The Lord gave this message to Micah of Moresheth during the years when Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah were kings of Judah. The visions he saw concerned both Samaria and Jerusalem.

Grief over Samaria and Jerusalem

²Attention! Let all the people of the world listen!

Let the earth and everything in it hear.

The Sovereign Lord is making accusations against you;

the Lord speaks from his holy Temple.

³Look! The Lord is coming!

He leaves his throne in heaven

and tramples the heights of the earth.

⁴The mountains melt beneath his feet

and flow into the valleys

like wax in a fire,

like water pouring down a hill.

⁵And why is this happening?

Because of the rebellion of Israel—

yes, the sins of the whole nation.

Who is to blame for Israel’s rebellion?

Samaria, its capital city!

Where is the center of idolatry in Judah?

In Jerusalem, its capital!

⁶“So I, the Lord, will make the city of Samaria

a heap of ruins.

Her streets will be plowed up

for planting vineyards.

I will roll the stones of her walls into the valley below,

exposing her foundations.

⁷All her carved images will be smashed.

All her sacred treasures will be burned.

These things were bought with the money

earned by her prostitution,

and they will now be carried away

to pay prostitutes elsewhere.”

⁸Therefore, I will mourn and lament.

I will walk around barefoot and naked.

I will howl like a jackal

and moan like an owl.

⁹For my people’s wound

is too deep to heal.

It has reached into Judah,

even to the gates of Jerusalem.

¹⁰Don’t tell our enemies in Gath;

don’t weep at all.

You people in Beth-leaphrah,

roll in the dust to show your despair.

¹¹You people in Shaphir,

go as captives into exile—naked and ashamed.

The people of Zaanan

dare not come outside their walls.

The people of Beth-ezel mourn,

for their house has no support.

¹²The people of Maroth anxiously wait for relief,

but only bitterness awaits them

as the Lord’s judgment reaches

even to the gates of Jerusalem.

¹³Harness your chariot horses and flee,

you people of Lachish.

You were the first city in Judah

to follow Israel in her rebellion,

and you led Jerusalem into sin.

¹⁴Send farewell gifts to Moresheth-gath;

there is no hope of saving it.

The town of Aczib

has deceived the kings of Israel.

¹⁵O people of Mareshah,

I will bring a conqueror to capture your town.

And the leaders of Israel

will go to Adullam.

¹⁶Oh, people of Judah, shave your heads in sorrow,

for the children you love will be snatched away.

Make yourselves as bald as a vulture,

for your little ones will be exiled to distant lands.

Chapter 2 Judgment against Wealthy Oppressors

¹What sorrow awaits you who lie awake at night,

thinking up evil plans.

You rise at dawn and hurry to carry them out,

simply because you have the power to do so.

²When you want a piece of land,

you find a way to seize it.

When you want someone’s house,

you take it by fraud and violence.

You cheat a man of his property,

stealing his family’s inheritance.

³But this is what the Lord says:

“I will reward your evil with evil;

you won’t be able to pull your neck out of the noose.

You will no longer walk around proudly,

for it will be a terrible time.”

⁴In that day your enemies will make fun of you

by singing this song of despair about you:

“We are finished,

completely ruined!

God has confiscated our land,

taking it from us.

He has given our fields

to those who betrayed us.”

⁵Others will set your boundaries then,

and the Lord’s people will have no say

in how the land is divided.

True and False Prophets

⁶“Don’t say such things,”

the people respond.

“Don’t prophesy like that.

Such disasters will never come our way!”

⁷Should you talk that way, O family of Israel?

Will the Lord’s Spirit have patience with such behavior?

If you would do what is right,

you would find my words comforting.

⁸Yet to this very hour

my people rise against me like an enemy!

You steal the shirts right off the backs

of those who trusted you,

making them as ragged as men

returning from battle.

⁹You have evicted women from their pleasant homes

and forever stripped their children of all that God would give them.

¹⁰Up! Begone!

This is no longer your land and home,

for you have filled it with sin

and ruined it completely.

¹¹Suppose a prophet full of lies would say to you,

“I’ll preach to you the joys of wine and alcohol!”

That’s just the kind of prophet you would like!

Hope for Restoration

¹²“Someday, O Israel, I will gather you;

I will gather the remnant who are left.

I will bring you together again like sheep in a pen,

like a flock in its pasture.

Yes, your land will again

be filled with noisy crowds!

¹³Your leader will break out

and lead you out of exile,

out through the gates of the enemy cities,

back to your own land.

Your king will lead you;

the Lord himself will guide you.”

Chapter 3 Judgment against Israel’s Leaders

¹I said, “Listen, you leaders of Israel!

You are supposed to know right from wrong,

²but you are the very ones

who hate good and love evil.

You skin my people alive

and tear the flesh from their bones.

³Yes, you eat my people’s flesh,

strip off their skin,

and break their bones.

You chop them up

like meat for the cooking pot.

⁴Then you beg the Lord for help in times of trouble!

Do you really expect him to answer?

After all the evil you have done,

he won’t even look at you!”

⁵This is what the Lord says:

“You false prophets are leading my people astray!

You promise peace for those who give you food,

but you declare war on those who refuse to feed you.

⁶Now the night will close around you,

cutting off all your visions.

Darkness will cover you,

putting an end to your predictions.

The sun will set for you prophets,

and your day will come to an end.

⁷Then you seers will be put to shame,

and you fortune-tellers will be disgraced.

And you will cover your faces

because there is no answer from God.”

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

with the Spirit of the Lord.

I am filled with justice and strength

to boldly declare Israel’s sin and rebellion.

⁹Listen to me, you leaders of Israel!

You hate justice and twist all that is right.

¹⁰You are building Jerusalem

on a foundation of murder and corruption.

¹¹You rulers make decisions based on bribes;

you priests teach God’s laws only for a price;

you prophets won’t prophesy unless you are paid.

Yet all of you claim to depend on the Lord.

“No harm can come to us,” you say,

“for the Lord is here among us.”

¹²Because of you, Mount Zion will be plowed like an open field;

Jerusalem will be reduced to ruins!

A thicket will grow on the heights

where the Temple now stands.

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