Micah 1-4
New American Standard Bible
Destruction in Israel and Judah
1 The (A)word of the Lord which came to (B)Micah of Moresheth in the days of (C)Jotham, (D)Ahaz, and (E)Hezekiah, kings of Judah, and which he saw regarding Samaria and Jerusalem.
2 Hear, you peoples, all of [a]you;
(F)Listen carefully, earth and [b]all it contains,
And may the Lord [c]God be a (G)witness against you,
The Lord from His holy temple.
3 For behold, the Lord is (H)coming forth from His place.
He will come down and (I)tread on the high places of the [d]earth.
4 (J)The mountains will melt under Him
And the valleys will be split,
Like wax before the fire,
Like water poured down a steep place.
5 All this is due to the [e]wrongdoing of Jacob
And the sins of the house of Israel.
What is the (K)[f]wrongdoing of Jacob?
Is it not (L)Samaria?
What is the (M)high [g]place of Judah?
Is it not Jerusalem?
6 For I will make Samaria a (N)heap of ruins [h]in the open country,
(O)Planting places for a vineyard.
I will (P)hurl her stones down into the valley,
And (Q)lay bare her foundations.
7 All of her (R)idols will be crushed,
All of her earnings will be burned with fire,
And all of her images I will make desolate;
For she collected them from a (S)prostitute’s earnings,
And to the earnings of a prostitute they will return.
8 Because of this I must mourn and wail,
I must go (T)barefoot and naked;
I must do mourning like the (U)jackals,
And a mourning like the ostriches.
9 For her (V)wound is incurable,
For (W)it has come to Judah;
It has reached the (X)gate of my people,
Even to Jerusalem.
10 (Y)Do not tell it in Gath,
Do not weep at all.
At [i]Beth-le-aphrah roll yourself in the dust in mourning.
11 [j]Go on your way, inhabitant of [k]Shaphir, in (Z)shameful nakedness.
The inhabitant of [l](AA)Zaanan does not [m]escape.
The mourning of [n]Beth-ezel: “He will take from you its [o]support.”
12 For the inhabitant of [p]Maroth
[q](AB)Waits for something good,
Because a disaster has come down from the Lord
To the (AC)gate of Jerusalem.
13 Harness the chariot to the team of horses,
You inhabitant of (AD)Lachish—
She was the beginning of sin
To the daughter of Zion—
Because in you were found
The (AE)rebellious acts of Israel.
14 Therefore you will give parting (AF)gifts
In behalf of Moresheth-gath;
The houses of (AG)Achzib will become a [r](AH)deception
To the kings of Israel.
15 Moreover, I will bring on you
The one who takes possession,
You inhabitant of [s](AI)Mareshah.
The glory of Israel will enter (AJ)Adullam.
16 Shave yourself (AK)bald, yes, cut off your hair,
Because of the children of your delight;
Extend your baldness like the eagle,
For they will (AL)go from you into exile.
Woe to Oppressors
2 Woe to those who (AM)devise wrongdoing,
Who practice evil on their beds!
[t](AN)When morning comes, they do it,
Because it is in the (AO)power of their hands.
2 They (AP)covet fields, so they (AQ)seize them;
And houses, so they take them.
They [u](AR)exploit a man and his house,
A person and his inheritance.
3 Therefore this is what the Lord says:
“Behold, I am (AS)planning against this (AT)family a catastrophe
From which you (AU)cannot remove your necks;
And you will not walk (AV)haughtily,
For it will be an (AW)evil time.
4 On that day they will (AX)take up against you a [v]song of mocking
And [w](AY)utter a song of mourning and say,
‘We are completely (AZ)destroyed!
He exchanges the share of my people;
How He removes it from me!
To the apostate He (BA)apportions our fields.’
5 Therefore you will have no one [x](BB)applying a measuring line
For you by lot in the assembly of the Lord.
6 ‘(BC)Do not prophesy,’ so they prophesy.
But if [y]they do (BD)not prophesy about these things,
(BE)Insults will not be turned back.
7 Is it being said, house of Jacob:
‘Is the Spirit of the Lord (BF)impatient?
Are these His works?’
Do My words not (BG)do good
For the one (BH)walking rightly?
8 [z]Recently My people have arisen as an (BI)enemy—
You (BJ)strip the robe off the garment
From (BK)unsuspecting passers-by,
From those returned from war.
