• Calamity in Israel and Judah

  • 1 The word of Yahweh which came to Micah of Moresheth in the days of Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah, which he beheld concerning Samaria and Jerusalem.
  • 2 Hear, O peoples, all of you; Give heed, O earth, as well as its fullness, And let Lord Yahweh be a witness against you, The Lord from His holy temple.
  • 3 For behold, Yahweh is going forth from His place. He will come down and tread on the high places of the earth.
  • 4 The mountains will melt under Him, And the valleys will be split, Like wax before the fire, Like water poured down a steep place.
  • 5 All this is for the transgression of Jacob And for the sins of the house of Israel. What is the transgression of Jacob? Is it not Samaria? What is the high place of Judah? Is it not Jerusalem?
  • 6 So I will make Samaria a heap of ruins in the field, Planting places for a vineyard. And I will pour her stones down into the valley And will lay bare her foundations.
  • 7 And all of her graven images will be smashed, And all of her earnings will be burned with fire And all of her idols I will make desolate, For she collected them from a harlot’s earnings, And to the earnings of a harlot they will return.
  • 8 Because of this I must lament and wail; I must go barefoot and naked; I must make a lament like the jackals And a mourning like the ostriches.
  • 9 For her wound is incurable, For it has come to Judah; It has reached the gate of my people, Even to Jerusalem.
  • 10 Tell it not in Gath, Weep not at all. At Beth-le-aphrah roll yourself in the dust.
  • 11 Pass on by, inhabitant of Shaphir, in shameful nakedness. The inhabitant of Zaanan does not go out. The lamentation of Beth-ezel: “He will take from you its support.”
  • 12 For the inhabitant of Maroth Writhes in waiting for good Because a calamity has come down from Yahweh To the gate of Jerusalem.
  • 13 Harness the chariot to the team of horses, O inhabitant of Lachish— She was the beginning of sin To the daughter of Zion— Because in you were found The transgressions of Israel.
  • 14 Therefore you will give parting gifts On behalf of Moresheth-gath; The houses of Achzib will become a deception To the kings of Israel.
  • 15 Moreover, I will bring on you The one who takes possession, O inhabitant of Mareshah. The glory of Israel will enter Adullam.
  • 16 Make yourself bald and cut off your hair, Because of the children of your delight; Extend your baldness like the eagle, For they will go from you into exile.