Micah 1

English Standard Version

1 The word of the Lord that came to Micah ^(A)of Moresheth ^(B)in the days of Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah, which he saw ^(C)concerning ^(D)Samaria and Jerusalem.

The Coming Destruction

²^(E)Hear, you peoples, all of you;^[a]
    ^(F)pay attention, O earth, and all that is in it,
and ^(G)let the Lord God be a witness against you,
    ^(H)the Lord from his holy temple.
³For behold, ^(I)the Lord is coming out of ^(J)his place,
    and will come down and ^(K)tread upon the high places of the earth.
⁴And ^(L)the mountains will melt under him,
    and the valleys will split open,
like wax before the fire,
    like waters poured down a steep place.
⁵All this is for ^(M)the transgression of Jacob
    and for the sins of the house of Israel.
^(N)What is the transgression of Jacob?
    Is it not ^(O)Samaria?
And what is ^(P)the high place of Judah?
    Is it not Jerusalem?
⁶Therefore I will make ^(Q)Samaria ^(R)a heap in the open country,
    a place for planting vineyards,
and I will pour down her stones ^(S)into the valley
    and ^(T)uncover her foundations.
⁷All ^(U)her carved images shall be beaten to pieces,
    ^(V)all her wages shall be burned with fire,
    and all her idols I will lay waste,
for from ^(W)the fee of a prostitute she gathered them,
    and to the fee of a prostitute they shall return.

⁸^(X)For this I will lament and wail;
    I will go ^(Y)stripped and naked;
I will make lamentation ^(Z)like the jackals,
    and mourning ^(AA)like the ostriches.
⁹^(AB)For her wound is incurable,
    and it has come to Judah;
it has reached to the gate of my people,
    to Jerusalem.

¹⁰^(AC)Tell it not in ^(AD)Gath;
    weep not at all;
in Beth-le-aphrah
    ^(AE)roll yourselves in the dust.
¹¹Pass on your way,
    inhabitants of Shaphir,
    ^(AF)in nakedness and shame;
the inhabitants of Zaanan
    do not come out;
the lamentation of Beth-ezel
    shall take away from you its standing place.
¹²For the inhabitants of Maroth
    wait anxiously for good,
because disaster has come down ^(AG)from the Lord
    to the gate of Jerusalem.
¹³Harness the steeds to the chariots,
    inhabitants of ^(AH)Lachish;
it was the beginning of sin
    to the daughter of Zion,
for in you were found
    ^(AI)the transgressions of Israel.
¹⁴Therefore you shall give parting gifts^[b]
    to ^(AJ)Moresheth-gath;
the houses of ^(AK)Achzib shall be a deceitful thing
    to the kings of Israel.
¹⁵I will again bring ^(AL)a conqueror to you,
    inhabitants of ^(AM)Mareshah;
the glory of Israel
    shall come to ^(AN)Adullam.
¹⁶^(AO)Make yourselves bald and cut off your hair,
    for the children of your delight;
^(AP)make yourselves as bald as the eagle,
    for they shall go from you into exile.