9 You (BL)evict the women of My people,
Each one from her pleasant house.
From her children you take My (BM)splendor forever.
10 Arise and go,
For this is no place (BN)of rest
Because of the (BO)uncleanness that brings on destruction,
A painful destruction.
11 If someone walking after wind and (BP)falsehood
Had lied and said,
‘I will prophesy to you about (BQ)wine and liquor,’
He would become a prophet to (BR)this people.
12 “I will certainly (BS)assemble all of you, Jacob,
I will certainly gather the (BT)remnant of Israel.
I will put them together like sheep in the fold;
Like a flock in the midst of its pasture
They will be noisy with people.
13 The one who breaks through goes up before them;
They break through, pass through the gate, and go out by it.
So their king passes on before them,
And the Lord at their head.”
Rulers Denounced
3 And I said,
“(BU)Hear now, you [aa]leaders of Jacob
And rulers of the house of Israel:
Is it not for you to (BV)know justice?
2 You who hate good and love evil,
Who (BW)tear off their skin from them
And their flesh from their bones,
3 Who (BX)eat the flesh of my people,
Strip off their skin from them,
Smash their bones,
And (BY)chop them up as for the pot,
And as meat in a cauldron!”
4 Then they will (BZ)cry out to the Lord,
But He will not answer them.
Instead, He will (CA)hide His face from them at that time
Because they have (CB)practiced evil deeds.
5 This is what the Lord says concerning the prophets who (CC)lead my people astray:
When they have something to bite with their teeth,
They (CD)cry out, “Peace!”
But against him who puts nothing in their mouths
They declare holy war.
6 Therefore it will be (CE)night for you—without vision,
And darkness for you—without divination.
The (CF)sun will go down on the prophets,
And the day will become dark over them.
7 The seers will be (CG)put to shame,
And the (CH)diviners will be ashamed.
Indeed, they will all (CI)cover their [ab]lips
Because there is (CJ)no answer from God.
8 On the other hand, (CK)I am filled with power—
With the Spirit of the Lord—
And with justice and courage
To (CL)make known to Jacob his rebellious act,
And to Israel his sin.
9 Now hear this, you (CM)heads of the house of Jacob
And rulers of the house of Israel,
Who (CN)despise justice
And twist everything that is straight,
10 Who (CO)build Zion with bloodshed,
And Jerusalem with malice.
11 Her leaders pronounce (CP)judgment for a bribe,
Her (CQ)priests teach for pay,
And her prophets divine for money.
Yet they lean on the Lord, saying,
“(CR)Is the Lord not in our midst?
Catastrophe will not come upon us.”
12 Therefore on account of you,
(CS)Zion will be plowed like a field,
(CT)Jerusalem will become a heap of ruins,
And the (CU)mountain of the [ac]temple will become high places of a forest.
Peaceful Latter Days
4 And it will come about in the (CV)last days
That the (CW)mountain of the house of the Lord
Will be established [ad]as the chief of the mountains.
It will be raised above the hills,
And the (CX)peoples will stream to it.
2 (CY)Many nations will come and say,
“(CZ)Come and let’s go up to the mountain of the Lord
And to the house of the God of Jacob,
So that (DA)He may teach us about His ways,
And that we may walk in His paths.”
For (DB)from Zion will go forth the law,
And the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.
3 And He will (DC)judge between many peoples
And render decisions for mighty, [ae]distant nations.
Then they will beat their swords (DD)into plowshares,
And their spears into pruning hooks;
Nation will not lift a sword against nation,
And never again will they [af]train for war.
4 Instead, each of them will (DE)sit under his vine
And under his fig tree,
With (DF)no one to make them afraid,
Because the (DG)mouth of the Lord of armies has spoken.
5 Though all the peoples walk,
Each in the (DH)name of his god,
As for us, (DI)we will walk
In the name of the (DJ)Lord our God forever and ever.
6 “On that day,” declares the Lord,
“I will assemble those who (DK)limp
And (DL)gather the scattered,
Those whom I have afflicted.
7 I will make those who limp a (DM)remnant,
And those who [ag]have strayed a mighty nation,
And the (DN)Lord will reign over them on Mount Zion
From now on and forever.
