Micah 1:8–16

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.