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For this I will lament and wail;
    I will go stripped and naked;
    I will howl like the jackals,
    and moan like the daughters of owls.
For her wounds are incurable;
    for it has come even to Judah.
It reaches to the gate of my people,
    even to Jerusalem.
10 Don’t tell it in Gath.
    Don’t weep at all.
    At Beth Ophrah[a] I have rolled myself in the dust.
11 Pass on, inhabitant of Shaphir, in nakedness and shame.
    The inhabitant of Zaanan won’t come out.
    The wailing of Beth Ezel will take from you his protection.
12 For the inhabitant of Maroth waits anxiously for good,
    because evil has come down from Yahweh to the gate of Jerusalem.
13 Harness the chariot to the swift steed, inhabitant of Lachish.
    She was the beginning of sin to the daughter of Zion;
    For the transgressions of Israel were found in you.
14 Therefore you will give a parting gift to Moresheth Gath.
    The houses of Achzib will be a deceitful thing to the kings of Israel.
15 I will yet bring to you, inhabitant of Mareshah, him who will possess you.
    He who is the glory of Israel will come to Adullam.
16 Shave your heads,
    and cut off your hair for the children of your delight.
Enlarge your baldness like the vulture;
    for they have gone into captivity from you!

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Footnotes

  1. 1:10 Beth Ophrah means literally “House of Dust.”

Weeping and Mourning

Because of this I will weep(A) and wail;
    I will go about barefoot(B) and naked.
I will howl like a jackal
    and moan like an owl.
For Samaria’s plague(C) is incurable;(D)
    it has spread to Judah.(E)
It has reached the very gate(F) 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(G) 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,(H)
because disaster(I) has come from the Lord,
    even to the gate of Jerusalem.
13 You who live in Lachish,(J)
    harness fast horses to the chariot.
You are where the sin of Daughter Zion(K) began,
    for the transgressions of Israel were found in you.
14 Therefore you will give parting gifts(L)
    to Moresheth(M) Gath.
The town of Akzib[f](N) will prove deceptive(O)
    to the kings of Israel.
15 I will bring a conqueror against you
    who live in Mareshah.[g](P)
The nobles of Israel
    will flee to Adullam.(Q)
16 Shave(R) 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.(S)

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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.