8 As for you, [ah](DO)tower of the flock,
[ai]Hill of the daughter of Zion,
To you it will come—
Yes, the (DP)former dominion will come,
The kingdom of the daughter of Jerusalem.
9 “Now, why do you (DQ)cry out loudly?
Is there no king among you,
Or has your (DR)counselor perished,
That agony has gripped you like a woman in childbirth?
10 (DS)Writhe and scream,
Daughter of Zion,
Like a woman in childbirth;
For now you will (DT)go out of the city,
Live in the field,
And go to Babylon.
(DU)There you will be rescued,
(DV)There the Lord will redeem you
From the hand of your enemies.
11 And now (DW)many nations have been assembled against you
Who say, ‘Let her be defiled,
And let our eyes [aj]gloat over Zion!’
12 But they do not (DX)know the thoughts of the Lord,
And they do not understand His plan;
For He has gathered them like sheaves to the threshing floor.
13 Arise and (DY)thresh, daughter of Zion,
For I will make your horn iron,
And I will make your hoofs bronze,
So that you may (DZ)pulverize many peoples,
And (EA)dedicate to the Lord their unjust profit,
And their wealth to the Lord of all the earth.
Footnotes
- Micah 1:2 Lit them
- Micah 1:2 Lit its fullness
- Micah 1:2 Heb YHWH, usually rendered Lord
- Micah 1:3 Or land
- Micah 1:5 Or rebellion
- Micah 1:5 Or rebellion
- Micah 1:5 Lit places
- Micah 1:6 Lit of the field
- Micah 1:10 I.e., house of dust
- Micah 1:11 I.e., Go into captivity
- Micah 1:11 I.e., pleasantness
- Micah 1:11 I.e., going out
- Micah 1:11 Lit go out
- Micah 1:11 I.e., the house beside
- Micah 1:11 Lit standing place
- Micah 1:12 I.e., bitterness
- Micah 1:12 Or possibly has been in agony for
- Micah 1:14 Heb achzab, wordplay on Achzib
- Micah 1:15 I.e., possession
- Micah 2:1 Lit In the light of the morning
- Micah 2:2 Or oppress
- Micah 2:4 Or proverb
- Micah 2:4 Lit lament
- Micah 2:5 Lit casting
- Micah 2:6 I.e., God’s prophets
- Micah 2:8 Lit And yesterday
- Micah 3:1 Lit heads
- Micah 3:7 Lit mustache
- Micah 3:12 Lit house
- Micah 4:1 Lit on
- Micah 4:3 Lit at a distance
- Micah 4:3 Lit learn
- Micah 4:7 Or are far removed
- Micah 4:8 Heb Migdal-eder
- Micah 4:8 Heb Ophel
- Micah 4:11 Lit see with pleasure
Micah 1-4
New Living Translation
1 The Lord gave this message to Micah of Moresheth during the years when Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah were kings of Judah. The visions he saw concerned both Samaria and Jerusalem.
Grief over Samaria and Jerusalem
2 Attention! Let all the people of the world listen!
Let the earth and everything in it hear.
The Sovereign Lord is making accusations against you;
the Lord speaks from his holy Temple.
3 Look! The Lord is coming!
He leaves his throne in heaven
and tramples the heights of the earth.
4 The mountains melt beneath his feet
and flow into the valleys
like wax in a fire,
like water pouring down a hill.
5 And why is this happening?
Because of the rebellion of Israel[a]—
yes, the sins of the whole nation.
Who is to blame for Israel’s rebellion?
Samaria, its capital city!
Where is the center of idolatry in Judah?
In Jerusalem, its capital!
6 “So I, the Lord, will make the city of Samaria
a heap of ruins.
Her streets will be plowed up
for planting vineyards.
I will roll the stones of her walls into the valley below,
exposing her foundations.
7 All her carved images will be smashed.
All her sacred treasures will be burned.
These things were bought with the money
earned by her prostitution,
and they will now be carried away
to pay prostitutes elsewhere.”
8 Therefore, I will mourn and lament.
I will walk around barefoot and naked.
I will howl like a jackal
and moan like an owl.
9 For my people’s wound
is too deep to heal.
It has reached into Judah,
even to the gates of Jerusalem.
10 Don’t tell our enemies in Gath[b];
don’t weep at all.
