Micah
1 The word of the Lord that camea to Micahb the Moreshitec—what he saw regarding Samaria and Jerusalem in the days of Jotham,d Ahaz,e and Hezekiah,f kings of Judah.
2 Listen, all you peoples;g
pay attention, earthA and everyone in it!h
The Lord God will be a witness against you,i
the Lord, from his holy temple.j
3 Look, the Lord is leaving his placek
and coming down to trample
4 The mountains will melt beneath him,
and the valleys will split apart,
like wax near a fire,m
like water cascading down a mountainside.
5 All this will happen because of Jacob’s rebellion
and the sins of the house of Israel.
What is the rebellion of Jacob?
Isn’t it Samaria?n
And what is the high place of Judah?o
Isn’t it Jerusalem?
6 Therefore, I will make Samaria
a heap of ruinsp in the countryside,
a planting areaq for a vineyard.
I will roll her stonesr into the valley
and expose her foundations.s
7 All her carved images will be smashedt to pieces;
all her wagesu will be burned in the fire,
and I will destroy all her idols.
Since she collected the wages of a prostitute,v
they will be used again for a prostitute.
8 Because of this I will lament and wail;
I will walk barefoot and naked.w
I will howl like the jackalsx
and mourn like ostriches.C
9 For her wound is incurabley
and has reached even Judah;z
it has approached my people’s city gate,aa
as far as Jerusalem.
10 Don’t announce it in Gath,ab
don’t weep at all.
Roll in the dust in Beth-leaphrah.
11 Depart in shameful nakedness,ac
you residents of Shaphir;
the residents of Zaananad will not come out.
Beth-ezel is lamenting;
its supportD is taken from you.
12 Though the residents of Maroth
anxiously wait for something good,ae
disaster has come from the Lordaf
to the gate of Jerusalem.
13 Harness the horses to the chariot,
you residents of Lachish.ag
This was the beginning of sin for Daughter Zion
because Israel’s acts of rebellionah can be traced to you.
14 Therefore, send farewell giftsai to Moresheth-gath;
the houses of Achzibaj are a deceptionak
to the kings of Israel.
15 I will again bring a conqueror
against you who live in Mareshah.al
The nobilityE of Israel will come to Adullam.am
16 Shave yourselves bald and cut off your hairan
in sorrow for your precious children;
make yourselves as bald as an eagle,
for they have been taken from you into exile.ao
2 Woe to those who dream up wickedness
and prepare evil plansap on their beds!
At morning lightaq they accomplish it
because the power is in their hands.a
2 They covet fieldsb and seize them;c
they also take houses.
They deprive a man of his home,d
a person of his inheritance.e
I am now planningf a disaster
against this nation;g
you cannot free your necks from it.h
Then you will not walk so proudlyi
because it will be an evil time.j
4 In that day one will take upk a taunt against you
and lament mournfully,l saying,
“We are totally ruined!m
He measures out the allotted land of my people.
How he removes it from me!
He allots our fieldsn to traitors.”
5 Therefore, there will be no one
in the assembly of the Lord
to divide the land by casting lots.A,o
6 “Quit your preaching,”p theyB preach.
“They should not preach these things;q
shame will not overtake us.”C,r
7 House of Jacob, should it be asked,
“Is the Spirit of the Lord impatient?s
Are these the things he does?”
Don’t my words bring goodt
to the one who walks uprightly?u
8 But recently my people have risen up
like an enemy:v
You strip off the splendid robew
from those who are passing through confidently,x
like those returning from war.
9 You forcey the women of my people
out of their comfortable homes,
from their children forever.
for this is not your place of restaa
because defilementab brings destruction—
a grievous destruction!ac
and utters empty lies—ad
“I will preach to you about wine and beer”—ae
he would be just the preacher for this people!af
12 I will indeed gatherag all of you, Jacob;
I will collect the remnant of Israel.ah
I will bring them together like sheep in a pen,
like a flock in the middle of its pasture.
It will be noisy with people.ai
13 One who breaks open the way
will advance before them;
they will break out, pass through the city gate,
and leave by it.
Their King will pass through before them,
the Lord as their leader.
3 Then I said, “Now listen,aj leaders of Jacob,
you rulers of the house of Israel.
Aren’t you supposed to know what is just?ak
2 You hate good and love evil.
You tear off people’s skinal
and strip their flesh from their bones.
3 You eat the flesham of my people
after you strip their skin from them
and break their bones.
You chop them upan
like flesh for the cooking pot,
like meat in a cauldron.”
4 Then they will cry outao to the Lord,
but he will not answer them.
