Old/New Testament
1 The word of the Lord, which was made to Micah (the) Morasthite, in the days of Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah; which word he saw on Samaria and Jerusalem (which vision he saw concerning Samaria and Jerusalem).
2 Hear ye, all peoples, and the earth perceive, and the plenty thereof, and be the Lord God to you into a witness, the Lord from his holy temple. (Hear ye, all the peoples, or all the nations, and the earth, and its plenty, understand, that the Lord God shall be a witness against you, yea, the Lord in his holy Temple.)
3 For lo! the Lord shall go out of his place, and shall come down, and shall tread on high things of earth. (For lo! the Lord shall go out of his place, and shall come down, and shall tread upon the high places of the earth.)
4 And mountains shall be wasted under him, and valleys shall be cut, as wax from the face of fire, and as waters that run down into a pit. (And the mountains shall be destroyed under him, and the valleys shall be cut open, like wax in the fire, and like the water that runneth down into a pit.)
5 In the great trespass of Jacob is all this thing, and in the sins of the house of Israel. Which is the great trespass of Jacob? whether not Samaria? and which be the high things of Judah? whether not Jerusalem? (All of this is because of the great trespass of Jacob, and the sins of the house of Israel. What is the great trespass of Jacob? is it not Samaria? and what is the high place, or the hill shrine, of Judah? is it not Jerusalem?)
6 And I shall put Samaria as an heap of stones in the field, when a vineyard is planted; and I shall draw away the stones thereof into a valley, and I shall show the foundaments thereof. (And I shall make Samaria into a heap of stones in a field, where a vineyard can be planted; and I shall put all its stones into a valley, and I shall lay bare its foundations.)
7 And all graven images thereof shall be beaten together, and all hires thereof shall be burnt in fire; and I shall put all the idols thereof into perdition; for of the hires of an whore those be gathered, and to hire of an whore those shall turn again. (And all its carved idols shall be altogether broken, and all its images, or all its figures, shall be burned in the fire; and so I shall put all its idols into perdition; for they be bought with the wages of a whore, and they shall return to the wages of a whore.)
8 On this thing I shall wail and yell, I shall go spoiled and naked; I shall make wailing as of dragons, and mourning as of ostriches. (On this thing I shall wail and yell, I shall go robbed of my clothes and naked; I shall wail like the jackals, and mourn like the owls.)
9 For wound thereof is despaired; for it came till to Judah, it touched the gate of my people, till to Jerusalem. (For its wound is incurable; for it came unto Judah, and it touched the gate of my people, yea, it came unto Jerusalem.)
10 In Gath do not ye tell (it), by tears weep ye not; in the house of dust with dust (al)together sprinkle you. (Do not ye tell it out in Gath, weep ye not with tears; in Beth-aphrah sprinkle yourselves all over with dust.)
11 And ye (of) a fair dwelling, pass to you, which is confounded with evil fame; it is not gone out, which dwelleth in the going out; a nigh house shall take of you wailing, which stood to itself. (And ye of Shaphir, go ye away, shamed with evil fame, or with ill repute; they who live in Zaanan be afraid to go out; they of Beth-ezel shall wail, and there shall be no refuge there.)
12 For it is made sick [in]to good, which dwelleth in bitternesses. For evil came down from the Lord into the gate of Jerusalem, (They who live in Maroth wait anxiously for something good; for evil came down from the Lord unto the very gate of Jerusalem.)
13 the noise of [a] four-horsed cart, of dread to the people dwelling at Lachish (Bind the horses to the chariots, ye people living in Lachish). It is the beginning of (the) sin of the daughter of Zion, for the great trespasses of Israel be found in thee.
14 Therefore he shall give warriors on the heritage of Gath, on the houses of leasing into deceit to (the) kings of Israel. (And so he shall send warriors against Moreshethgath; the town of Achzib shall give no help to the kings of Israel.)
15 Yet I shall bring an heir to thee, that dwellest in Mareshah; the glory of Israel shall come till to (the cave in) Adullam. (And yet I shall bring an heir to thee, who livest in Mareshah; the glory, or the leaders, of Israel shall go and hide in the cave at Adullam.)
16 Be thou made bald, and be thou clipped on the sons of thy delights; alarge thy baldness as an eagle, for they be led (away) captive from thee. (Be thou made bald, yea, shave thyselves, for the children that thou lovest; make thy baldness like that of a vulture, for they be led away captive from thee.)
2 Woe to you, that think unprofitable thing, and work evil in your beds; in the morrowtide light they do it, for the hand of them is against God. (Woe to you, who think up unprofitable things, and work out evil plots in your beds; then in the morning light they do it, for they have the power in their hands.)
2 They coveted fields, and took violently; and ravished houses, and falsely challenged a man and his house, a man and his heritage. (They coveted fields, and violently took them; and they robbed houses, and oppressed a man and his house, yea, every man and his inheritance.)