You people in Beth-leaphrah,[c]
roll in the dust to show your despair.
11 You people in Shaphir,[d]
go as captives into exile—naked and ashamed.
The people of Zaanan[e]
dare not come outside their walls.
The people of Beth-ezel[f] mourn,
for their house has no support.
12 The people of Maroth[g] anxiously wait for relief,
but only bitterness awaits them
as the Lord’s judgment reaches
even to the gates of Jerusalem.
13 Harness your chariot horses and flee,
you people of Lachish.[h]
You were the first city in Judah
to follow Israel in her rebellion,
and you led Jerusalem[i] into sin.
14 Send farewell gifts to Moresheth-gath[j];
there is no hope of saving it.
The town of Aczib[k]
has deceived the kings of Israel.
15 O people of Mareshah,[l]
I will bring a conqueror to capture your town.
And the leaders[m] of Israel
will go to Adullam.
16 Oh, people of Judah, shave your heads in sorrow,
for the children you love will be snatched away.
Make yourselves as bald as a vulture,
for your little ones will be exiled to distant lands.
Judgment against Wealthy Oppressors
2 What sorrow awaits you who lie awake at night,
thinking up evil plans.
You rise at dawn and hurry to carry them out,
simply because you have the power to do so.
2 When you want a piece of land,
you find a way to seize it.
When you want someone’s house,
you take it by fraud and violence.
You cheat a man of his property,
stealing his family’s inheritance.
3 But this is what the Lord says:
“I will reward your evil with evil;
you won’t be able to pull your neck out of the noose.
You will no longer walk around proudly,
for it will be a terrible time.”
4 In that day your enemies will make fun of you
by singing this song of despair about you:
“We are finished,
completely ruined!
God has confiscated our land,
taking it from us.
He has given our fields
to those who betrayed us.[n]”
5 Others will set your boundaries then,
and the Lord’s people will have no say
in how the land is divided.
True and False Prophets
6 “Don’t say such things,”
the people respond.[o]
“Don’t prophesy like that.
Such disasters will never come our way!”
7 Should you talk that way, O family of Israel?[p]
Will the Lord’s Spirit have patience with such behavior?
If you would do what is right,
you would find my words comforting.
8 Yet to this very hour
my people rise against me like an enemy!
You steal the shirts right off the backs
of those who trusted you,
making them as ragged as men
returning from battle.
9 You have evicted women from their pleasant homes
and forever stripped their children of all that God would give them.
10 Up! Begone!
This is no longer your land and home,
for you have filled it with sin
and ruined it completely.
11 Suppose a prophet full of lies would say to you,
“I’ll preach to you the joys of wine and alcohol!”
That’s just the kind of prophet you would like!
Hope for Restoration
12 “Someday, O Israel, I will gather you;
I will gather the remnant who are left.
I will bring you together again like sheep in a pen,
like a flock in its pasture.
Yes, your land will again
be filled with noisy crowds!
13 Your leader will break out
and lead you out of exile,
out through the gates of the enemy cities,
back to your own land.
Your king will lead you;
the Lord himself will guide you.”
Judgment against Israel’s Leaders
3 I said, “Listen, you leaders of Israel!
You are supposed to know right from wrong,
2 but you are the very ones
who hate good and love evil.
You skin my people alive
and tear the flesh from their bones.
3 Yes, you eat my people’s flesh,
strip off their skin,
and break their bones.
You chop them up
like meat for the cooking pot.
4 Then you beg the Lord for help in times of trouble!
Do you really expect him to answer?
After all the evil you have done,
he won’t even look at you!”
5 This is what the Lord says:
“You false prophets are leading my people astray!
You promise peace for those who give you food,
but you declare war on those who refuse to feed you.
6 Now the night will close around you,
cutting off all your visions.
Darkness will cover you,
putting an end to your predictions.
The sun will set for you prophets,
and your day will come to an end.
7 Then you seers will be put to shame,
and you fortune-tellers will be disgraced.
And you will cover your faces
because there is no answer from God.”
8 But as for me, I am filled with power—
with the Spirit of the Lord.
I am filled with justice and strength
to boldly declare Israel’s sin and rebellion.
9 Listen to me, you leaders of Israel!
You hate justice and twist all that is right.
10 You are building Jerusalem
on a foundation of murder and corruption.
