< Micah 1 >

1 The word of the LORD that came to Micah the Morashtite in the days of Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah, which he saw concerning Samaria and Jerusalem.
A word of Jehovah that hath been unto Micah the Morashite in the days of Jotham, Ahaz, Hezekiah, kings of Judah, that he hath seen concerning Samaria and Jerusalem:
2 Hear, ye peoples, all of you; hearken, O earth, and all that therein is: and let the Lord GOD be witness against you, the Lord from his holy temple.
Hear, O peoples, all of them! Attend, O earth, and its fulness, And the Lord Jehovah is against you for a witness, The Lord from His holy temple.
3 For, behold, the LORD cometh forth out of his place, and will come down, and tread upon the high places of the earth.
For lo, Jehovah is going out from His place, And He hath come down, And hath trodden on high places of earth.
4 And the mountains shall be molten under him, and the valleys shall be cleft, as wax before the fire, as waters that are poured down a steep place.
Melted have been the mountains under Him, And the valleys do rend themselves, As wax from the presence of fire, As waters cast down by a slope.
5 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 are the high places of Judah? are they not 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 as an heap of the field, [and] as the plantings of a vineyard: and I will pour down the stones thereof into the valley, and I will discover the foundations thereof.
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 And all her graven images shall be beaten to pieces, and all her hires shall be burned with fire, and all her idols will I lay desolate: for of the hire of an harlot hath she gathered them, and unto the hire of an harlot shall they return.
And all her graven images are beaten down, And all her gifts are burnt with fire, And all her idols I make a desolation, For, from the hire of a harlot she gathered, and unto the hire of a harlot they return.
8 For this will I wail and howl, I will go stripped and naked: I will make a wailing like the jackals, and a mourning like the ostriches.
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 For her wounds are incurable: for it is come even unto Judah; it reacheth unto the gate of my people, even to Jerusalem.
For mortal [are] her wounds, For it hath come unto Judah, It hath come to a gate of My people — to Jerusalem.
10 Tell it not in Gath, weep not at all: at Beth-le-Aphrah have I rolled myself in the dust.
In Gath tell ye not — in Acco weep not, In Beth-Aphrah, in dust roll thyself.
11 Pass ye away, O inhabitant of Shaphir, in nakedness and shame: the inhabitant of Zaanan is not come forth; the wailing of Beth-ezel shall take from you the stay thereof.
Pass over for thee, O inhabitant of Shaphir, Naked one of shame. Not gone out hath the inhabitant of Zaanan, The lamentation of Beth-Ezel doth take from you its standing.
12 For the inhabitant of Maroth waiteth anxiously for good: because evil is come down from the LORD unto the gate of Jerusalem.
For stayed for good hath the inhabitant of Maroth, For evil hath come down from Jehovah to the gate of Jerusalem.
13 Bind the chariot to the swift steed, O inhabitant of Lachish: she was the beginning of sin to the daughter of Zion; for the transgressions of Israel were found in thee.
Bind the chariot to a swift beast, O inhabitant of Lachish, The beginning of sin [is] she to the daughter of Zion, For in thee have been found the transgressions of Israel.
14 Therefore shalt thou give a parting gift to Moresheth-gath: the houses of Achzib shall be a deceitful thing unto the kings of Israel.
Therefore thou givest presents to Moresheth-Gath, The houses of Achzib become a lying thing to the kings of Israel.
15 I will yet bring unto thee, O inhabitant of Mareshah, him that shall possess thee: the glory of Israel shall come even unto Adullam.
Yet the possessor I do bring in to thee, O inhabitant of Mareshah, To Adullam come in doth the honour of Israel.
16 Make thee bald, and poll thee for the children of thy delight: enlarge thy baldness as the eagle; for they are gone into captivity from thee.
Make bald and shave, for thy delightful sons, Enlarge thy baldness as an eagle, For they have removed from thee!

< Micah 1 >