Micah 1

Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition

1 The word of the Lord that came to Micah of Mo′resheth in the days of Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezeki′ah, kings of Judah, which he saw concerning Samar′ia and Jerusalem.

Judgment Pronounced against Samaria

²Hear, you peoples, all of you;
    hearken, O earth, and all that is in it;
and let the Lord God be a witness against you,
    the Lord from his holy temple.
³For behold, the Lord is coming forth out of his place,
    and will come down and tread upon the high places of the earth.
⁴And the mountains will melt under him
    and the valleys will be cleft,
like wax before the fire,
    like waters poured down a steep place.
⁵All this is for the transgression of Jacob
    and for the sins of the house of Israel.
What is the transgression of Jacob?
    Is it not Samar′ia?
And what is the sin of the house^[a] of Judah?
    Is it not Jerusalem?
⁶Therefore I will make Samar′ia a heap in the open country,
    a place for planting vineyards;
and I will pour down her stones into the valley,
    and uncover her foundations.
⁷All her images shall be beaten to pieces,
    all her hires shall be burned with fire,
    and all her idols I will lay waste;
for from the hire of a harlot she gathered them,
    and to the hire of a harlot they shall return.

The Doom of the Cities of Judah

⁸For this I will lament and wail;
    I will go stripped and naked;
I will make lamentation like the jackals,
    and mourning like the ostriches.
⁹For her wound^[b] is incurable;
    and it has come to Judah,
it has reached to the gate of my people,
    to Jerusalem.

¹⁰Tell it not in Gath,
    weep not at all;
in Beth-le-aph′rah
    roll yourselves in the dust.
¹¹Pass on your way,
    inhabitants of Shaphir,
    in nakedness and shame;
the inhabitants of Za′anan
    do not come forth;
the wailing of Beth-e′zel
    shall take away from you its standing place.
¹²For the inhabitants of Maroth
    wait anxiously for good,
because evil has come down from the Lord
    to the gate of Jerusalem.
¹³Harness the steeds to the chariots,
    inhabitants of Lachish;
you were^[c] the beginning of sin
    to the daughter of Zion,
for in you were found
    the transgressions of Israel.
¹⁴Therefore you shall give parting gifts
    to Mo′resheth-gath;
the houses of Achzib shall be a deceitful thing
    to the kings of Israel.
¹⁵I will again bring a conqueror upon you,
    inhabitants of Mare′shah;
the glory of Israel
    shall come to Adul′lam.
¹⁶Make yourselves bald and cut off your hair,
    for the children of your delight;
make yourselves as bald as the eagle,
    for they shall go from you into exile.

Footnotes

Micah 1:5 Gk Tg Compare Syr: Heb what are the high places
Micah 1:9 Gk Syr Vg: Heb wounds
Micah 1:13 Cn: Heb it was

Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition (RSVCE)

The Revised Standard Version of the Bible: Catholic Edition, copyright © 1965, 1966 the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.