3 Therefore the Lord saith these things, Lo! I think on this family evil, from which ye shall not take away your necks; and ye shall not walk proud, for the worst time is. (And so the Lord saith these things, Lo! I think evil against this family, from which ye shall not be able to take away your necks, or be able to escape; and ye shall not walk proudly, for this shall be the worst time for you.)
4 In that day a parable shall be taken on you, and a song shall be sung with sweetness of men, saying, By robbing we be destroyed; a part of my people is changed; how shall he go away from me, when he turneth again that shall part your countries? (On that day a parable shall be made about you, and a song shall be sung with sadness by people, saying, We be destroyed by robbing; a part, or a portion, of my people hath been taken away; he hath divided up our countryside unto those who took us captive.)
5 For this thing, none shall be to thee sending a little cord of lot, in company of the Lord. (And because of this, no one shall be casting for thee a little cord by lot, in the congregation of the Lord.)
6 A! thou Israel, speak ye not speaking; it shall not drop (a word) on these men, confusion shall not catch, (O! thou Israel, thou saith to me, Speak ye not! ye shall not drop a word upon us, for shame shall not catch us!)
7 saith the house of Jacob. Whether the Spirit of the Lord is abridged, either such be the thoughts of him? Whether my words be not good, with him that goeth rightly? (O house of Jacob, is the Spirit of the Lord abridged, that is, is his patience at an end, or do such things be his thoughts? Be my words not good, to him who goeth uprightly?)
8 And on the contrary, my people rose together into an adversary; ye took away the mantle above the coat, and ye turned into battle them that went simply. (But on the contrary, my people altogether rose up like an adversary; ye took away the cloak over the coat, from those who returned from battle, and thought themselves safe.)
9 Ye casted the women of my people out of the house of their delights; from the little children of them ye took away my praising without end. (Ye threw the women of my people out of their happy homes; and took away my blessings, or my glory, from their little children forever.)
10 Rise ye, and go, for here ye have no rest; for the uncleanness thereof it shall be corrupted with the worst rot.
11 I would that I were not a man having spirit, and rather that I spake a leasing. I shall drop (a word) to thee into wine, and into drunkenness; and this people shall be, on whom it is dropped. (I wish that I did not have God’s spirit, but rather that I spoke lies. And then I would drop a word to thee about wine, and about drunkenness; and this people shall be, on whom it is dropped.)
12 With gathering I shall gather Jacob; I shall lead together thee all into one, the remnants of Israel. I shall put him together, as a flock in the fold; as sheep in the middle of folds they shall make noise, (by reason) of multitude of men. (With gathering I shall gather Jacob; I shall lead thee, the remnants of Israel, all together into one. I shall put them like a flock in the fold; and like sheep in the middle of the fold they shall make noise, because of the multitude of the people.)
13 For he shall go up showing (the) way before them; they shall depart, and pass the gate, and shall go out thereby; and the king of them shall pass before them, and the Lord in the head of them (and their king shall go before them, and the Lord shall be at their head).
3 And I said, Ye princes of Jacob, and dukes of the house of Israel, hear. Whether it is not yours for to know doom, (And I said, Ye leaders of Jacob, and rulers of the house of Israel, listen. Is it not for you to know what is right, or to do what is just,)
2 which hate good, and love evil? Which violently take away the skins of them from above them, and the flesh of them from above the bones of them. (ye who hate good, and love evil? Who violently take away their very skin, and their flesh from off their bones.)
3 Which ate the flesh of my people, and (un)covered, [or flayed (off),] the skin of them from above; and brake together the bones of them, and cutted (them up) together as in a cauldron, and as flesh in the middle of a pot. (Who eat the flesh of my people, and uncover, or flay off, their skin; and altogether break their bones, and altogether cut them up, as if to put them into a cauldron, yea, like meat in the middle of a pot.)
4 Then they shall cry to the Lord, and he shall not hear them; and he shall hide his face from them in that time, as they did wickedly in their findings. (Then they shall cry to the Lord, but he shall not hear them; and he shall hide his face from them at that time, for they did wickedly in their deeds.)
5 The Lord saith these things on the prophets that deceive my people, that bite with their teeth, and preach peace; and if any man giveth not in the mouth of them anything, they hallow battle on him. (The Lord saith these things about the prophets who deceive my people, who bite with their teeth, and preach peace; and if anyone will not put something into their mouths, or into their pockets, they proclaim battle against them.)
6 Therefore night shall be to you for vision, or prophecy, and darknesses to you for divination; and the sun shall go down on the prophets, and the day shall be made dark on them.
7 And they shall be confounded that see visions, and diviners shall be confounded, and all shall cover their cheers, for it is not the answer of God. (And they who see visions shall be shamed, and diviners shall be shamed, and all of them shall cover their faces, for it is not the answer of God.)
