Micah 1–3

1^*The word of the Lord that came to ^aMicah ^bthe Morasthite ^cin the days of Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah, which he saw ^dconcerning ^eSamaria and Jerusalem.

^2†fHear, all ye people;

^gHearken, O earth, and ^†all that therein is:

And ^hlet the Lord God be witness against you,

ⁱThe Lord from ^khis holy temple.

^3lFor, behold, the Lord cometh forth out of ^lmhis place,

And will come down, and ^notread ⁿupon the high places of the earth.

⁴And ^pthe mountains shall be molten under him,

And the valleys shall be cleft,

^qAs wax before the fire,

And as the waters that are ^rpoured down ^†a steep place.

⁵For ^rrthe transgression of Jacob is all this,

And for ^rrthe sins of the house of Israel.

What is the transgression of Jacob? is it not ^eSamaria?

And what are ^sthe high places of Judah? are they not Jerusalem?

⁶Therefore I will make ^eSamaria ^tas an heap of the field,

And as plantings of a vineyard:

And I will ^rpour down the stones thereof ^uinto the valley,

And ^vI will discover the foundations thereof.

⁷And all the graven images thereof ^wshall be beaten to pieces,

And all ^xthe hires thereof shall be burned with the fire,

And all the idols thereof will I lay desolate:

For she gathered it ^xof the hire of an harlot,

And they shall return to the hire of an harlot.

^8yTherefore I will ^zwail and howl,

I will go ^astripped and ^bnaked:

I will make a wailing like ^cdthe dragons,

And mourning as ^cethe ^†owls.

⁹For ^||fher wound is incurable;

For it is come unto Judah;

^gHe is come unto the gate of my people, even to Jerusalem.

^10hDeclare ye it not at ⁱGath, weep ye not at all:

In the house of ^||kAphrah ^lroll thyself in the dust.

¹¹Pass ye away, ^||thou ^†inhabitant of Saphir, ⁿhaving thy shame naked:

The ^†inhabitant of ^||Zaanan came not forth in the mourning of ^||Beth-ezel;

He shall receive of you his standing.

¹²For the ^†inhabitant of ^pMaroth ^||qwaited carefully for good:

But ^revil came down from the Lord unto the gate of Jerusalem.

¹³O thou ^†inhabitant of ^sLachish, bind the chariot to ^tthe swift beast:

She is the beginning of the sin to the daughter of Zion:

For ^uthe transgressions of Israel were found in thee.

¹⁴Therefore shalt thou give ^vpresents ^||to ^wMoresheth-gath:

The houses of ^||xAchzib shall be a lie to the kings of Israel.

^15xxYet will I bring an heir unto thee, O ^†inhabitant of ^xMareshah:

^||He shall come unto ^yAdullam the glory of Israel.

^16zMake thee bald, and ^apoll thee for ^bthy delicate children;

^zEnlarge thy baldness ^cas the eagle;

For ^dthey are gone into captivity from thee.

2^*Woe to them ^athat devise iniquity, and work evil ^aupon their beds!

When the morning is light, they practise it,

Because ^bit is in the power of their hand.

²And they covet ^cfields, and take them by violence;

And ^chouses, and take them away:

So they ^||oppress a man and his house,

Even a man and his heritage.

³Therefore thus saith the Lord;

Behold, against ^dthis family ^edo I devise an evil,

^fFrom which ye shall not remove your necks;

Neither shall ye go haughtily:

^gFor this time is evil.

⁴In that day shall one ^htake up ⁱa parable against you,

And lament ^†with a doleful lamentation,

And say, We be utterly spoiled:

^kHe hath changed the portion of my people:

^kHow hath he removed it from me!

^||lTurning away he hath divided our fields.

⁵Therefore thou shalt have none that shall ^mcast a cord ⁿby lot

In the congregation of the Lord.

^6||†oProphesy ye not, say they to them that prophesy:

^pThey shall not prophesy to them, that they shall not take shame.

⁷O thou that art named the house of Jacob,

Is the spirit of the Lord ^||straitened?

^qAre these his doings?

Do not my words do good to him that walketh ^†uprightly?

^8sEven ^†of late my people is risen up as an enemy:

Ye pull off ^rvthe robe ^†with the garment

^sFrom them that pass by securely as men averse from war.

^9sThe ^||women of my people have ye cast out from their ^upleasant houses;

^sFrom their children have ye taken away ^vmy glory for ever.

¹⁰Arise ye, and depart; for this is not ^wyour rest:

Because ^xit is polluted, it shall ^ydestroy you, even with a ^zsore destruction.

¹¹If a man ^||bwalking in the spirit and falsehood do lie, ^csaying,

I will ^dprophesy unto thee of wine and of strong drink;

^eHe shall even be ^dthe prophet of this people.

^12fI will surely assemble, O Jacob, all of thee;

^fI will surely ^ggather ^hthe remnant of Israel;

I will put them together as the sheep of ⁱBozrah,

As ^gthe flock in the midst of ^jtheir fold:

^kThey shall ^lmake great noise by reason of the multitude of ^kmen.

^13mThe breaker is come up before them:

They have broken up, and have passed through the gate, and are gone out by it:

And ⁿtheir king shall pass before them,

And ^othe Lord on the head of them.

3^*And I said, ^aHear, I pray you, O heads of Jacob,

^aAnd ye ^bprinces of the house of Israel;

^cIs it not for you ^dto know judgment?

²Who hate the good, and love the evil;

^eWho pluck off their skin from off them,

And their flesh from off their bones;

^3eWho also ^feat the flesh of my people,

And flay their skin from off them;

And ^gthey break their bones,

And ^hchop them in pieces, as for the pot,

And ⁱas flesh within ^kthe caldron.

^4lThen shall they cry unto the Lord, but he will not hear them:

^mHe will even hide his face from them at that time,

As they have behaved themselves ill in their doings.

⁵Thus saith the Lord concerning ^nothe prophets that make my people err,

^pThat bite with their teeth, and ^nqcry, Peace;

And ^rhe that putteth not into their mouths,

They even ^sprepare war against him.

⁶Therefore ^tnight shall be unto you, ^u†that ye shall not have a vision;

And ^uit shall be dark unto you, ^t†that ye shall not ^vdivine;

And ^wthe sun shall go down over the prophets,

And ^wthe day shall be dark over them.

⁷Then shall the seers ^xbe ashamed, and ^vxthe diviners ^xconfounded:

Yea, they shall all ^ycover their ^†lips;

For ^zthere is no answer of God.

⁸But truly ^aI am full of power by the spirit of the Lord,

And of judgment, and of might,

^bTo declare unto Jacob his transgression,

^bAnd to Israel his sin.

^9cHear this, I pray you, ye heads of the house of Jacob,

^cAnd princes of the house of Israel,

That abhor judgment, and ^dpervert all equity.

^10eThey build up Zion ^fwith ^†blood,

And Jerusalem with iniquity.

^11gThe heads thereof judge for reward,

And ^hthe priests thereof teach for hire,

And ^hithe prophets thereof ^vdivine for money:

Yet will they ^klean upon the Lord, ^†and say,

^lIs not the Lord among us?

^mNone evil can come upon us.

¹²Therefore ⁿshall Zion ⁿⁿfor your sake be plowed as a field,

^noAnd Jerusalem shall become heaps,

ⁿAnd ^pthe mountain of the house ^qas the high places of the forest.