The word of the Lord that came to Micah of Mo′resheth in the days of Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezeki′ah, kings of Judah, which he saw concerning Samar′ia and Jerusalem.

Judgment Pronounced against Samaria

Hear, you peoples, all of you; hearken, O earth, and all that is in it; and let the Lord God be a witness against you, the Lord from his holy temple.

For behold, the Lord is coming forth out of his place, and will come down and tread upon the high places of the earth.

For the inhabitants of Maroth wait anxiously for good, because evil has come down from the Lord to the gate of Jerusalem.

Therefore thus says the Lord: Behold, against this family I am devising evil, from which you cannot remove your necks; and you shall not walk haughtily, for it will be an evil time.

Therefore you will have none to cast the line by lot in the assembly of the Lord.

Should this be said, O house of Jacob? Is the Spirit of the Lord impatient? Are these his doings? Do not my words do good to him who walks uprightly?

He who opens the breach will go up before them; they will break through and pass the gate, going out by it. Their king will pass on before them, the Lord at their head.

Then they will cry to the Lord, but he will not answer them; he will hide his face from them at that time, because they have made their deeds evil.

Thus says the Lord concerning the prophets who lead my people astray, who cry “Peace” when they have something to eat, but declare war against him who puts nothing into their mouths.

But as for me, I am filled with power, with the Spirit of the Lord, and with justice and might, to declare to Jacob his transgression and to Israel his sin.

Its heads give judgment for a bribe, its priests teach for hire, its prophets divine for money; yet they lean upon the Lord and say, “Is not the Lord in the midst of us? No evil shall come upon us.”

Peace and Security through Obedience

It shall come to pass in the latter days that the mountain of the house of the Lord shall be established as the highest of the mountains, and shall be raised up above the hills; and peoples shall flow to it,

and many nations shall come, and say: “Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob; that he may teach us his ways and we may walk in his paths.” For out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.

but they shall sit every man under his vine and under his fig tree, and none shall make them afraid; for the mouth of the Lord of hosts has spoken.

For all the peoples walk each in the name of its god, but we will walk in the name of the Lord our God for ever and ever.

Restoration Promised after Exile

In that day, says the Lord, I will assemble the lame and gather those who have been driven away, and those whom I have afflicted;

and the lame I will make the remnant; and those who were cast off, a strong nation; and the Lord will reign over them in Mount Zion from this time forth and for evermore.

Writhe and groan, O daughter of Zion, like a woman in travail; for now you shall go forth from the city and dwell in the open country; you shall go to Babylon. There you shall be rescued, there the Lord will redeem you from the hand of your enemies.

But they do not know the thoughts of the Lord, they do not understand his plan, that he has gathered them as sheaves to the threshing floor.

Arise and thresh, O daughter of Zion, for I will make your horn iron and your hoofs bronze; you shall beat in pieces many peoples, and shall devote their gain to the Lord, their wealth to the Lord of the whole earth.

And he shall stand and feed his flock in the strength of the Lord, in the majesty of the name of the Lord his God. And they shall dwell secure, for now he shall be great to the ends of the earth.

The Future Role of the Remnant

Then the remnant of Jacob shall be in the midst of many peoples like dew from the Lord, like showers upon the grass, which tarry not for men nor wait for the sons of men.

And in that day, says the Lord, I will cut off your horses from among you and will destroy your chariots;

God Challenges Israel

Hear what the Lord says: Arise, plead your case before the mountains, and let the hills hear your voice.