Destruction in Israel and Judah

1The word of the LORD which came to Micah of Moresheth in the days of Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah, and which he saw regarding Samaria and Jerusalem.

2Hear, you peoples, all of [a]you;

Listen carefully, earth and [b]all it contains,

And may the Lord [c]GOD be a witness against you,

The Lord from His holy temple.

3For behold, the LORD is coming forth from His place.

He will come down and tread on the high places of the [d]earth.

4The mountains will melt under Him

And the valleys will be split,

Like wax before the fire,

Like water poured down a steep place.

5All this is due to the [e]wrongdoing of Jacob

And the sins of the house of Israel.

What is the [f]wrongdoing of Jacob?

Is it not Samaria?

What is the high [g]place of Judah?

Is it not Jerusalem?

6For I will make Samaria a heap of ruins [h]in the open country,

Planting places for a vineyard.

I will hurl her stones down into the valley,

And lay bare her foundations.

7All of her idols will be crushed,

All of her earnings will be burned with fire,

And all of her images I will make desolate;

For she collected them from a prostitute’s earnings,

And to the earnings of a prostitute they will return.

8Because of this I must mourn and wail,

I must go barefoot and naked;

I must do mourning like the jackals,

And a mourning like the ostriches.

9For her wound is incurable,

For it has come to Judah;

It has reached the gate of my people,

Even to Jerusalem.

10Do not tell it in Gath,

Do not weep at all.

At [i]Beth-le-aphrah roll yourself in the dust in mourning.

11[j]Go on your way, inhabitant of [k]Shaphir, in shameful nakedness.

The inhabitant of [l]Zaanan does not [m]escape.

The mourning of [n]Beth-ezel: “He will take from you its [o]support.”

12For the inhabitant of [p]Maroth

[q]Waits for something good,

Because a disaster has come down from the LORD

To the gate of Jerusalem.

13Harness the chariot to the team of horses,

You inhabitant of Lachish—

She was the beginning of sin

To the daughter of Zion—

Because in you were found

The rebellious acts of Israel.

14Therefore you will give parting gifts

In behalf of Moresheth-gath;

The houses of Achzib will become a [r]deception

To the kings of Israel.

15Moreover, I will bring on you

The one who takes possession,

You inhabitant of [s]Mareshah.

The glory of Israel will enter Adullam.

16Shave yourself bald, yes, 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.

[a] 2 Lit them
[b] 2 Lit its fullness
[c] 2 Heb YHWH, usually rendered LORD
[d] 3 Or land
[e] 5 Or rebellion
[f] 5 Or rebellion
[g] 5 Lit places
[h] 6 Lit of the field
[i] 10 I.e., house of dust
[j] 11 I.e., Go into captivity
[k] 11 I.e., pleasantness
[l] 11 I.e., going out
[m] 11 Lit go out
[n] 11 I.e., the house beside
[o] 11 Lit standing place
[p] 12 I.e., bitterness
[q] 12 Or possibly has been in agony for
[r] 14 Heb achzab, wordplay on Achzib
[s] 15 I.e., possession