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Micah 1-5
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition

1 The word of the Lord that came to Micah of Moresheth in the days of Kings Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah of Judah, which he saw concerning Samaria and Jerusalem.(A)

Judgment Pronounced against Samaria

2 Hear, you peoples, all of you;
    listen, O earth, and all that is in it,
and let the Lord God be a witness against you,
    the Lord from his holy temple.(B)
3 For the Lord is coming out of his place
    and will come down and tread upon the high places of the earth.(C)
4 Then the mountains will melt under him,
    and the valleys will burst open
like wax near the fire,
    like waters poured down a slope.(D)
5 All 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 Samaria?
And what is the high place[a] of Judah?
    Is it not Jerusalem?(E)
6 Therefore I will make Samaria a heap in the open country,
    a place for planting vineyards.
I will pour down her stones into the valley
    and uncover her foundations.(F)
7 All her images shall be beaten to pieces,
    all her wages shall be burned with fire,
    and all her idols I will lay waste;
for as the wages of a prostitute she gathered them,
    and as the wages of a prostitute they shall again be used.(G)

The Doom of the Cities of Judah

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

10 Tell it not in Gath;
    weep not at all;
in Beth-leaphrah
    roll yourselves in the dust.(J)
11 Pass on your way,
    inhabitants of Shaphir,
    in nakedness and shame;
the inhabitants of Zaanan
    do not come forth;
Beth-ezel is wailing
    and shall remove its support from you.(K)
12 For the inhabitants of Maroth
    wait anxiously for good,
yet disaster has come down from the Lord
    to the gate of Jerusalem.(L)
13 Harness the steeds to the chariots,
    inhabitants of Lachish;
it was the beginning of sin
    to daughter Zion,
for in you were found
    the transgressions of Israel.(M)
14 Therefore you shall give parting gifts
    to Moresheth-gath;
the houses of Achzib shall be a deception
    to the kings of Israel.(N)
15 I will again bring a conqueror upon you,
    inhabitants of Mareshah;
the glory of Israel
    shall come to Adullam.(O)
16 Make yourselves bald and cut off your hair
    for your pampered children;
make yourselves as bald as the eagle,
    for they have gone from you into exile.(P)

Social Evils Denounced

2 Woe to those who devise wickedness
    and evil deeds[c] on their beds!
When the morning dawns, they perform it,
    because it is in their power.(Q)
2 They covet fields and seize them,
    houses and take them away;
they oppress householder and house,
    people and their inheritance.(R)
3 Therefore thus says the Lord:
Now, I am devising against this family an evil
    from which you cannot remove your necks,
and you shall not walk arrogantly,
    for it will be an evil time.(S)
4 On that day they shall take up a taunt song against you
    and wail with bitter lamentation
and say, “We are utterly ruined;
    the Lord[d] alters the inheritance of my people;
how he removes it from me!
    Among our captors[e] he parcels out our fields.”(T)
5 Therefore you will have no one in the Lord’s assembly
    to allot you a piece of land.(U)

6 “Do not preach”—thus they preach—
    “one should not preach of such things;
    disgrace will not overtake us.”(V)
7 Should this be said, O house of Jacob?
    Is the Lord’s patience exhausted?
    Are these his doings?
Do not my words do good
    to one who walks uprightly?
8 But you rise up against my people[f] as an enemy;
    you strip the robe from the peaceful,[g]
from those who pass by trustingly
    with no thought of war.
9 The women of my people you drive out
    from their pleasant houses;
from their young children you take away
    my glory forever.
10 Arise and go,
    for this is no place to rest,
because of uncleanness that destroys
    with a violent destruction.(W)
11 If someone were to go about uttering empty falsehoods,
    saying, “I will preach to you of wine and strong drink,”
    such a one would be the preacher for this people!(X)

A Promise for the Remnant of Israel

12 I will surely gather all of you, O Jacob;
    I will gather the survivors of Israel;
I will set them together
    like sheep in a fold,
like a flock in its pasture;
    it will resound with people.(Y)
13 The one who breaks out will go up before them;
    they will break through and pass the gate,
    going out by it.
Their king will pass on before them,
    the Lord at their head.(Z)

