Micah 1

Chapter 1

Destruction in Israel and Judah

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

²Hear, O peoples, all of ¹you;

^aListen, O earth and ²all it contains,

And let the Lord ³God be a ^bwitness against you,

The Lord from His holy temple.

³For behold, the Lord is ^acoming 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 rebellion of Jacob

And for the sins of the house of Israel.

What is the ^arebellion of Jacob?

Is it not ^bSamaria?

What is the ^chigh ¹place of Judah?

Is it not Jerusalem?

⁶For I will make Samaria a ^aheap of ruins ¹in the open country,

^bPlanting places for a vineyard.

I will ^cpour her stones down into the valley

And will ^dlay bare her foundations.

⁷All of her ^aidols will be smashed,

All of her earnings will be burned with fire

And all of her images 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.

¹¹¹Go on your way, inhabitant of ²Shaphir, in ^ashameful nakedness.

The inhabitant of ^3bZaanan does not ⁴escape.

The lamentation of ⁵Beth-ezel: “He will take from you its ⁶support.”

¹²For the inhabitant of ¹Maroth

Becomes weak ^awaiting for good,

Because a calamity has come down from the Lord

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 ^brebellious acts of Israel.

¹⁴Therefore you will give parting ^agifts

On behalf of Moresheth-gath;

The houses of ^bAchzib 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.