8 Nevertheless I am filled with (the) strength of the Spirit of the Lord, and with doom and power (and with judgement and with power), (so) that I show to Jacob his great trespass, and to Israel his sin.
9 Hear these things, ye princes of the house of Jacob, and doomsmen of the house of Israel, which loathe doom, and pervert all right things; (Hear these things, ye leaders of the house of Jacob, and rulers of the house of Israel, who hate justice, and pervert, or warp, every good, or right, thing;)
10 which build Zion in bloods, and Jerusalem in wickedness. (who build up Zion with bloodshed, and Jerusalem with wickedness.)
11 The princes thereof deemed for gifts, and [the] priests thereof taught for hire, and the prophets thereof divined for money; and on the Lord they rested, and said, Whether the Lord is not in the middle of us? evils shall not come (up)on us. (Its leaders judged, or governed, for bribes, and its priests taught for pay, and its prophets divined for money; and yet they rested, or relied, upon the Lord, and said, Is not the Lord here in the midst of us? yea, evil shall not come upon us.)
12 For this thing because of you, Zion as a field shall be eared; and Jerusalem shall be as an heap of stones, and the hill of the temple shall be into high things of woods. (For this thing, because of you, Zion shall be plowed under like a field, and Jerusalem shall become a heap of stones, and the Temple mount shall become the high place of a forest.)
11 And a reed like a rod was given to me, and it was said to me, Rise thou, and mete the temple of God, and the altar, and men that worship in it.
2 But cast thou out the foreyard, that is without the temple, and mete not it [Forsooth cast out the porch, that is without the temple, and mete it not]; for it is given to heathen men, and they shall defoul the holy city by forty months and twain [by forty months and two].
3 And I shall give to my two witnesses, and they shall prophesy a thousand days two hundred and sixty, and [they] shall be clothed with sackcloths.
4 These be two olives, and two candlesticks, and they stand in the sight of the Lord of the earth [standing in the sight of the Lord of the earth].
5 And if any man will harm them, fire shall go out of the mouth of them, and shall devour their enemies. And if any [man] will hurt them, thus it behooveth him to be slain.
6 These have power to close heaven [These have power to shut heaven], that it rain not in the days of their prophecy; and they have power on [upon] waters, to turn them into blood; and to smite the earth with every plague [and to smite the earth with all plague, either vengeance], and as oft as they will.
7 And when they shall end their witnessing, the beast that ascendeth up from deepness [the beast that ascendeth up of the deepness], shall make battle against them, and shall overcome them, and shall slay them [and slay them].
8 And the bodies of them shall lie in the streets of the great city, that is called ghostly Sodom, and Egypt, where the Lord of them was crucified.
9 And some of the lineages, and of peoples, and of languages [and tongues], and of heathen men, shall see the bodies of them by three days and an half; and they shall not suffer the bodies of them to be put in burials.
10 And men inhabiting the earth shall have joy on [upon] them; and they shall make merry, and shall send gifts together, for these two prophets tormented them that dwell on the earth.
11 And after three days and an half, the Spirit of life of God entered into them; and they stood on their feet, and great dread fell on them that saw them [and they stood upon their feet, and great dread fell upon them that saw them].
12 And they heard a great voice from heaven, saying to them, Come up hither. And they ascended [up] into heaven in a cloud, and the enemies of them saw them.
13 And in that hour a great earth-moving was made, and the tenth part of the city fell down [and the tenth part of the city fell]; and the names of men seven thousand were slain in the earth-moving [and there be slain in the earth-moving the names of men seven thousand]; and the others were sent into dread, and gave glory to God of heaven.
14 The second woe is gone, and lo! the third woe shall come soon.
15 And the seventh angel trumpeted [And the seventh angel sang in trump], and great voices were made in heaven, and said, The realm of this world is made of our Lord, and of Christ, his Son [saying, The realm of this world is made our Lord's, and of Christ's, his Son]; and he shall reign into worlds of worlds. Amen.
16 And the four and twenty elder men [And the four and twenty seniors], that sat in their seats in the sight of the Lord, fell on their faces, and worshipped God,
17 and said [saying], We do thankings to thee, Lord God almighty, which art, and which were, and which art to coming [and which art to come]; which hast taken thy great virtue [that hast taken thy great virtue], and hast reigned.
18 And folks be wroth, and thy wrath came, and time of dead men to be deemed, and to yield meed to thy servants, and prophets, and hallows [and to yield hire to thy servants, prophets, and hallows], and dreading thy name, to small and to great, and to destroy them that corrupt the earth [and to destroy them that corrupted the earth].
19 And the temple of God in heaven was opened, and the ark of his testament was seen in his temple; and lightnings were made, and voices, and thunders, and earth-moving, and great hail.
2001 by Terence P. Noble