Wicked Rulers and Prophets

3 And I said:
Listen, you heads of Jacob
    and rulers of the house of Israel!
Should you not know justice?—(AA)
2     you who hate the good and love the evil,
who tear the skin off my people[h]
    and the flesh off their bones,(AB)
3 who eat the flesh of my people,
    flay their skin off them,
break their bones in pieces,
    and chop them up like meat[i] in a kettle,
    like flesh in a caldron.(AC)

4 Then they will cry to the Lord,
    but he will not answer them;
he will hide his face from them at that time
    because they have acted wickedly.(AD)

5 Thus says the Lord concerning the prophets
    who lead my people astray,
who cry “Peace”
    when they have something to eat
but declare war against those
    who put nothing into their mouths.(AE)
6 Therefore it shall be night to you, without vision,
    and darkness to you, without revelation.
The sun shall go down upon the prophets,
    and the day shall be black over them;(AF)
7 the seers shall be disgraced
    and the diviners put to shame;
they shall all cover their lips,
    for there is no answer from God.(AG)
8 But as for me, I am filled with power,
    with the spirit of the Lord,
    and with justice and might,
to declare to Jacob his transgression
    and to Israel his sin.(AH)

9 Hear this, you rulers of the house of Jacob
    and chiefs of the house of Israel,
who abhor justice
    and pervert all equity,(AI)
10 who build Zion with blood
    and Jerusalem with wrong!(AJ)
11 Its rulers give judgment for a bribe;
    its priests teach for a price;
    its prophets give oracles for money;
yet they lean upon the Lord and say,
    “Surely the Lord is with us!
    No harm shall come upon us.”(AK)
12 Therefore because of you
    Zion shall be plowed as a field;
Jerusalem shall become a heap of ruins,
    and the mountain of the temple a wooded height.(AL)

Peace and Security through Obedience

4 In days to come
    the mountain of the Lord’s temple
shall be established as the highest of the mountains
    and shall be raised up above the hills.
Peoples shall stream to it,(AM)
2     and many nations shall come and say:
“Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord,
    to the house of the God of Jacob,
that he may teach us his ways
    and that we may walk in his paths.”
For out of Zion shall go forth instruction,
    and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.(AN)
3 He shall judge between many peoples
    and shall arbitrate between strong nations far away;
they shall beat their swords into plowshares
    and their spears into pruning hooks;
nation shall not lift up sword against nation;
    neither shall they learn war any more;(AO)
4 but they shall all sit under their own vines and under their own fig trees,
    and no one shall make them afraid,
    for the mouth of the Lord of hosts has spoken.(AP)

5 For all the peoples walk,
    each in the name of its god,
but we will walk in the name of the Lord our God
    forever and ever.(AQ)

Restoration Promised after Exile

6 On that day, says the Lord,
    I will assemble the lame
and gather those who have been driven away
    and those whom I have afflicted.(AR)
7 The lame I will make the remnant,
    and those who were cast off, a strong nation,
and the Lord will reign over them in Mount Zion
    now and forevermore.(AS)

8 And you, O tower of the flock,
    hill of daughter Zion,
to you it shall come,
    the former dominion shall come,
    the sovereignty of daughter Jerusalem.(AT)

9 Now why do you cry aloud?
    Is there no king in you?
Has your counselor perished,
    that pangs have seized you like a woman in labor?(AU)
10 Writhe and groan,[j] O daughter Zion,
    like a woman in labor,
for now you shall go forth from the city
    and camp in the open country;
    you shall go to Babylon.
There you shall be rescued;
    there the Lord will redeem you
    from the hands of your enemies.(AV)

11 Now many nations
    are assembled against you,
saying, “Let her be profaned,
    and let our eyes gaze upon Zion.”(AW)
12 But they do not know
    the thoughts of the Lord;
they do not understand his plan,
    that he has gathered them as sheaves to the threshing floor.(AX)
13 Arise and thresh,
    O daughter Zion,
for I will make your horn iron
    and your hoofs bronze;
you shall beat in pieces many peoples
    and shall[k] devote their gain to the Lord,
    their wealth to the Lord of the whole earth.(AY)

