1 *The word of the Lord that came to aMicah bthe Morasthite cin the days of Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah, which he saw dconcerning eSamaria and Jerusalem.

2  †fHear, all ye people;

gHearken, O earth, and †all that therein is:

And hlet the Lord God be witness against you,

iThe Lord from khis holy temple.

3  lFor, behold, the Lord cometh forth out of lmhis place,

And will come down, and notread nupon the high places of the earth.

4  And pthe mountains shall be molten under him,

And the valleys shall be cleft,

qAs wax before the fire,

And as the waters that are rpoured down †a steep place.

5  For rrthe transgression of Jacob is all this,

And for rrthe sins of the house of Israel.

What is the transgression of Jacob? is it not eSamaria?

And what are sthe high places of Judah? are they not Jerusalem?

6  Therefore I will make eSamaria tas an heap of the field,

And as plantings of a vineyard:

And I will rpour down the stones thereof uinto the valley,

And vI will discover the foundations thereof.

7  And all the graven images thereof wshall be beaten to pieces,

And all xthe hires thereof shall be burned with the fire,

And all the idols thereof will I lay desolate:

For she gathered it xof the hire of an harlot,

And they shall return to the hire of an harlot.

8  yTherefore I will zwail and howl,

I will go astripped and bnaked:

I will make a wailing like cdthe dragons,

And mourning as cethe †owls.

9  For ||fher wound is incurable;

For it is come unto Judah;

gHe is come unto the gate of my people, even to Jerusalem.

10  hDeclare ye it not at iGath, weep ye not at all:

In the house of ||kAphrah lroll thyself in the dust.

11  Pass ye away, ||thou †inhabitant of Saphir, nhaving thy shame naked:

The †inhabitant of ||Zaanan came not forth in the mourning of ||Beth-ezel;

He shall receive of you his standing.

12  For the †inhabitant of pMaroth ||qwaited carefully for good:

But revil came down from the Lord unto the gate of Jerusalem.

13  O thou †inhabitant of sLachish, bind the chariot to tthe swift beast:

She is the beginning of the sin to the daughter of Zion:

For uthe transgressions of Israel were found in thee.

14  Therefore shalt thou give vpresents ||to wMoresheth-gath:

The houses of ||xAchzib shall be a lie to the kings of Israel.

15  xxYet will I bring an heir unto thee, O †inhabitant of xMareshah:

||He shall come unto yAdullam the glory of Israel.

16  zMake thee bald, and apoll thee for bthy delicate children;

zEnlarge thy baldness cas the eagle;

For dthey are gone into captivity from thee.