< Micah 1 >
1 [I am] Micah. I am from [the town of] Moresheth [in Judah]. Yahweh gave me these [messages in] visions about Samaria and Jerusalem during the time when Jotham, [and then] Ahaz, and [then] Hezekiah, were the kings of Judah.
2 You people everywhere on the earth, pay attention to this [DOU]! Yahweh our God is accusing you from his holy temple [in heaven].
3 He will come down [from heaven] and walk on the tops of the highest mountains.
4 [It will be as though] the mountains will melt under his [feet] like [SIM] wax [melts] in front of a fire, and like [SIM] water [disappears] when it rushes/flows down into a valley.
5 Those things will happen because of the terrible sins [DOU] that the people [MTY] of Israel, [the descendants of] Jacob, have committed. But it was [RHQ] [the people of] Samaria [city who persuaded all the people of] Israel to sin, and it was [RHQ] because the people of Jerusalem [set up altars to worship their gods] that [the other people of] Judah [were persuaded to worship idols on] their hilltops.
6 So Yahweh will cause Samaria to become a heap [of rubble/ruins]; [it will be only] a field for planting vineyards. He will cause the stones of its [buildings] to roll down into the valley, and the foundations [of the buildings] will be uncovered.
7 All the idols in Samaria will be smashed, and the gifts [given to prostitutes at the temples of their idols] will be destroyed in a fire. And because people paid prostitutes there, [their enemies will take away those idols and sell them] to get money to pay to prostitutes [in other countries].
8 Because [Samaria will be destroyed], I will weep and wail. I will walk around (barefoot/without any sandals on my feet) and naked. I will howl like a jackal/wolf and screech like an owl,
9 because Samaria will be completely destroyed [MET]; nothing can save that city. But the same thing will happen to Judah! [It is as though the enemy army] has [already] reached the city gates of Jerusalem, [the main city where] my people [live].
10 Do not tell that to [our enemies] in Gath [city in Philistia]! Do not cry, [lest the people there find out what is happening]! [Instead, just] roll in the dirt in Beth-Leaphrah [because the name of that town means ‘house of dust].’
11 You people who live in Shaphir [town, whose name means ‘beautiful],’ naked and ashamed, you will be taken [to another country]. [You people in] Beth-Ezel [town] should mourn, [because] no one from Zaanan [town, whose name means ‘one who goes out],’ will go out to help you.
12 [The name of] Maroth [town sounds like ‘bitterness];’ everyone there is anxiously waiting for good things to happen to them, but good things will not happen to them; instead, terrible things are about to happen to them, and it will soon happen at the gates of Jerusalem.
13 You people of Lachish [city, whose name sounds like ‘team],’ hitch your horses to pull the chariots [in which you can ride to flee from your enemies]. The Israeli people rebelled against Yahweh, and you (imitated them/did the same evil things that they did), and that caused the people of Jerusalem [IDM] to start sinning, too.
14 [You people of Judah], send a farewell gift to [the people] of Moresheth [town], [because their enemies will soon destroy it]. [The name of the town Aczib means ‘deception],’ and the kings of Israel [will soon find out that the people of that town] will deceive them.
15 [The name of your town of] Mareshah [means ‘conqueror],’ and Yahweh will [soon] send someone to conquer your town. [It will be necessary for] the great/glorious leaders of Israel to go [and hide in the cave at] Adullam [city].
16 [You people of Judah], shave your heads [while you will be mourning], because your children whom you love will [soon] be (exiled/forced to leave you and go to another country).