5 [l]Now you are walled around with a wall;[m]
    siege is laid against us;
with a rod they strike the ruler of Israel
    upon the cheek.(AZ)

The Ruler from Bethlehem

2 [n]But you, O Bethlehem of Ephrathah,
    who are one of the little clans of Judah,
from you shall come forth for me
    one who is to rule in Israel,
whose origin is from of old,
    from ancient days.(BA)
3 Therefore he shall give them up until the time
    when she who is in labor has brought forth;
then the rest of his kindred shall return
    to the people of Israel.(BB)
4 And he shall stand and feed his flock in the strength of the Lord,
    in the majesty of the name of the Lord his God.
And they shall live secure, for now he shall be great
    to the ends of the earth,(BC)
5 and he shall be the one of peace.

    If the Assyrians come into our land
    and tread upon our soil,[o]
we will raise against them seven shepherds
    and eight rulers.(BD)
6 They shall rule the land of Assyria with the sword
    and the land of Nimrod with the drawn sword;[p]
they[q] shall rescue us from the Assyrians
    if they come into our land
    or tread within our border.(BE)

The Future Role of the Remnant

7 Then the remnant of Jacob,
    surrounded by many peoples,
shall be like dew from the Lord,
    like showers on the grass,
which do not depend upon people
    or wait for any mortal.(BF)
8 And among the nations the remnant of Jacob,
    surrounded by many peoples,
shall be like a lion among the animals of the forest,
    like a young lion among the flocks of sheep,
which, when it goes through, treads down
    and tears in pieces, with no one to deliver.(BG)
9 Your hand shall be lifted up over your adversaries,
    and all your enemies shall be cut off.(BH)

10 On that day, says the Lord,
    I will cut off your horses from among you
    and will destroy your chariots;(BI)
11 and I will cut off the cities of your land
    and destroy all your strongholds;(BJ)
12 and I will cut off sorceries from your hand,
    and you shall have no more soothsayers;(BK)
13 and I will cut off your images
    and your pillars from among you,
and you shall bow down no more
    to the work of your hands;
14 and I will uproot your sacred poles[r] from among you
    and destroy your towns.(BL)
15 And in anger and wrath I will execute vengeance
    on the nations that did not obey.(BM)

Footnotes

  1. 1.5 Heb what are the high places
  2. 1.9 Gk Syr Vg: Heb wounds
  3. 2.1 Cn: Heb work evil
  4. 2.4 Heb he
  5. 2.4 Cn: Heb the rebellious
  6. 2.8 Cn: Heb But yesterday my people rose
  7. 2.8 Cn: Heb from before a garment
  8. 3.2 Heb from them
  9. 3.3 Gk: Heb as
  10. 4.10 Meaning of Heb uncertain
  11. 4.13 Gk Syr Tg: Heb and I will
  12. 5.1 4.14 in Heb
  13. 5.1 Cn Compare Gk: Meaning of Heb uncertain
  14. 5.2 5.1 in Heb
  15. 5.5 Gk: Heb in our palaces
  16. 5.6 Cn: Heb in its entrances
  17. 5.6 Heb he
  18. 5.14 Or Asherahs
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Micah 1-5
New International Version

1 The word of the Lord that came to Micah of Moresheth(A) during the reigns of Jotham,(B) Ahaz(C) and Hezekiah,(D) kings of Judah(E)—the vision(F) he saw concerning Samaria and Jerusalem.

2 Hear,(G) you peoples, all of you,(H)
    listen, earth(I) and all who live in it,
that the Sovereign Lord may bear witness(J) against you,
    the Lord from his holy temple.(K)

Judgment Against Samaria and Jerusalem

3 Look! The Lord is coming from his dwelling(L) place;
    he comes down(M) and treads on the heights of the earth.(N)
4 The mountains melt(O) beneath him(P)
    and the valleys split apart,(Q)
like wax before the fire,
    like water rushing down a slope.
5 All this is because of Jacob’s transgression,
    because of the sins of the people of Israel.
What is Jacob’s transgression?
    Is it not Samaria?(R)
What is Judah’s high place?
    Is it not Jerusalem?

