Micah 1
1 Here is the message that the Lord gave to Micah of Moresheth at the time when Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah were kings of Judah. This is what he saw concerning Samaria and Jerusalem.
A word of YHWH that has been to Micah the Morashite in the days of Jotham, Ahaz, Hezekiah, kings of Judah, that he has seen concerning Samaria and Jerusalem:
2 Listen, all the nations! Pay attention, everyone on earth! The Lord God testifies against you from the Lord's holy Temple.
Hear, O peoples, all of them! Attend, O earth, and its fullness, And Lord YHWH is against you for a witness, The Lord from His holy temple.
3 Look! The Lord is coming, leaving his place and coming down, and is walking on the high places of the earth.
For behold, YHWH is going out from His place, And He has come down, And has trodden on high places of earth.
4 The mountains melt beneath him, the valleys burst apart, like wax in front of a fire, like water rushing down a slope. All this is happening because of the rebellion of the descendants of Jacob, the sins of the people of Israel.
The mountains have been melted under Him, And the valleys split themselves, As wax from the presence of fire, As waters cast down by a slope.
5 What is the rebellion of the descendants of Jacob? Isn't it what is happening in Samaria? Where are the idolatrous high places of Judah? Aren't they right in Jerusalem?
For the transgression of Jacob [is] all this, And for the sins of the house of Israel. What [is] the transgression of Jacob? Is it not Samaria? And what the high places of Judah? Is it not Jerusalem?
6 Therefore I will make Samaria a pile of rubble in a field, a place for planting vineyards. I will roll its stones down into the valley; I will lay bare its foundations.
“And I have set Samaria for a heap of the field, For plantations of a vineyard, And poured out into a valley her stones, And her foundations I uncover.
7 All their carved idols will be smashed to pieces. All that was earned by their temple prostitutes will be burned. All of their idols will be destroyed, for what she collected through the earnings of temple prostitutes will be taken away and used to pay other temple prostitutes.
And all her carved images are beaten down, And all her wages are burned with fire, And all her idols I make a desolation, For from the wage of a harlot she gathered, and to the wage of a harlot they return.”
8 Because of this I will weep and wail, I will walk barefoot and naked, and will howl like jackals and mourn like owls.
For this I lament and howl, I go spoiled and naked, I make a lamentation like dragons, And a mourning like daughters of an ostrich.
9 Their wound cannot be healed, it has extended to Judah, and reached right to the gates of Jerusalem.
For mortal [are] her wounds, For it has come to Judah, It has come to a gate of My people—to Jerusalem.
10 Don't mention it in Gath; don't weep at all. People of Beth-le-aphrah, roll in the dust.
In Gath do not tell—in Acco do not weep, In Beth-Aphrah, roll yourself in dust.
11 Leave, people of Shaphir, naked and ashamed. People of Zanaan don't come out. People of Beth Ezel mourn, for you have lost your support.
Pass over for you, O inhabitant of Shaphir, Naked one of shame. The inhabitant of Zaanan has not gone out, The lamentation of Beth-Ezel takes from you its standing.
12 The people of Maroth wait anxiously for relief, but disaster has come down from the Lord on the gate of Jerusalem.
For the inhabitant of Maroth has stayed for good, For calamity has come down from YHWH to the gate of Jerusalem.
13 Harness the team of horses to the chariot, you people of Lachish, because the sins of the people of Jerusalem began with you, for the sins of Israel were first found in you.
Bind the chariot to a swift beast, O inhabitant of Lachish, The beginning of sin [is] she to the daughter of Zion, For in you have been found the transgressions of Israel.
14 Send your goodbye gifts to Moresheth. The town of Achzib is a deception to the kings of Israel.
Therefore you give presents to Moresheth-Gath, The houses of Achzib become a lying thing to the kings of Israel.
15 I will bring a conqueror to attack you, people of Moresheth. The leaders of Israel will go to Adullam.
Yet I bring the possessor to you, O inhabitant of Mareshah, The glory of Israel comes to Adullam.
16 Shave your heads, for the children you love will be taken away; make yourselves as bald as a vulture, for they will be exiled far away from you.
Make bald and shave, for your delightful sons, Enlarge your baldness as an eagle, For they have removed from you!
