Micah 1:8-16
International Children’s Bible
Micah’s Great Sadness
8 I will moan and cry because of this evil.
I will go around barefoot and without clothes.
I will cry loudly like the wild dogs.
I will cry like the ostriches.
9 I will do this because Samaria’s wound cannot be healed.
Her destruction will spread to Judah.
It will reach the city gate of my people.
It will come all the way to Jerusalem.
10 Don’t tell it in Gath.[a]
Don’t cry in Acco.[b]
Cry and roll in the dust
at Beth Ophrah.[c]
11 Pass on your way, naked and ashamed,
you who live in Shaphir.[d]
Those who live in Zaanan[e]
won’t come out to help you.
The people in Beth Ezel[f] will cry.
But they will not give you any support.
12 Those who live in Maroth[g]
will be anxious for good news to come.
This is because trouble will come from the Lord.
It will come all the way to the gate of Jerusalem.
13 You people living in Lachish,[h]
harness the fastest horse to the chariot.
Jerusalem’s sins started in you.
This is because you followed in Israel’s sins.
14 So you must give farewell gifts
to Moresheth[i] in Gath.
The houses in Aczib[j] will be false help
to the kings of Israel.
15 I will bring an enemy against you
who live in Mareshah.[k]
He will take what you own.
The leaders Israel brags about
will hide in the cave at Adullam.
16 Cut off your hair to show you are sad.
Cry for the children you love.
Make yourself bald like the eagle,
because your children will be forced to live in a foreign land.
Footnotes
- 1:10 Gath This name sounds like the Hebrew word for “tell.”
- 1:10 Acco This name sounds like the Hebrew word for “cry.”
- 1:10 Beth Ophrah This name means “house of dust.”
- 1:11 Shaphir This name means “beautiful.”
- 1:11 Zanaan This name sounds like the Hebrew word for “come out.”
- 1:11 Beth Ezel This name means “house by the side of another,” suggesting help or support.
- 1:12 Maroth This name sounds like the Hebrew word for “sad” or “miserable.”
- 1:13 Lachish This name sounds like the Hebrew word for “horses.”
- 1:14 Moresheth This may be a wordplay on the word “engaged,” referring to a farewell gift to a bride.
- 1:14 Aczib This name means “lie” or “trick.”
- 1:15 Mareshah This name sounds like the Hebrew word for a person who captures other cities and lands.
The Holy Bible, International Children’s Bible® Copyright© 1986, 1988, 1999, 2015 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission.
