Micah 1

1The word of the Lord that came ^ato Micah ^bthe Moreshite ^c—what he saw regarding Samaria and Jerusalem in the days of Jotham, ^dAhaz, ^eand Hezekiah, ^fkings of Judah.

Coming Judgment on Israel

²Listen, all you peoples; ^g

pay attention, earth ^hand everyone in it! ⁱ

The Lord God will be a witness against you, ^j

the Lord, from His holy temple. ^k

³Look, the Lord is leaving His place ^l

and coming down to trample

the heights ^mof the earth. ⁿ

⁴The mountains will melt beneath Him,

and the valleys will split apart,

like wax near a fire, ^o

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? ^p

And what is the high place of Judah? ^q

Isn’t it Jerusalem?

⁶Therefore, I will make Samaria

a heap of ruins ^rin the countryside,

a planting area ^sfor a vineyard.

I will roll her stones ^tinto the valley

and expose her foundations. ^u

⁷All her carved images will be smashed ^vto pieces;

all her wages ^wwill be burned in the fire,

and I will destroy all her idols.

Since she collected the wages of a prostitute, ^x

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. ^y

I will howl like the jackals ^z

and mourn like ostriches. ^a

⁹For her wound is incurable ^b

and has reached even Judah; ^c

it has approached the gate of my people, ^d

as far as Jerusalem.

¹⁰Don’t announce it in Gath, ^e

don’t weep at all.

Roll in the dust in Beth-leaphrah.

¹¹Depart in shameful nakedness, ^f

you residents of Shaphir;

the residents of Zaanan ^gwill not come out.

Beth-ezel is lamenting;

its support ^his taken from you.

¹²Though the residents of Maroth

anxiously wait for something good, ⁱ

disaster has come from the Lord ^j

to the gate of Jerusalem.

¹³Harness the horses to the chariot,

you residents of Lachish. ^k

This was the beginning of sin for Daughter Zion,

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

¹⁴Therefore, send farewell gifts ^mto Moresheth-gath;

the houses of Achzib ⁿare a deception ^o

to the kings of Israel.

¹⁵I will again bring a conqueror

against you who live in Mareshah. ^p

The nobility ^qof Israel will come to Adullam. ^r

¹⁶Shave yourselves bald and cut off your hair ^s

in sorrow for your precious children;

make yourselves as bald as an eagle,

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