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This is the word of Adonai that came to Mikhah the Morashti during the days of Yotam, Achaz and Y’chizkiyah, kings of Y’hudah, which he saw concerning Shomron and Yerushalayim:

Listen, peoples, all of you!
Pay attention, earth, and everything in it!
Adonai Elohim will witness against you,
Adonai, from his holy temple.
For — look! — Adonai is coming out of his place,
coming down to tread on the high places of the land.
Beneath him the mountains will melt,
the valleys split open like wax before fire,
like water poured down a steep slope.
All this is because of the crime of Ya‘akov
and the sins of the house of Isra’el.
What is the crime of Ya‘akov?
Isn’t it Shomron?
And what are the high places of Y’hudah?
Aren’t they Yerushalayim?

“So I will make Shomron a heap in the countryside,
a place for planting vineyards;
I will pour her stones down into the valley,
laying bare her foundations.
All her carved images will be smashed to pieces,
all she earned consumed by fire;
and I will reduce her idols to rubble.
She amassed them from a whore’s wages,
and as a whore’s wages they will be spent again.”

This is why I howl and wail,
why I go barefoot and stripped,
why I howl like the jackals
and mourn like the ostriches.
For her wound cannot be healed,
and now it is coming to Y’hudah as well;
it reaches even to the gate of my people,
to Yerushalayim itself.
10 Don’t tell about it in Gat,
don’t shed any tears.
At Beit-L‘afrah [house of dust]
roll yourself in the dust.
11 Inhabitants of Shafir, pass on your way
in nakedness and shame.
The inhabitants of Tza’anan
have not left yet.
The wailing of Beit-Ha’etzel
will remove from you their support.
12 The inhabitants of Marot
have no hope of anything good;
for Adonai has sent down disaster
to the very gate of Yerushalayim.
13 Harness the chariots to the fastest horses,
inhabitants of Lakhish;
she was the beginning of sin
for the daughter of Tziyon;
for the crimes of Isra’el
are traceable to you.
14 Therefore you must bestow parting gifts
upon Moreshet-Gat.
The houses of Akhziv will disappoint
the kings of Isra’el.
15 Inhabitants of Mareshah,
I have yet to bring you
the one who will [invade and] possess you.
The glory of Isra’el will come to ‘Adulam.

16 Shave the hair from your head as you mourn
for the children who were your delight;
make yourselves as bald as vultures,
for they have gone from you into exile.

The word of the Lord that came to Micah of Moresheth(A) during the reigns of Jotham,(B) Ahaz(C) and Hezekiah,(D) kings of Judah(E)—the vision(F) he saw concerning Samaria and Jerusalem.

Hear,(G) you peoples, all of you,(H)
    listen, earth(I) and all who live in it,
that the Sovereign Lord may bear witness(J) against you,
    the Lord from his holy temple.(K)

Judgment Against Samaria and Jerusalem

Look! The Lord is coming from his dwelling(L) place;
    he comes down(M) and treads on the heights of the earth.(N)
The mountains melt(O) beneath him(P)
    and the valleys split apart,(Q)
like wax before the fire,
    like water rushing down a slope.
All this is because of Jacob’s transgression,
    because of the sins of the people of Israel.
What is Jacob’s transgression?
    Is it not Samaria?(R)
What is Judah’s high place?
    Is it not Jerusalem?

“Therefore I will make Samaria a heap of rubble,
    a place for planting vineyards.(S)
I will pour her stones(T) into the valley
    and lay bare her foundations.(U)
All her idols(V) will be broken to pieces;(W)
    all her temple gifts will be burned with fire;
    I will destroy all her images.(X)
Since she gathered her gifts from the wages of prostitutes,(Y)
    as the wages of prostitutes they will again be used.”

Weeping and Mourning

Because of this I will weep(Z) and wail;
    I will go about barefoot(AA) and naked.
I will howl like a jackal
    and moan like an owl.
For Samaria’s plague(AB) is incurable;(AC)
    it has spread to Judah.(AD)
It has reached the very gate(AE) of my people,
    even to Jerusalem itself.
10 Tell it not in Gath[a];
    weep not at all.
In Beth Ophrah[b]
    roll in the dust.
11 Pass by naked(AF) and in shame,
    you who live in Shaphir.[c]
Those who live in Zaanan[d]
    will not come out.
Beth Ezel is in mourning;
    it no longer protects you.
12 Those who live in Maroth[e] writhe in pain,
    waiting for relief,(AG)
because disaster(AH) has come from the Lord,
    even to the gate of Jerusalem.
13 You who live in Lachish,(AI)
    harness fast horses to the chariot.
You are where the sin of Daughter Zion(AJ) began,
    for the transgressions of Israel were found in you.
14 Therefore you will give parting gifts(AK)
    to Moresheth(AL) Gath.
The town of Akzib[f](AM) will prove deceptive(AN)
    to the kings of Israel.
15 I will bring a conqueror against you
    who live in Mareshah.[g](AO)
The nobles of Israel
    will flee to Adullam.(AP)
16 Shave(AQ) your head in mourning
    for the children in whom you delight;
make yourself as bald as the vulture,
    for they will go from you into exile.(AR)

Footnotes

  1. Micah 1:10 Gath sounds like the Hebrew for tell.
  2. Micah 1:10 Beth Ophrah means house of dust.
  3. Micah 1:11 Shaphir means pleasant.
  4. Micah 1:11 Zaanan sounds like the Hebrew for come out.
  5. Micah 1:12 Maroth sounds like the Hebrew for bitter.
  6. Micah 1:14 Akzib means deception.
  7. Micah 1:15 Mareshah sounds like the Hebrew for conqueror.