6 “Therefore I will make Samaria a heap of rubble,
    a place for planting vineyards.(S)
I will pour her stones(T) into the valley
    and lay bare her foundations.(U)
7 All her idols(V) will be broken to pieces;(W)
    all her temple gifts will be burned with fire;
    I will destroy all her images.(X)
Since she gathered her gifts from the wages of prostitutes,(Y)
    as the wages of prostitutes they will again be used.”

Weeping and Mourning

8 Because of this I will weep(Z) and wail;
    I will go about barefoot(AA) and naked.
I will howl like a jackal
    and moan like an owl.
9 For Samaria’s plague(AB) is incurable;(AC)
    it has spread to Judah.(AD)
It has reached the very gate(AE) of my people,
    even to Jerusalem itself.
10 Tell it not in Gath[a];
    weep not at all.
In Beth Ophrah[b]
    roll in the dust.
11 Pass by naked(AF) and in shame,
    you who live in Shaphir.[c]
Those who live in Zaanan[d]
    will not come out.
Beth Ezel is in mourning;
    it no longer protects you.
12 Those who live in Maroth[e] writhe in pain,
    waiting for relief,(AG)
because disaster(AH) has come from the Lord,
    even to the gate of Jerusalem.
13 You who live in Lachish,(AI)
    harness fast horses to the chariot.
You are where the sin of Daughter Zion(AJ) began,
    for the transgressions of Israel were found in you.
14 Therefore you will give parting gifts(AK)
    to Moresheth(AL) Gath.
The town of Akzib[f](AM) will prove deceptive(AN)
    to the kings of Israel.
15 I will bring a conqueror against you
    who live in Mareshah.[g](AO)
The nobles of Israel
    will flee to Adullam.(AP)
16 Shave(AQ) your head in mourning
    for the children in whom you delight;
make yourself as bald as the vulture,
    for they will go from you into exile.(AR)

Human Plans and God’s Plans

2 Woe to those who plan iniquity,
    to those who plot evil(AS) on their beds!(AT)
At morning’s light they carry it out
    because it is in their power to do it.
2 They covet fields(AU) and seize them,(AV)
    and houses, and take them.
They defraud(AW) people of their homes,
    they rob them of their inheritance.(AX)

3 Therefore, the Lord says:

“I am planning disaster(AY) against this people,
    from which you cannot save yourselves.
You will no longer walk proudly,(AZ)
    for it will be a time of calamity.
4 In that day people will ridicule you;
    they will taunt you with this mournful song:
‘We are utterly ruined;(BA)
    my people’s possession is divided up.(BB)
He takes it from me!
    He assigns our fields to traitors.’”

5 Therefore you will have no one in the assembly of the Lord
    to divide the land(BC) by lot.(BD)

False Prophets

6 “Do not prophesy,” their prophets say.
    “Do not prophesy about these things;
    disgrace(BE) will not overtake us.(BF)”
7 You descendants of Jacob, should it be said,
    “Does the Lord become[h] impatient?
    Does he do such things?”

“Do not my words do good(BG)
    to the one whose ways are upright?(BH)
8 Lately my people have risen up
    like an enemy.
You strip off the rich robe
    from those who pass by without a care,
    like men returning from battle.
9 You drive the women of my people
    from their pleasant homes.(BI)
You take away my blessing
    from their children forever.
10 Get up, go away!
    For this is not your resting place,(BJ)
because it is defiled,(BK)
    it is ruined, beyond all remedy.
11 If a liar and deceiver(BL) comes and says,
    ‘I will prophesy for you plenty of wine and beer,’(BM)
    that would be just the prophet for this people!(BN)

Deliverance Promised

12 “I will surely gather all of you, Jacob;
    I will surely bring together the remnant(BO) of Israel.
I will bring them together like sheep in a pen,
    like a flock in its pasture;
    the place will throng with people.(BP)
13 The One who breaks open the way will go up before(BQ) them;
    they will break through the gate(BR) and go out.
Their King will pass through before them,
    the Lord at their head.”

