprightly?
⁸But lately ^(AE)my people have risen up as an enemy;
you strip the rich robe from those who pass by trustingly
    with no thought of war.^[d]
⁹The women of my people you drive out
    from their delightful houses;
from their young children you take away
    my splendor forever.
¹⁰^(AF)Arise and go,
    for this is no ^(AG)place to rest,
because of ^(AH)uncleanness that destroys
    with a grievous destruction.
¹¹If a man should go about and ^(AI)utter wind and lies,
    saying, “I will preach to you ^(AJ)of wine and strong drink,”
    he would be the preacher for this people!
¹²I will surely assemble all of you, O Jacob;
    ^(AK)I will gather ^(AL)the remnant of Israel;
I will set them together
    like sheep in a fold,
^(AM)like a flock in its pasture,
    a noisy multitude of men.
¹³^(AN)He who opens the breach goes up before them;
    they break through and pass the gate,
    ^(AO)going out by it.
Their king passes on before them,
    ^(AP)the Lord at their head.

Footnotes

Micah 1:14 Or give dowry
Micah 2:3 The same Hebrew word can mean evil or disaster, depending on the context
Micah 2:7 Hebrew Has the spirit of the Lord grown short?
Micah 2:8 Or returning from war