11 You rulers make decisions based on bribes;
you priests teach God’s laws only for a price;
you prophets won’t prophesy unless you are paid.
Yet all of you claim to depend on the Lord.
“No harm can come to us,” you say,
“for the Lord is here among us.”
12 Because of you, Mount Zion will be plowed like an open field;
Jerusalem will be reduced to ruins!
A thicket will grow on the heights
where the Temple now stands.
The Lord’s Future Reign
4 In the last days, the mountain of the Lord’s house
will be the highest of all—
the most important place on earth.
It will be raised above the other hills,
and people from all over the world will stream there to worship.
2 People from many nations will come and say,
“Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord,
to the house of Jacob’s God.
There he will teach us his ways,
and we will walk in his paths.”
For the Lord’s teaching will go out from Zion;
his word will go out from Jerusalem.
3 The Lord will mediate between peoples
and will settle disputes between strong nations far away.
They will hammer their swords into plowshares
and their spears into pruning hooks.
Nation will no longer fight against nation,
nor train for war anymore.
4 Everyone will live in peace and prosperity,
enjoying their own grapevines and fig trees,
for there will be nothing to fear.
The Lord of Heaven’s Armies
has made this promise!
5 Though the nations around us follow their idols,
we will follow the Lord our God forever and ever.
Israel’s Return from Exile
6 “In that coming day,” says the Lord,
“I will gather together those who are lame,
those who have been exiles,
and those whom I have filled with grief.
7 Those who are weak will survive as a remnant;
those who were exiles will become a strong nation.
Then I, the Lord, will rule from Jerusalem[q]
as their king forever.”
8 As for you, Jerusalem,
the citadel of God’s people,[r]
your royal might and power
will come back to you again.
The kingship will be restored
to my precious Jerusalem.
9 But why are you now screaming in terror?
Have you no king to lead you?
Have your wise people all died?
Pain has gripped you like a woman in childbirth.
10 Writhe and groan like a woman in labor,
you people of Jerusalem,[s]
for now you must leave this city
to live in the open country.
You will soon be sent in exile
to distant Babylon.
But the Lord will rescue you there;
he will redeem you from the grip of your enemies.
11 Now many nations have gathered against you.
“Let her be desecrated,” they say.
“Let us see the destruction of Jerusalem.[t]”
12 But they do not know the Lord’s thoughts
or understand his plan.
These nations don’t know
that he is gathering them together
to be beaten and trampled
like sheaves of grain on a threshing floor.
13 “Rise up and crush the nations, O Jerusalem!”[u]
says the Lord.
“For I will give you iron horns and bronze hooves,
so you can trample many nations to pieces.
You will present their stolen riches to the Lord,
their wealth to the Lord of all the earth.”
Footnotes
- 1:5 Hebrew Jacob; also in 1:5b. The names “Jacob” and “Israel” are often interchanged throughout the Old Testament, referring sometimes to the individual patriarch and sometimes to the nation.
- 1:10a Gath sounds like the Hebrew term for “tell.”
- 1:10b Beth-leaphrah means “house of dust.”
- 1:11a Shaphir means “pleasant.”
- 1:11b Zaanan sounds like the Hebrew term for “come out.”
- 1:11c Beth-ezel means “adjoining house.”
- 1:12 Maroth sounds like the Hebrew term for “bitter.”
- 1:13a Lachish sounds like the Hebrew term for “team of horses.”
- 1:13b Hebrew the daughter of Zion.
- 1:14a Moresheth sounds like the Hebrew term for “gift” or “dowry.”
- 1:14b Aczib means “deception.”
- 1:15a Mareshah sounds like the Hebrew term for “conqueror.”
- 1:15b Hebrew the glory.
- 2:4 Or to those who took us captive.
- 2:6 Or the prophets respond; Hebrew reads they prophesy.
- 2:7 Hebrew O house of Jacob? See note on 1:5a.
- 4:7 Hebrew Mount Zion.
- 4:8 Hebrew As for you, Migdal-eder, / the Ophel of the daughter of Zion.
- 4:10 Hebrew O daughter of Zion.
- 4:11 Hebrew of Zion.
- 4:13 Hebrew “Rise up and thresh, O daughter of Zion.”
New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. All rights reserved.
Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
