Micah 1
Lexham English Bible
The Impending Doom of Samaria and Jerusalem
1 The word of Yahweh that came to Micah the Morashtite in the days of Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, the kings of Judah, that he saw concerning Samaria and Jerusalem:
2 Hear, all you peoples;
give heed, O earth and its fullness.
And let the Lord Yahweh be against you as a witness,
the Lord from his holy temple.[a]
3 For behold, Yahweh is coming out from his place,
and he will come down and tread upon the high places of the earth.
4 The mountains will melt under him
and the valleys will burst open,
like wax before the fire,
like water rushing down a slope.
5 All this is for the rebellion of Jacob,
and for the sins of the house of Israel.
What is the rebellion of Jacob?
Is it not Samaria?
And what are the high places of Judah?
Are they not Jerusalem?
6 So I will make Samaria as a heap of rubble in the field,
a place for planting a vineyard.
And I will pour down her stones into the valley
and uncover her foundations.
7 Then all her idols will be broken in pieces,
and all her prostitution wages will be burned in the fire,
and all her idols I will make a desolation,
For from the wage of a prostitute she gathered them,
and to the wage of a prostitute they will return.
8 On account of this I will lament and wail.
I will go about barefoot and naked.
I will make a lamentation like the jackals,
and a mourning ceremony like the ostriches.[b]
9 For her wounds are incurable,
because it has come to Judah.
It has reached to the gate of my people, to Jerusalem.
10 Do not tell it in Gath;
you must not weep at all.
In Beth-le-Aphrah
roll yourself in dust.
11 Pass on, you inhabitants of Shaphir,
in naked shame.
The inhabitants of Zaanan do not come forth;
the wailing of Beth-ha-Ezel will take its protection from you.
12 For the inhabitants of Maroth
writhed for good,
because disaster has come down from Yahweh
to the gate of Jerusalem.
13 Harness the chariot to the team of horses,
O inhabitants of Lachish;
it is the beginning of sin
for the daughter of Zion,
for the transgressions of Israel
were found in you.
14 Therefore you will give parting gifts
to Moresheth-Gath;
the houses of Achzib will be a deception
to the kings of Israel.
15 I will again bring the conqueror upon you,
O inhabitants of Mareshah;
the glory of Israel
will come to Adullam.
16 Make yourselves bald
and cut off your hair
for the children of your pleasure.
Expand your baldness as the eagle,
for they will go into exile away from you.
Micah 1
Common English Bible
The Lord is coming!
1 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:
2 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.
3 Look! The Lord is coming out from his place;
he will go down and tread on the shrines of the earth.
4 Then the mountains will melt under him;
the valleys will split apart,
like wax yielding to the fire,
like waters poured down a slope.
5 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?
6 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.
7 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.
8 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
9 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
- Micah 1:5 Heb lacks responsible for.
- Micah 1:5 Heb lacks responsible for.
- Micah 1:10 Heb lacks there.
- Micah 1:11 You (plural)
- Micah 1:11 You (feminine singular)
2012 by Logos Bible Software. Lexham is a registered trademark of Logos Bible Software
Copyright © 2011 by Common English Bible