Micah 1
1 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:
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.
2 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.
Listen, all the nations! Pay attention, everyone on earth! The Lord God testifies against you from the Lord's holy Temple.
3 For lo, Jehovah is going out from His place, And He hath come down, And hath trodden on high places of earth.
Look! The Lord is coming, leaving his place and coming down, and is walking on the high places of the earth.
4 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.
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.
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 the high places of Judah? Is it not Jerusalem?
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?
6 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.
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.
7 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.
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.
8 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.
Because of this I will weep and wail, I will walk barefoot and naked, and will howl like jackals and mourn like owls.
9 For mortal [are] her wounds, For it hath come unto Judah, It hath come to a gate of My people — to Jerusalem.
Their wound cannot be healed, it has extended to Judah, and reached right to the gates of Jerusalem.
10 In Gath tell ye not — in Acco weep not, In Beth-Aphrah, in dust roll thyself.
Don't mention it in Gath; don't weep at all. People of Beth-le-aphrah, roll in the dust.
11 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.
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.
12 For stayed for good hath the inhabitant of Maroth, For evil hath come down from Jehovah to the gate of Jerusalem.
The people of Maroth wait anxiously for relief, but disaster has come down from the Lord on the gate of Jerusalem.
13 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.
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.
14 Therefore thou givest presents to Moresheth-Gath, The houses of Achzib become a lying thing to the kings of Israel.
Send your goodbye gifts to Moresheth. The town of Achzib is a deception to the kings of Israel.
15 Yet the possessor I do bring in to thee, O inhabitant of Mareshah, To Adullam come in doth the honour of Israel.
I will bring a conqueror to attack you, people of Moresheth. The leaders of Israel will go to Adullam.
16 Make bald and shave, for thy delightful sons, Enlarge thy baldness as an eagle, For they have removed from thee!
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.
