Micah 1–3

1ST CHAPTER

The Prophet Micah

¹The Lord spoke his word to Micah, who was from Moresheth, when Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah were kings of Judah. This is the vision that Micah saw about Samaria and Jerusalem. 

The Capital Cities of Israel and Judah Destroyed

²Listen, all you people! 

Pay attention, earth and all who are on it. 

The Almighty Lord will be a witness against you. 

The Lord will be a witness from his holy temple. 

³The Lord is going to come from his place. 

He is going to come down and step on the worship places of the earth. 

⁴Mountains will melt under him like wax near a fire. 

Valleys will split apart like water pouring down a steep hill. 

⁵All this is because of Jacob’s crime and Israel’s sin. 

What is Jacob’s crime? Isn’t it Samaria? 

What is Judah’s worship place? Isn’t it Jerusalem? 

⁶So I will turn Samaria into a pile of rubble, 

a place for planting vineyards. 

I will roll its stones down into a valley and expose its foundations. 

⁷All its idols will be smashed to pieces. 

All its wages for being a prostitute will be burned. 

All its statues will be turned into a pile of rubble. 

Samaria collected its wages for being a prostitute. 

That money will again pay for prostitutes. 

⁸I will mourn and cry because of this. 

I will walk around barefoot and naked. 

I will cry like a jackal and mourn like an ostrich. 

⁹Samaria’s wounds are incurable. 

⸤The news about Samaria⸥ will come to Judah. 

It will reach the gates of my people in Jerusalem. 

¹⁰Don’t report it in Gath. Don’t cry there. 

Roll in the dust of Beth Leaphrah.^a

¹¹Pass by, naked and ashamed, inhabitants of Shaphir. 

Don’t come out, inhabitants of Zaanan. 

Beth Ezel is in mourning. 

It will take its support away from you. 

¹²Wait anxiously for good, inhabitants of Maroth. 

From the Lord disaster will come on the gates of Jerusalem. 

¹³Harness the horses to the chariots, inhabitants of Lachish. 

You were the first to lead the people of Zion into sin. 

The rebellious acts of Israel are found in you. 

¹⁴That is why you will give farewell gifts to Moresheth Gath. 

The town of Achzib will betray the kings of Israel. 

¹⁵I will again bring a conqueror against the inhabitants of Mareshah. 

The glory of Israel will come to Adullam. 

¹⁶Shave your head in mourning for the children you love. 

Make yourselves as bald as vultures 

because your children will be taken from you into exile. 

2ND CHAPTER

Israel’s Sins Are Condemned

¹How horrible it will be for those who invent trouble 

and work out plans for disaster while in bed. 

When the morning dawns, they carry out their plans 

because they are able to. 

²They desire ⸤other people’s⸥ fields, so they seize them. 

They desire ⸤people’s⸥ houses, so they take them. 

They cheat a man and his family, 

a man and his inheritance. 

³So this is what the Lord says: 

I’m planning a disaster to punish your family. 

You won’t be able to rescue yourselves. 

You will no longer be able to walk proudly. 

This will be a time of disaster. 

⁴When that day comes, people will make fun of you. 

They will sing this sad song about you: 

“We are completely ruined. 

The Lord gives our people’s possessions ⸤to others⸥. 

He takes them from us. 

He divides our fields among our captors.” 

⁵That is why none of you in the Lord’s assembly will draw lots 

to divide your property. 

⁶Your prophets say, “Don’t prophesy! 

Don’t prophesy such things! 

Disgrace will never overtake us.” 

⁷Should the descendants of Jacob be asked: 

Has the Spirit of the Lord become impatient with you? 

Has he done these things? 

Are his words good for those who live honestly? 

⁸Recently, my people have turned into enemies. 

You take coats from those who pass by without a care 

as they return from war. 

⁹You force the women among my people out of their pleasant homes 

and take my glory away from their children forever. 

¹⁰Get up, and go away! 

This is not a place to rest! 

It will be destroyed, completely destroyed, 

because it offends me. 

¹¹Liars and frauds may go around and say, 

“We will preach to you about wine and liquor.” 

They would be just the type of preacher you want. 

Israel Will Be Gathered Again by the Lord

¹²I will surely gather all of you, Jacob. 

I will surely bring together the few people left in Israel. 

I will gather them together like sheep in a pen, 

like a flock in its pasture. 

They will make a lot of noise 

because there will be so many people. 

¹³⸤The Lord⸥ will open the way and lead them. 

They will break out, go through the gate, and leave. 

Their king will travel in front of them. 

The Lord will lead the people. 

3RD CHAPTER

Israel’s Sinful Leaders—Rulers, Prophets, and Priests

¹Then I said: 

Listen, you leaders of Jacob, you rulers of the nation of Israel. 

You should know justice. 

²You hate good and love evil. 

You strip the skin off my people and the flesh off their bones. 

³You eat my people’s flesh. 

You strip off their skin. 

You break their bones to pieces. 

You chop them up like meat for a pot, like stew meat for a kettle. 

⁴Then you will cry to the Lord, 

but he will not answer you. 

He will hide his face from you at that time 

because you have done evil things. 

⁵This is what the Lord says about the prophets who mislead my people: 

When they have something to eat, they say, “All is well!” 

But they declare a holy war against those who don’t feed them. 

⁶That is why you will have nights without visions. 

You will have darkness without revelations. 

The sun will set on the prophets, 

and the day will turn dark for them. 

⁷Seers^awill be put to shame. 

Those who practice witchcraft will be disgraced. 

All of them will cover their faces, because God won’t answer them. 

⁸But I am filled with the power of the Lord’s Spirit, 

with justice, and with strength. 

So I will tell ⸤the descendants of⸥ Jacob about their crimes 

and ⸤the nation of⸥ Israel about its sins. 

⁹Listen to this, you leaders of the descendants of Jacob, 

you rulers of the nation of Israel. 

You despise justice and pervert everything that is right. 

¹⁰You build Zion on bloodshed and Jerusalem on wickedness. 

¹¹Your leaders exchange justice for bribes. 

Your priests teach for a price. 

Your prophets tell the future for money. 

But they rely on the Lord when they say, 

“After all, the Lord is with us. 

Nothing bad will happen to us.” 

¹²Because of you, 

Zion will be plowed like a field, 

Jerusalem will become a pile of rubble, 

and the temple mountain will become a worship site 

covered with trees.