Calamity in Israel and Judah

The word of Yahweh which came to Micah of Moresheth in the days of Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah, which he beheld concerning Samaria and Jerusalem.

Hear, O peoples, all of you; Give heed, O earth, as well as its fullness, And let Lord Yahweh be a witness against you, The Lord from His holy temple.

For behold, Yahweh is going forth from His place. He will come down and tread on the high places of the earth.

For the inhabitant of Maroth Writhes in waiting for good Because a calamity has come down from Yahweh To the gate of Jerusalem.

Therefore thus says Yahweh, “Behold, I am devising against this family an evil demise From which you cannot remove your necks; And you will not walk haughtily, For it will be an evil time.

Therefore you will have no one stretching a measuring line For you by lot in the assembly of Yahweh.

Is it being said, O house of Jacob: ‘Is the Spirit of Yahweh impatient? Are these His deeds?’ Do not My words do good To the one walking uprightly?

The breaker goes up before them; They break out, pass through the gate, and go out by it. So their king goes on before them, And Yahweh at their head.”

Yahweh Will Not Answer

And I said, “Hear now, heads of Jacob And rulers of the house of Israel. Is it not for you to know justice?

Then they will cry out to Yahweh, But He will not answer them. Instead, He will hide His face from them at that time Because they have practiced evil deeds.

Thus says Yahweh concerning the prophets who lead my people astray; When they have something to bite with their teeth, They call out, “Peace,” But against him who puts nothing in their mouths, They set themselves apart for war.

On the other hand I am filled with power— With the Spirit of Yahweh— And with justice and might To declare to Jacob his transgression, Even to Israel his sin.

Her heads pronounce judgment for a bribe, And her priests instruct for a price, And her prophets divine for money. Yet they lean on Yahweh saying, “Is not Yahweh in our midst? Evil will not come upon us.”

The Law Will Go Forth from Zion

Now it will be that in the last days The mountain of the house of Yahweh Will be established as the head of the mountains, And will be lifted up above the hills, And the peoples will stream to it.

And many nations will come and say, “Come and let us go up to the mountain of Yahweh And to the house of the God of Jacob, That He may instruct us from His ways And that we may walk in His paths.” For from Zion will go forth the law, And the word of Yahweh from Jerusalem.

And each of them will sit under his vine And under his fig tree, With no one to make them tremble, For the mouth of Yahweh of hosts has spoken.

Though all the peoples walk Each in the name of his god, As for us, we will walk In the name of Yahweh our God forever and ever.

“In that day,” declares Yahweh, “I will assemble the lame And gather the banished, Even those upon whom I have brought calamity.

I will make the lame a remnant And the outcasts a mighty nation, And Yahweh will reign over them in Mount Zion From now on and forever.

Writhe and labor to give birth, Daughter of Zion, Like a woman in childbirth; For now you will go out of the city, Dwell in the field, And go to Babylon. There you will be delivered; There Yahweh will redeem you From the hand of your enemies.

But they do not know the thoughts of Yahweh, And they do not understand His counsel; For He has gathered them like sheaves to the threshing floor.

Arise and thresh, daughter of Zion, For your horn I will make iron, And your hoofs I will make bronze, That you may pulverize many peoples, That you may devote to Yahweh their greedy gain unto destruction And their wealth to the Lord of all the earth.

And He will stand and shepherd His flock In the strength of Yahweh, In the majesty of the name of Yahweh His God. And they will remain Because at that time He will be great To the ends of the earth.

Then the remnant of Jacob Will be among many peoples Like dew from Yahweh, Like showers on vegetation Which do not hope for man Or wait for the sons of men.

“And it will be in that day,” declares Yahweh, “That I will cut off your horses from among you And destroy your chariots.