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The Impending Doom of Samaria and Jerusalem

The word of Yahweh that came to Micah the Morashtite in the days of Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, the kings of Judah, that he saw concerning Samaria and Jerusalem:

Hear, all you peoples;
    give heed, O earth and its fullness.
And let the Lord Yahweh be against you as a witness,
    the Lord from his holy temple.[a]
For behold, Yahweh is coming out from his place,
    and he will come down and tread upon the high places of the earth.
The mountains will melt under him
    and the valleys will burst open,
like wax before the fire,
    like water rushing down a slope.
All this is for the rebellion of Jacob,
    and for the sins of the house of Israel.
What is the rebellion of Jacob?
    Is it not Samaria?
And what are the high places of Judah?
    Are they not Jerusalem?
So I will make Samaria as a heap of rubble in the field,
    a place for planting a vineyard.
And I will pour down her stones into the valley
    and uncover her foundations.
Then all her idols will be broken in pieces,
    and all her prostitution wages will be burned in the fire,
    and all her idols I will make a desolation,
For from the wage of a prostitute she gathered them,
    and to the wage of a prostitute they will return.
On account of this I will lament and wail.
    I will go about barefoot and naked.
I will make a lamentation like the jackals,
    and a mourning ceremony like the ostriches.[b]
For her wounds are incurable,
    because it has come to Judah.
    It has reached to the gate of my people, to Jerusalem.
10 Do not tell it in Gath;
    you must not weep at all.
In Beth-le-Aphrah
    roll yourself in dust.
11 Pass on, you inhabitants of Shaphir,
    in naked shame.
The inhabitants of Zaanan do not come forth;
    the wailing of Beth-ha-Ezel will take its protection from you.
12 For the inhabitants of Maroth
    writhed for good,
because disaster has come down from Yahweh
    to the gate of Jerusalem.
13 Harness the chariot to the team of horses,
    O inhabitants of Lachish;
it is the beginning of sin
    for the daughter of Zion,
for the transgressions of Israel
    were found in you.
14 Therefore you will give parting gifts
    to Moresheth-Gath;
the houses of Achzib will be a deception
    to the kings of Israel.
15 I will again bring the conqueror upon you,
    O inhabitants of Mareshah;
the glory of Israel
    will come to Adullam.
16 Make yourselves bald
    and cut off your hair
    for the children of your pleasure.
Expand your baldness as the eagle,
    for they will go into exile away from you.

Footnotes

  1. Micah 1:2 Literally “the temple of his holiness”
  2. Micah 1:8 Literally “daughters of an ostrich”

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.