The word of the Lord that came(A) to Micah(B) the Moreshite(C)—what he saw regarding Samaria and Jerusalem in the days of Jotham,(D) Ahaz,(E) and Hezekiah,(F) kings of Judah.

Coming Judgment on Israel

Listen, all you peoples;(G)
pay attention, earth[a] and everyone in it!(H)
The Lord God will be a witness against you,(I)
the Lord, from His holy temple.(J)
Look, the Lord is leaving His place(K)
and coming down to trample
the heights[b] of the earth.(L)
The mountains will melt beneath Him,
and the valleys will split apart,
like wax near a fire,(M)
like water cascading down a mountainside.
All this will happen because of Jacob’s rebellion
and the sins of the house of Israel.
What is the rebellion of Jacob?
Isn’t it Samaria?(N)
And what is the high place of Judah?(O)
Isn’t it Jerusalem?
Therefore, I will make Samaria
a heap of ruins(P) in the countryside,
a planting area(Q) for a vineyard.
I will roll her stones(R) into the valley
and expose her foundations.(S)
All her carved images will be smashed(T) to pieces;
all her wages(U) will be burned in the fire,
and I will destroy all her idols.
Since she collected the wages of a prostitute,(V)
they will be used again for a prostitute.

Micah’s Lament

Because of this I will lament and wail;
I will walk barefoot and naked.(W)
I will howl like the jackals(X)
and mourn like ostriches.[c]
For her wound is incurable(Y)
and has reached even Judah;(Z)
it has approached the gate of my people,(AA)
as far as Jerusalem.

10 Don’t announce it in Gath,(AB)
don’t weep at all.
Roll in the dust in Beth-leaphrah.
11 Depart in shameful nakedness,(AC)
you residents of Shaphir;
the residents of Zaanan(AD) will not come out.
Beth-ezel is lamenting;
its support[d] is taken from you.
12 Though the residents of Maroth
anxiously wait for something good,(AE)
disaster has come from the Lord(AF)
to the gate of Jerusalem.
13 Harness the horses to the chariot,
you residents of Lachish.(AG)
This was the beginning of sin for Daughter Zion,
because Israel’s acts of rebellion(AH) can be traced to you.
14 Therefore, send farewell gifts(AI) to Moresheth-gath;
the houses of Achzib(AJ) are a deception(AK)
to the kings of Israel.
15 I will again bring a conqueror
against you who live in Mareshah.(AL)
The nobility[e] of Israel will come to Adullam.(AM)
16 Shave yourselves bald and cut off your hair(AN)
in sorrow for your precious children;
make yourselves as bald as an eagle,
for they have been taken from you into exile.(AO)

Footnotes

  1. Micah 1:2 Or land
  2. Micah 1:3 Or high places
  3. Micah 1:8 Or eagle owls; lit daughters of the desert
  4. Micah 1:11 Lit its standing place; Hb obscure
  5. Micah 1:15 Lit glory

The Lord is coming!

The Lord’s word that came to Micah of Moresheth in the days of Judah’s Kings Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, which he saw concerning Samaria and Jerusalem:

Listen, all you peoples!
        Pay attention, earth, and all that fills it!
    May the Lord God be a witness against you,
            the Lord from his holy temple.
Look! The Lord is coming out from his place;
        he will go down and tread on the shrines of the earth.
Then the mountains will melt under him;
        the valleys will split apart,
            like wax yielding to the fire,
            like waters poured down a slope.
All this is for the crime of Jacob
        and the sins of the house of Israel.
        Who is responsible for the crime of Jacob?[a]
                Isn’t it Samaria?
            Who is responsible for[b] the shrines of Judah?
                Isn’t it Jerusalem?
So I will make Samaria a pile of rubble in the open field,
        a place for planting vineyards.
    I will pour her stones into the valley;
        her foundations I will lay bare.
All her images will be beaten to pieces;
        all her wages will be burned;
    I will make all her idols worthless.
        Since she gathered them from the wages of a prostitute,
            they will again become wages of a prostitute.
On account of this, I will cry out and howl;
        I will go about barefoot and stripped.
    I will cry out like the jackals,
        and mourn like the ostriches.

Destruction looms

Indeed, Zion has been weakened by her wounds!
            It has come as far as Judah;
    he has struck as far as the gate of my people,
            as far as Jerusalem.
10 In Gath tell it not; no need to weep there![c]
        In Beth-le-aphrah, roll yourself in the dust!
11 Pass by (for your sake),[d] inhabitants of Shaphir!
        In nakedness and shame she will not go out, inhabitants of Zaanan.
The cry of Beth-ezel
        will take away from you[e] any place to stand.
12 How she longs for good, inhabitants of Maroth!
        Calamity has come down from the Lord to the gate of Jerusalem.
13 Harness the horses to the chariot, inhabitants of Lachish!
        It was the beginning of sin for Daughter Zion;
            the crimes of Israel have been found in you.
14 Therefore, you will give good-bye gifts to Moresheth-gath;
        the houses of Achzib have become a deception for the kings of Israel.
15 Again I will bring to you the one who conquers, inhabitants of Mareshah;
        the glory of Israel will come as far as Adullam.
16 Make yourself bald and cut off your hair
            because of your cherished children!
        Make yourself as bald as the vulture,
            for they have gone from you into exile.

Footnotes

  1. Micah 1:5 Heb lacks responsible for.
  2. Micah 1:5 Heb lacks responsible for.
  3. Micah 1:10 Heb lacks there.
  4. Micah 1:11 You (plural)
  5. Micah 1:11 You (feminine singular)