Micah 1:8-16
Evangelical Heritage Version
Micah’s Mourning
8 Because of this I must lament and grieve.
I must walk barefoot and naked.
I must howl like a jackal
and make a mourning shriek like an ostrich,[a]
9 because her plague is incurable.
It has even spread to Judah.
It has arrived at the gate of my people.
It has come all the way up to Jerusalem.
10 Do not announce it in Gath.
Do not weep at all.
In Beth Ophrah roll around in the dust.[b]
11 Pass by, inhabitants of Shaphir, naked and ashamed.
The inhabitants of Za’anan[c] must not go out.
Beth Ezel mourns. It takes away its support from you.[d]
12 The inhabitants of Maroth anxiously wait for good,
because disaster has come down from the Lord to the gates of Jerusalem.
13 Hitch fast horses to the chariot, you inhabitants of Lachish.
You were the beginning of sin for the Daughter of Zion,
because the rebellious deeds of Israel were found also in you.
14 Therefore you will give farewell gifts to Moresheth Gath.
The houses of Akzib will be undependable to the kings of Israel.
15 I will once again bring a conqueror to you, you inhabitants of Mareshah.
The glory of Israel will come to Adullam.[e]
16 Shave your heads and cut off your hair
to mourn for the children that delight you.
Make yourself bald as a buzzard,
because your children will be taken away from you into exile.
Footnotes
- Micah 1:8 Or perhaps a type of owl
- Micah 1:10 In this section there is a lot of word play between the city names and the verbs. For example, in verse 10 the name Gath sounds similar to the Hebrew word for tell, and the line that reads in Beth Ophrah roll around in the dust could be translated in Dust City roll around in the dust. The translation does not attempt to reproduce all the puns because many of them do not have good English equivalents or they simply express similarity of sound.
- Micah 1:11 The stop mark ′ shows that Za’an- is to be pronounced as two syllables.
- Micah 1:11 The meaning of this line is uncertain.
- Micah 1:15 This line does not seem to provide a parallel to its neighbors. It may mean that the nobles of Israel are refugees to Adullam, or that God comes there in judgment.
The Holy Bible, Evangelical Heritage Version®, EHV®, © 2019 Wartburg Project, Inc. All rights reserved.