Micah 1:14-16

Contemporary English Version

¹⁴Now you will have to give
a going-away gift^[a]
to Moresheth.^[b]
Israel's kings will discover
that they cannot trust
the town of Achzib.^[c]

¹⁵People of Mareshah,^[d]
the Lord will send someone
    to capture your town.
Then Israel's glorious king
will be forced to hide
    in Adullam Cave.^[e]
¹⁶Judah, shave your head
as bald as a vulture
    and start mourning.
Your precious children^[f]
will be dragged off
    to a foreign country.

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Footnotes

1.14 going-away gift: The gift (dowry) that a bride's father gave her when she left the home of her parents to live with the family of her husband. In Hebrew the word for “bride” or “fiancee” sounds like “Moresheth.”
1.14 Moresheth: Hebrew “Moresheth-Gath”; the home of Micah (see verse 1).
1.14 Achzib: Meaning “lie” or “deception” was near Adullam Cave (verse 15), where David hid from King Saul (see 1 Samuel 22.1,2). Micah probably means that the people of Israel (including their king) will have to run for their lives, but will find that all hope for escape is merely a “lie” (see verse 15).
1.15 Mareshah: Sounds something like the Hebrew word for “conqueror” and was only a few kilometers northeast of Lachish.
1.15 Adullam Cave: See the note at 1.14.
1.16 precious children: The towns mentioned in verses 10-15.