Leaders and Prophets Rebuked

3 Then I said,

“Listen, you leaders(BS) of Jacob,
    you rulers of Israel.
Should you not embrace justice,
2     you who hate good and love evil;
who tear the skin from my people
    and the flesh from their bones;(BT)
3 who eat my people’s flesh,(BU)
    strip off their skin
    and break their bones in pieces;(BV)
who chop(BW) them up like meat for the pan,
    like flesh for the pot?(BX)”

4 Then they will cry out to the Lord,
    but he will not answer them.(BY)
At that time he will hide his face(BZ) from them
    because of the evil they have done.(CA)

5 This is what the Lord says:

“As for the prophets
    who lead my people astray,(CB)
they proclaim ‘peace’(CC)
    if they have something to eat,
but prepare to wage war against anyone
    who refuses to feed them.
6 Therefore night will come over you, without visions,
    and darkness, without divination.(CD)
The sun will set for the prophets,(CE)
    and the day will go dark for them.(CF)
7 The seers will be ashamed(CG)
    and the diviners disgraced.(CH)
They will all cover(CI) their faces(CJ)
    because there is no answer from God.(CK)”
8 But as for me, I am filled with power,
    with the Spirit of the Lord,
    and with justice and might,
to declare to Jacob his transgression,
    to Israel his sin.(CL)

9 Hear this, you leaders of Jacob,
    you rulers of Israel,
who despise justice
    and distort all that is right;(CM)
10 who build(CN) Zion with bloodshed,(CO)
    and Jerusalem with wickedness.(CP)
11 Her leaders judge for a bribe,(CQ)
    her priests teach for a price,(CR)
    and her prophets tell fortunes for money.(CS)
Yet they look(CT) for the Lord’s support and say,
    “Is not the Lord among us?
    No disaster will come upon us.”(CU)
12 Therefore because of you,
    Zion will be plowed like a field,
Jerusalem will become a heap of rubble,(CV)
    the temple(CW) hill a mound overgrown with thickets.(CX)

The Mountain of the Lord(CY)

4 In the last days

the mountain(CZ) of the Lord’s temple will be established
    as the highest of the mountains;
it will be exalted above the hills,(DA)
    and peoples will stream to it.(DB)

2 Many nations will come and say,

“Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord,(DC)
    to the temple of the God of Jacob.(DD)
He will teach us(DE) his ways,(DF)
    so that we may walk in his paths.”
The law(DG) will go out from Zion,
    the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.
3 He will judge between many peoples
    and will settle disputes for strong nations far and wide.(DH)
They will beat their swords into plowshares
    and their spears into pruning hooks.(DI)
Nation will not take up sword against nation,
    nor will they train for war(DJ) anymore.(DK)
4 Everyone will sit under their own vine
    and under their own fig tree,(DL)
and no one will make them afraid,(DM)
    for the Lord Almighty has spoken.(DN)
5 All the nations may walk
    in the name of their gods,(DO)
but we will walk in the name of the Lord
    our God for ever and ever.(DP)

The Lord’s Plan

6 “In that day,” declares the Lord,

“I will gather the lame;(DQ)
    I will assemble the exiles(DR)
    and those I have brought to grief.(DS)
7 I will make the lame my remnant,(DT)
    those driven away a strong nation.(DU)
The Lord will rule over them in Mount Zion(DV)
    from that day and forever.(DW)
8 As for you, watchtower of the flock,
    stronghold[i] of Daughter Zion,
the former dominion will be restored(DX) to you;
    kingship will come to Daughter Jerusalem.(DY)”

9 Why do you now cry aloud—
    have you no king[j](DZ)?
Has your ruler[k] perished,
    that pain seizes you like that of a woman in labor?(EA)
10 Writhe in agony, Daughter Zion,
    like a woman in labor,
for now you must leave the city
    to camp in the open field.
You will go to Babylon;(EB)
    there you will be rescued.
There the Lord will redeem(EC) you
    out of the hand of your enemies.

