< Micah 1 >
1 The word of the LORD that came to Micah the Morasthite 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, all ye people; 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 from 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 melted under him, and the valleys shall be cleft, as wax before the fire, [and] as the 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 a heap of the field, [and] as plantings of a vineyard: and I will pour down her stones into the valley, and I will lay bare her 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 And all her graven images shall be beaten to pieces, and all her hires shall be burned with the fire, and all her idols will I lay desolate: for she gathered [it] from the hire of a harlot, and they shall return to the hire of a harlot.
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 Therefore I will wail and howl, I will go stripped and naked: I will make a wailing like the dragons, and mourning as the 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 For her wound [is] incurable; for it is come to Judah; he is come to 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 Declare ye [it] not at Gath, weep ye not at all: in the house of Aphrah roll thyself in the dust.
In Gath tell ye not — in Acco weep not, In Beth-Aphrah, in dust roll thyself.
11 Pass ye away, thou inhabitant of Saphir, having thy shame exposed: the inhabitant of Zaanan came not forth in the mourning of Beth-ezel; he shall receive from you his standing.
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 waited anxiously for good: but evil came down from the LORD to 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 O thou inhabitant of Lachish, bind the chariot to the swift beast: she [is] the beginning of the 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 presents to Moresheth-gath: the houses of Achzib [shall be] a lie to 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 Yet will I bring an heir to thee, O inhabitant of Mareshah: he shall come to Adullam the glory of Israel.
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 thy delicate children; 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!