Micah

Micah

Micah exposed corruption in Judah on every level of society. The rulers, prophets and priests were unjust; the people oppressed the poor and worshiped idols. Micah alternates between words of judgment and words of forgiveness and restoration.

1 The word of the Lord that came to Micah of Moreshetha during the reigns of Jotham,b Ahazc and Hezekiah,d kings of Judahe—the visionf he saw concerning Samaria and Jerusalem.

2 Hear,g you peoples, all of you,h

listen, earthi and all who live in it,

that the Sovereign Lord may bear witnessj against you,

the Lord from his holy temple.k

Judgment Against Samaria and Jerusalem

3 Look! The Lord is coming from his dwellingl place;

he comes downm and treads on the heights of the earth.n

4 The mountains melto beneath himp

and the valleys split apart,q

like wax before the fire,

like water rushing down a slope.

5 All this is because of Jacob’s transgression,

because of the sins of the people of Israel.

What is Jacob’s transgression?

Is it not Samaria?r

What is Judah’s high place?

Is it not Jerusalem?

6 “Therefore I will make Samaria a heap of rubble,

a place for planting vineyards.s

I will pour her stonest into the valley

and lay bare her foundations.u

7 All her idolsv will be broken to pieces;w

all her temple gifts will be burned with fire;

I will destroy all her images.x

Since she gathered her gifts from the wages of prostitutes,y

as the wages of prostitutes they will again be used.”

Weeping and Mourning

8 Because of this I will weepz and wail;

I will go about barefoota and naked.

I will howl like a jackal

and moan like an owl.

9 For Samaria’s plagueb is incurable;c

it has spread to Judah.d

It has reached the very gatee of my people,

even to Jerusalem itself.

10 Tell it not in Gatha;

weep not at all.

In Beth Ophrahb

roll in the dust.

11 Pass by nakedf and in shame,

you who live in Shaphir.c

Those who live in Zaanand

will not come out.

Beth Ezel is in mourning;

it no longer protects you.

12 Those who live in Marothe writhe in pain,

waiting for relief,g

because disasterh has come from the Lord,

even to the gate of Jerusalem.

13 You who live in Lachish,i

harness fast horses to the chariot.

You are where the sin of Daughter Zionj began,

for the transgressions of Israel were found in you.

14 Therefore you will give parting giftsk

to Moreshethl Gath.

The town of Akzibf m will prove deceptiven

to the kings of Israel.

15 I will bring a conqueror against you

who live in Mareshah.g o

The nobles of Israel

will flee to Adullam.p

16 Shaveq your head in mourning

for the children in whom you delight;

make yourself as bald as the vulture,

for they will go from you into exile.r

Human Plans and God’s Plans

2 Woe to those who plan iniquity,

to those who plot evils on their beds!t

At morning’s light they carry it out

because it is in their power to do it.

2 They covet fieldsu and seize them,v

and houses, and take them.

They defraudw people of their homes,

they rob them of their inheritance.x

3 Therefore, the Lord says:

“I am planning disastery against this people,

from which you cannot save yourselves.

You will no longer walk proudly,z

for it will be a time of calamity.

4 In that day people will ridicule you;

they will taunt you with this mournful song:

‘We are utterly ruined;a

my people’s possession is divided up.b

He takes it from me!

He assigns our fields to traitors.’ ”

5 Therefore you will have no one in the assembly of the Lord

to divide the landc by lot.d

False Prophets

6 “Do not prophesy,” their prophets say.

“Do not prophesy about these things;

disgracee will not overtake us.f”

7 You descendants of Jacob, should it be said,

“Does the Lord becomea impatient?

Does he do such things?”

“Do not my words do goodg

to the one whose ways are upright?h

8 Lately my people have risen up

like an enemy.

You strip off the rich robe

from those who pass by without a care,

like men returning from battle.

9 You drive the women of my people

from their pleasant homes.i

You take away my blessing

from their children forever.

10 Get up, go away!

For this is not your resting place,j

because it is defiled,k

it is ruined, beyond all remedy.

11 If a liar and deceiverl comes and says,

‘I will prophesy for you plenty of wine and beer,’m

that would be just the prophet for this people!n

Deliverance Promised

12 “I will surely gather all of you, Jacob;

I will surely bring together the remnanto of Israel.

I will bring them together like sheep in a pen,

like a flock in its pasture;

the place will throng with people.p

13 The One who breaks open the way will go up beforeq them;

they will break through the gater and go out.

Their King will pass through before them,

the Lord at their head.”

Leaders and Prophets Rebuked

3 Then I said,

“Listen, you leaderss of Jacob,

you rulers of Israel.

