Micah 1
English Standard Version
1 The word of the Lord that came to Micah (A)of Moresheth (B)in the days of Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah, which he saw (C)concerning (D)Samaria and Jerusalem.
The Coming Destruction
2 (E)Hear, you peoples, all of you;[a]
(F)pay attention, O earth, and all that is in it,
and (G)let the Lord God be a witness against you,
(H)the Lord from his holy temple.
3 For behold, (I)the Lord is coming out of (J)his place,
and will come down and (K)tread upon the high places of the earth.
4 And (L)the mountains will melt under him,
and the valleys will split open,
like wax before the fire,
like waters poured down a steep place.
5 All this is for (M)the transgression of Jacob
and for the sins of the house of Israel.
(N)What is the transgression of Jacob?
Is it not (O)Samaria?
And what is (P)the high place of Judah?
Is it not Jerusalem?
6 Therefore I will make (Q)Samaria (R)a heap in the open country,
a place for planting vineyards,
and I will pour down her stones (S)into the valley
and (T)uncover her foundations.
7 All (U)her carved images shall be beaten to pieces,
(V)all her wages shall be burned with fire,
and all her idols I will lay waste,
for from (W)the fee of a prostitute she gathered them,
and to the fee of a prostitute they shall return.
8 (X)For this I will lament and wail;
I will go (Y)stripped and naked;
I will make lamentation (Z)like the jackals,
and mourning (AA)like the ostriches.
9 (AB)For her wound is incurable,
and it has come to Judah;
it has reached to the gate of my people,
to Jerusalem.
10 (AC)Tell it not in (AD)Gath;
weep not at all;
in Beth-le-aphrah
(AE)roll yourselves in the dust.
11 Pass on your way,
inhabitants of Shaphir,
(AF)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.
12 For the inhabitants of Maroth
wait anxiously for good,
because disaster has come down (AG)from the Lord
to the gate of Jerusalem.
13 Harness the steeds to the chariots,
inhabitants of (AH)Lachish;
it was the beginning of sin
to the daughter of Zion,
for in you were found
(AI)the transgressions of Israel.
14 Therefore you shall give parting gifts[b]
to (AJ)Moresheth-gath;
the houses of (AK)Achzib shall be a deceitful thing
to the kings of Israel.
15 I will again bring (AL)a conqueror to you,
inhabitants of (AM)Mareshah;
the glory of Israel
shall come to (AN)Adullam.
16 (AO)Make yourselves bald and cut off your hair,
for the children of your delight;
(AP)make yourselves as bald as the eagle,
for they shall go from you into exile.
Footnotes
- Micah 1:2 Hebrew all of them
- Micah 1:14 Or give dowry
Micah 1
International Standard Version
God’s Coming Judgment
1 This message from the Lord came to Micah[a] of Moresheth during the reigns of[b] the Judean kings Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah concerning the vision he saw about Samaria and Jerusalem:
2 “Listen, people! All of you!
Earth! Pay attention, and all you inhabitants of it!
May the Lord God be a witness against you—
the Lord from his holy Temple.
3 Look here! The Lord is coming from his place!
He will come down
and will trample down the high places[c] throughout the land.
4 The mountains will melt under him
and the valleys will split apart,
like wax in the presence of fire
and like water gushing down a steep incline.
5 All this comes about due to the transgression of Jacob,
and due to the sins of the house of Israel.
What is Jacob’s sin? It’s Samaria, isn’t it?
And what’s Judah’s high place?[d] It’s Jerusalem, isn’t it?
6 “So I will turn Samaria into a mound of dirt in a field,
a place to plant vineyards.
And I will dump her building stones into the valley,
uncovering her foundation.
7 All of her carved images will be crushed to pieces,
all the earnings of her prostitution will be burned up,
and I will destroy all her idols;
because she collected the wages of prostitution,
and to the wages of prostitution they will return.”
The Coming Destruction
8 “Therefore I will cry out and grieve loudly;
I will walk around stripped and naked.
I will cry out like a jackal
and mourn like a company of ostriches.
9 For Samaria’s[e] injury is fatal,
reaching all the way to Judah,
extending even to the gate of my people—to Jerusalem.”
10 “Don’t discuss it in Gath![f]
Don’t cry bitterly in Akim![g]
Roll in the ashes, Beth-leaphrah!
11 Run away, you residents of Shaphir,
displaying your shameful nakedness.
Don’t come out, you residents of Zaanan![h]
Your firm standing will disappear as Beth-ezel mourns.
12 Even though the inhabitants of Maroth long for success,
nevertheless evil descended from the Lord to the gate of Jerusalem.
13 “You inhabitants of Lachish, harness your chariot to your swiftest steed—
the daughter of Zion has begun to sin—
because within you the transgressions of Israel were revealed.
14 Therefore give your gifts to Moresheth-gath;
that is, the houses of Achzib as a deceitful symbol[i] to the kings of Israel.
15 Nevertheless, I will deliver an heir to you, inhabitants of Mareshah—
to Adullam the glory of Israel will come.
16 “Shave your head
and cut off your locks as you mourn your beloved children.
Make yourself bald as an eagle,
because they will go from you into exile!”
Footnotes
- Micah 1:1 The Heb. name Micah means Who is like the Lord?
- Micah 1:1 Lit. days
- Micah 1:3 I.e. the sites of idol worship
- Micah 1:5 I.e. the sites of idol worship
- Micah 1:9 Lit. her
- Micah 1:10 A city in Philistia
- Micah 1:10 So LXX; MT reads Don’t cry at all
- Micah 1:11 A city of Judah
- Micah 1:14 Or a lie
The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Text Edition: 2016. Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.
Copyright © 1995-2014 by ISV Foundation. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED INTERNATIONALLY. Used by permission of Davidson Press, LLC.
