THE BOOK OF MICAH

Chapter 1

1 The word of the Lord that came to Micah of Moresheth in the days of Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah, which he saw concerning Samaria and Jerusalem.

2 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.

3 For behold, the Lord is coming forth out of his place,

and will come down and tread upon the high places of the earth.

4 And the mountains will melt under him

and the valleys will be cleft,

like wax before the fire,

like waters poured down a steep place.

5 All this is for the transgression of Jacob

and for the sins of the house of Israel.

What is the transgression of Jacob?

Is it not Samaria?

And what is the sin of the house of Judah?

Is it not Jerusalem?

6 Therefore I will make Samaria a heap in the open country,

a place for planting vineyards;

and I will pour down her stones into the valley,

and uncover her foundations.

7 All her images shall be beaten to pieces,

all her hires shall be burned with fire,

and all her idols I will lay waste;

for from the hire of a harlot she gathered them,

and to the hire of a harlot they shall return.

8 For this I will lament and wail;

I will go stripped and naked;

I will make lamentation like the jackals,

and mourning like the ostriches.

9 For her wound is incurable;

and it has come to Judah,

it has reached to the gate of my people,

to Jerusalem.

10 Tell it not in Gath,

weep not at all;

in Beth-le-aphrah

roll yourselves in the dust.

11 Pass on your way,

inhabitants of Shaphir,

in nakedness and shame;

the inhabitants of Zaanan

do not come forth;

the wailing of Beth-ezel

shall take away from you its standing place.

12 For the inhabitants of Maroth

wait anxiously for good,

because evil has come down from the Lord

to the gate of Jerusalem.

13 Harness the steeds to the chariots,

inhabitants of Lachish;

you were the beginning of sin

to the daughter of Zion,

for in you were found

the transgressions of Israel.

14 Therefore you shall give parting gifts

to Moresheth-gath;

the houses of Achzib shall be a deceitful thing

to the kings of Israel.

15 I will again bring a conqueror upon you,

inhabitants of Mareshah;

the glory of Israel

shall come to Adullam.

16 Make yourselves bald and cut off your hair,

for the children of your delight;

make yourselves as bald as the eagle,

for they shall go from you into exile.