11 But now many nations
    are gathered against you.
They say, “Let her be defiled,
    let our eyes gloat(ED) over Zion!”
12 But they do not know
    the thoughts of the Lord;
they do not understand his plan,(EE)
    that he has gathered them like sheaves to the threshing floor.
13 “Rise and thresh,(EF) Daughter Zion,
    for I will give you horns of iron;
I will give you hooves of bronze,
    and you will break to pieces many nations.”(EG)
You will devote their ill-gotten gains to the Lord,(EH)
    their wealth to the Lord of all the earth.

A Promised Ruler From Bethlehem

5 [l]Marshal your troops now, city of troops,
    for a siege is laid against us.
They will strike Israel’s ruler
    on the cheek(EI) with a rod.

2 “But you, Bethlehem(EJ) Ephrathah,(EK)
    though you are small among the clans[m] of Judah,
out of you will come for me
    one who will be ruler(EL) over Israel,
whose origins are from of old,(EM)
    from ancient times.”(EN)

3 Therefore Israel will be abandoned(EO)
    until the time when she who is in labor bears a son,
and the rest of his brothers return
    to join the Israelites.

4 He will stand and shepherd his flock(EP)
    in the strength of the Lord,
    in the majesty of the name of the Lord his God.
And they will live securely, for then his greatness(EQ)
    will reach to the ends of the earth.

5 And he will be our peace(ER)
    when the Assyrians invade(ES) our land
    and march through our fortresses.
We will raise against them seven shepherds,
    even eight commanders,(ET)
6 who will rule[n] the land of Assyria with the sword,
    the land of Nimrod(EU) with drawn sword.[o](EV)
He will deliver us from the Assyrians
    when they invade our land
    and march across our borders.(EW)

7 The remnant(EX) of Jacob will be
    in the midst of many peoples
like dew(EY) from the Lord,
    like showers on the grass,(EZ)
which do not wait for anyone
    or depend on man.
8 The remnant of Jacob will be among the nations,
    in the midst of many peoples,
like a lion among the beasts of the forest,(FA)
    like a young lion among flocks of sheep,
which mauls and mangles(FB) as it goes,
    and no one can rescue.(FC)
9 Your hand will be lifted up(FD) in triumph over your enemies,
    and all your foes will be destroyed.

10 “In that day,” declares the Lord,

“I will destroy your horses from among you
    and demolish your chariots.(FE)
11 I will destroy the cities(FF) of your land
    and tear down all your strongholds.(FG)
12 I will destroy your witchcraft
    and you will no longer cast spells.(FH)
13 I will destroy your idols(FI)
    and your sacred stones from among you;(FJ)
you will no longer bow down
    to the work of your hands.(FK)
14 I will uproot from among you your Asherah poles[p](FL)
    when I demolish your cities.
15 I will take vengeance(FM) in anger and wrath
    on the nations that have not obeyed me.”

Footnotes

  1. Micah 1:10 Gath sounds like the Hebrew for tell.
  2. Micah 1:10 Beth Ophrah means house of dust.
  3. Micah 1:11 Shaphir means pleasant.
  4. Micah 1:11 Zaanan sounds like the Hebrew for come out.
  5. Micah 1:12 Maroth sounds like the Hebrew for bitter.
  6. Micah 1:14 Akzib means deception.
  7. Micah 1:15 Mareshah sounds like the Hebrew for conqueror.
  8. Micah 2:7 Or Is the Spirit of the Lord
  9. Micah 4:8 Or hill
  10. Micah 4:9 Or King
  11. Micah 4:9 Or Ruler
  12. Micah 5:1 In Hebrew texts 5:1 is numbered 4:14, and 5:2-15 is numbered 5:1-14.
  13. Micah 5:2 Or rulers
  14. Micah 5:6 Or crush
  15. Micah 5:6 Or Nimrod in its gates
  16. Micah 5:14 That is, wooden symbols of the goddess Asherah
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Jonah 4
Micah 6
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