He will hide his face from them at that timeap
because of the crimes they have committed.
5 This is what the Lord says
concerning the prophets
who lead my people astray,aq
who proclaimar peace
when they have food to sink their teeth into
but declare war against the one
who puts nothing in their mouths.
6 Therefore, it will be nightas for you—
without visions;
without divination.a
The sun will setb on these prophets,
and the daylight will turn black over them.
7 Then the seers will be ashamedc
and the diviners disappointed.d
They will all cover their mouthsA,e
because there will be no answer from God.f
8 As for me, however, I am filled with powerg
by the Spirit of the Lord,
with justice and courage,
to proclaim to Jacob his rebellion
and to Israel his sin.h
9 Listen to this, leaders of the house of Jacob,i
you rulers of the house of Israel,
who abhor justicej
and pervert everything that is right,
10 who build Zion with bloodshedk
and Jerusalem with injustice.
11 Her leaders issue rulings for a bribe,l
her priests teach for payment,m
and her prophets practice divination for silver.
Yet they lean on the Lord, saying,
“Isn’t the Lordn among us?
No disaster will overtake us.”
Zion will be plowed like a field,
Jerusalem will become ruins,o
and the temple’s mountainp
will be a high thicket.q
THE LORD’S RULE FROM RESTORED ZION
4 In the last daysr
the mountain of the Lord’s houses
will be established
at the top of the mountains
and will be raised above the hills.
Peoples will stream to it,t
2 and many nations will come and say,u
“Come, let’s go up to the mountain of the Lord,v
to the house of the God of Jacob.
He will teach us about his waysw
so we may walk in his paths.”
For instruction will go out of Zionx
and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.
3 He will settle disputes among many peoplesy
and provide arbitration for strong nations
that are far away.
They will beat their swords into plows
and their spears into pruning knives.
Nation will not take up the sword against nation,
and they will never again train for war.
4 But each person will sit under his grapevinez
and under his fig tree
with no one to frighten him.aa
For the mouth of the Lordab of Armies
has spoken.
in the name of their own gods,ac
we will walkad in the name of the Lord our God
forever and ever.ae
this is the Lord’s declaration—
I will assemble the lame
and gather the scattered,af
those I have injured.
7 I will make the lame into a remnant,ag
those far removed into a strong nation.
Then the Lord will reign over themah in Mount Zion
from this time on and forever.
8 And you, watchtower for the flock,ai
fortified hillB of Daughter Zion,
the former ruleaj will come to you;
sovereignty will come to Daughter Jerusalem.
9 Now, why are you shouting loudly?ak
Is there no king with you?
Has your counselor perishedal
so that anguish grips you like a woman in labor?
10 Writhe and cry out,C,am Daughter Zion,
like a woman in labor,
for now you will leave the cityan
and camp in the open fields.
You will go to Babylon;
there you will be rescued;ao
there the Lord will redeem youa
from the grasp of your enemies!
11 Many nations have now assembled against you;b
they say, “Let her be defiled,
and let us feast our eyes on Zion.”
12 But they do not know the Lord’s intentionsc
or understand his plan,
that he has gathered them
like sheaves to the threshing floor.
13 Rise and thresh,d Daughter Zion,
for I will make your horns iron
and your hooves bronze
so you can crush many peoples.e
Then youA will set apart their plunderf
for the Lord,
their wealth for the Lord of the whole earth.
FROM DEFEATED RULER TO CONQUERING KING
5 Now, daughter who is under attack,
you slash yourself in grief;
a siege is set against us!
They are striking the judgeg of Israel
on the cheek with a rod.
2 Bethlehem Ephrathah,h
you are small among the clans of Judah;
one will come from youi
to be ruler over Israel for me.j
His originB is from antiquity,k
from ancient times.
3 Therefore, Israel will be abandonedl until the time
when she who is in laborm has given birth;
then the rest of the ruler’s brothersn will return
to the people of Israel.o
4 He will stand and shepherd themp
in the strength of the Lord,
in the majestic name of the Lord his God.
They will live securely,
for then his greatness will extend
to the ends of the earth.q
5 He will be their peace.r
When Assyria invades our land,s
when it marches against our fortresses,
we will raise against it seven shepherds,
even eight leaders of men.
6 They will shepherdt the land of Assyria with the sword,
the land of Nimrodu with a drawn blade.C
So he will rescue usv from Assyria
when it invades our land,
when it marches against our territory.
THE GLORIOUS AND PURIFIED REMNANT
7 Then the remnant of Jacobw
will be among many peoples
like dew from the Lord,x
like showers on the grass,y
which do not wait for anyone
or linger for mankind.