Micah 1

CHAPTER 1

Calamity in Israel and Judah

¹The ^aword of ¹Yahweh which came to ^bMicah of Moresheth in the days of ^cJotham, ^dAhaz, and ^eHezekiah, kings of Judah, which he beheld concerning Samaria and Jerusalem.

²Hear, O peoples, all of ¹you;

^aGive heed, O earth, as well as its fullness,

And let Lord Yahweh be a ^bwitness against you,

The Lord from His holy temple.

³For behold, Yahweh is ^agoing forth from His place.

He will come down and ^btread on the high places of the ¹earth.

^4aThe mountains will melt under Him,

And the valleys will be split,

Like wax before the fire,

Like water poured down a steep place.

⁵All this is for the transgression of Jacob

And for the sins of the house of Israel.

What is the ^atransgression of Jacob?

Is it not ^bSamaria?

What is the ^chigh ¹place of Judah?

Is it not Jerusalem?

⁶So I will make Samaria a ^aheap of ruins in the field,

^bPlanting places for a vineyard.

And I will ^cpour her stones down into the valley

And will ^dlay bare her foundations.

⁷And all of her ^agraven images will be smashed,

And all of her earnings will be burned with fire

And all of her idols I will make desolate,

For she collected them from a ^bharlot’s earnings,

And to the earnings of a harlot they will return.

⁸Because of this I must lament and wail;

I must go ^abarefoot and naked;

I must make a lament like the ^bjackals

And a mourning like the ostriches.

⁹For her ^1awound is incurable,

For ^bit has come to Judah;

It has reached the ^cgate of my people,

Even to Jerusalem.

^10aTell it not in Gath,

Weep not at all.

At ¹Beth-le-aphrah roll yourself in the dust.

¹¹¹Pass on by, inhabitant of ²Shaphir, in ^ashameful nakedness.

The inhabitant of ^3bZaanan does not go out.

The lamentation of ⁴Beth-ezel: “He will take from you its ⁵support.”

¹²For the inhabitant of ¹Maroth

Writhes ^ain waiting for good

Because a ²calamity has come down from Yahweh

To the ^bgate of Jerusalem.

¹³Harness the chariot to the team of horses,

O inhabitant of ^aLachish—

She was the beginning of sin

To the daughter of Zion—

Because in you were found

The ^btransgressions of Israel.

¹⁴Therefore you will give parting ^agifts

On behalf of ¹Moresheth-gath;

The houses of ^2bAchzib will become a ^cdeception

To the kings of Israel.

¹⁵Moreover, I will bring on you

The one who takes possession,

O inhabitant of ^1aMareshah.

The glory of Israel will enter ^bAdullam.

¹⁶Make yourself ^abald and cut off your hair,

Because of the children of your delight;

Extend your baldness like the eagle,

For they will ^bgo from you into exile.