Should you not embrace justice,

2 you who hate good and love evil;

who tear the skin from my people

and the flesh from their bones;t

3 who eat my people’s flesh,u

strip off their skin

and break their bones in pieces;v

who chopw them up like meat for the pan,

like flesh for the pot?x”

4 Then they will cry out to the Lord,

but he will not answer them.y

At that time he will hide his facez from them

because of the evil they have done.a

5 This is what the Lord says:

“As for the prophets

who lead my people astray,b

they proclaim ‘peace’c

if they have something to eat,

but prepare to wage war against anyone

who refuses to feed them.

6 Therefore night will come over you, without visions,

and darkness, without divination.d

The sun will set for the prophets,e

and the day will go dark for them.f

7 The seers will be ashamedg

and the diviners disgraced.h

They will all coveri their facesj

because there is no answer from God.k”

8 But as for me, I am filled with power,

with the Spirit of the Lord,

and with justice and might,

to declare to Jacob his transgression,

to Israel his sin.l

9 Hear this, you leaders of Jacob,

you rulers of Israel,

who despise justice

and distort all that is right;m

10 who buildn Zion with bloodshed,o

and Jerusalem with wickedness.p

11 Her leaders judge for a bribe,q

her priests teach for a price,r

and her prophets tell fortunes for money.s

Yet they lookt for the Lord’s support and say,

“Is not the Lord among us?

No disaster will come upon us.”u

12 Therefore because of you,

Zion will be plowed like a field,

Jerusalem will become a heap of rubble,v

the templew hill a mound overgrown with thickets.x

The Mountain of the Lord

4:1–3pp—Isa 2:1–4

4 In the last days

the mountainy of the Lord’s temple will be established

as the highest of the mountains;

it will be exalted above the hills,z

and peoples will stream to it.a

2 Many nations will come and say,

“Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord,b

to the temple of the God of Jacob.c

He will teach usd his ways,e

so that we may walk in his paths.”

The lawf will go out from Zion,

the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.

3 He will judge between many peoples

and will settle disputes for strong nations far and wide.g

They will beat their swords into plowshares

and their spears into pruning hooks.h

Nation will not take up sword against nation,

nor will they train for wari anymore.j

4 Everyone will sit under their own vine

and under their own fig tree,k

and no one will make them afraid,l

for the Lord Almighty has spoken.m

5 All the nations may walk

in the name of their gods,n

but we will walk in the name of the Lord

our God for ever and ever.o

The Lord’s Plan

6 “In that day,” declares the Lord,

“I will gather the lame;p

I will assemble the exilesq

and those I have brought to grief.r

7 I will make the lame my remnant,s

those driven away a strong nation.t

The Lord will rule over them in Mount Zionu

from that day and forever.v

8 As for you, watchtower of the flock,

strongholda of Daughter Zion,

the former dominion will be restoredw to you;

kingship will come to Daughter Jerusalem.x”

9 Why do you now cry aloud—

have you no kingb y?

Has your rulerc perished,

that pain seizes you like that of a woman in labor?z

10 Writhe in agony, Daughter Zion,

like a woman in labor,

for now you must leave the city

to camp in the open field.

You will go to Babylon;a

there you will be rescued.

There the Lord will redeemb you

out of the hand of your enemies.

11 But now many nations

are gathered against you.

They say, “Let her be defiled,

let our eyes gloatc over Zion!”

12 But they do not know

the thoughts of the Lord;

they do not understand his plan,d

that he has gathered them like sheaves to the threshing floor.

13 “Rise and thresh,e Daughter Zion,

for I will give you horns of iron;

I will give you hooves of bronze,

and you will break to pieces many nations.”f

You will devote their ill-gotten gains to the Lord,g

their wealth to the Lord of all the earth.

A Promised Ruler From Bethlehem

5 a Marshal your troops now, city of troops,

for a siege is laid against us.

They will strike Israel’s ruler

on the cheekh with a rod.

2 “But you, Bethlehemi Ephrathah,j

though you are small among the clansb of Judah,

out of you will come for me

one who will be rulerk over Israel,

whose origins are from of old,l

from ancient times.”m

3 Therefore Israel will be abandonedn

until the time when she who is in labor bears a son,

and the rest of his brothers return

to join the Israelites.

4 He will stand and shepherd his flocko

in the strength of the Lord,

in the majesty of the name of the Lord his God.

And they will live securely, for then his greatnessp

will reach to the ends of the earth.

5 And he will be our peaceq

when the Assyrians invader our land

and march through our fortresses.

We will raise against them seven shepherds,

even eight commanders,s

6 who will rulec the land of Assyria with the sword,

the land of Nimrodt with drawn sword.d u

He will deliver us from the Assyrians

when they invade our land

and march across our borders.v

7 The remnantw of Jacob will be

in the midst of many peoples

like dewx from the Lord,

like showers on the grass,y

which do not wait for anyone

or depend on man.

8 The remnant of Jacob will be among the nations,

in the …