Micah 1–3

1The word of the Lord that came^a to Micah^b the Moreshite^c—what he saw regarding Samaria and Jerusalem in the days of Jotham,^d Ahaz,^e and Hezekiah,^f kings of Judah.

COMING JUDGMENT ON ISRAEL

²Listen, all you peoples;^g

pay attention, earth^A and everyone in it!^h

The Lord God will be a witness against you,ⁱ

the Lord, from his holy temple.^j

³Look, the Lord is leaving his place^k

and coming down to trample

the heights^B of the earth.^l

⁴The mountains will melt beneath him,

and the valleys will split apart,

like wax near a fire,^m

like water cascading down a mountainside.

⁵All 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?

⁶Therefore, I will make Samaria

a heap of ruins^p in the countryside,

a planting area^q for a vineyard.

I will roll her stones^r into the valley

and expose her foundations.^s

⁷All her carved images will be smashed^t to pieces;

all her wages^u 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.

MICAH’S LAMENT

⁸Because of this I will lament and wail;

I will walk barefoot and naked.^w

I will howl like the jackals^x

and mourn like ostriches.^C

⁹For her wound is incurable^y

and has reached even Judah;^z

it has approached my people’s city gate,^aa

as far as Jerusalem.

¹⁰Don’t announce it in Gath,^ab

don’t weep at all.

Roll in the dust in Beth-leaphrah.

¹¹Depart in shameful nakedness,^ac

you residents of Shaphir;

the residents of Zaanan^ad will not come out.

Beth-ezel is lamenting;

its support^D is taken from you.

¹²Though the residents of Maroth

anxiously wait for something good,^ae

disaster has come from the Lord^af

to the gate of Jerusalem.

¹³Harness the horses to the chariot,

you residents of Lachish.^ag

This was the beginning of sin for Daughter Zion

because Israel’s acts of rebellion^ah can be traced to you.

¹⁴Therefore, send farewell gifts^ai to Moresheth-gath;

the houses of Achzib^aj are a deception^ak

to the kings of Israel.

¹⁵I will again bring a conqueror

against you who live in Mareshah.^al

The nobility^A of Israel will come to Adullam.^am

¹⁶Shave yourselves bald and cut off your hair^an

in sorrow for your precious children;

make yourselves as bald as an eagle,

for they have been taken from you into exile.^ao

OPPRESSORS JUDGED

2Woe to those who dream up wickedness

and prepare evil plans^ap on their beds!

At morning light^aq they accomplish it

because the power is in their hands.^a

²They covet fields^b and seize them;^c

they also take houses.

They deprive a man of his home,^d

a person of his inheritance.^e

³Therefore, the Lord says:

I am now planning^f 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

⁴In that day one will take up^k 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.”

⁵Therefore, there will be no one

in the assembly of the Lord

to divide the land by casting lots.^Bo

GOD’S WORD REJECTED

⁶“Quit your preaching,”^p they^C preach.

“They should not preach these things;^q

shame will not overtake us.”^Dr

⁷House 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 good^t

to the one who walks uprightly?^u

⁸But recently my people have risen up

like an enemy:^v

You strip off the splendid robe^w

from those who are passing through confidently,^x

like those returning from war.

⁹You force^y the women of my people

out of their comfortable homes,

and you take my blessing^Az

from their children forever.

¹⁰Get up and leave,

for this is not your place of rest^aa

because defilement^ab brings destruction—

a grievous destruction!^ac

¹¹If a man comes

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

THE REMNANT REGATHERED

¹²I will indeed gather^ag 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

¹³One 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.

UNJUST LEADERS JUDGED

3Then 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

²You hate good and love evil.

You tear off people’s skin^al

and strip their flesh from their bones.

³You eat the flesh^am of my people

after you strip their skin from them

and break their bones.

You chop them up^an

like flesh for the cooking pot,

like meat in a cauldron.”

⁴Then they will cry out^ao to the Lord,

but he will not answer them.

He will hide his face from them at that time^ap

because of the crimes they have committed.

FALSE PROPHETS JUDGED

⁵This is what the Lord says

concerning the prophets

who lead my people astray,^aq

who proclaim^ar peace

when they have food to sink their teeth into

but declare war against the one

who puts nothing in their mouths.

⁶Therefore, it will be night^as for you—

without visions;

it will grow dark for you—

without divination.^a

The sun will set^b on these prophets,

and the daylight will turn black over them.

⁷Then the seers will be ashamed^c

and the diviners disappointed.^d

They will all cover their mouths^Be

because there will be no answer from God.^f

⁸As for me, however, I am filled with power^g

by the Spirit of the Lord,

with justice and courage,

to proclaim to Jacob his rebellion

and to Israel his sin.^h

ZION’S DESTRUCTION

⁹Listen to this, leaders of the house of Jacob,ⁱ

you rulers of the house of Israel,

who abhor justice^j

and pervert everything that is right,

¹⁰who build Zion with bloodshed^k

and Jerusalem with injustice.

¹¹Her 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.”

¹²Therefore, because of you,

Zion will be plowed like a field,

Jerusalem will become ruins,^o

and the temple’s mountain^p

will be a high thicket.^q