Micah 1:8-16

New International Reader's Version

⁸ I will weep and mourn because Samaria will be destroyed.
    I’ll walk around barefoot and naked.
I’ll bark like a wild dog.
    I’ll hoot like an owl.
⁹ Samaria’s plague can’t be healed.
    The plague has spread to Judah.
It has spread right up to the gate of my people.
    It has spread to Jerusalem itself.
¹⁰ Don’t tell the people of Gath about it.
    Don’t let them see you weep.
    People in Beth Ophrah, roll in the dust.
¹¹ You who live in the town of Shaphir,
    leave naked and in shame.
Those who live in Zaanan
    won’t come out to help you.
The people in Beth Ezel will mourn.
    They won’t be able to help keep you safe any longer.
¹² Those who live in Maroth will groan with pain
    as they wait for help.
That’s because the Lord will bring trouble on them.
    It will reach the very gate of Jerusalem.
¹³ You who live in Lachish,
    get your fast horses ready to pull their chariots.
You trust in military power.
    Lachish was where sin began
    for the people of Zion.
The wrong things Israel did
    were also done by you.
¹⁴ People of Judah, you might as well say goodbye
    to Moresheth near Gath.
The town of Akzib won’t give any help
    to the kings of Israel.
¹⁵ An enemy will attack
    you who live in Mareshah.
Israel’s nobles will have to run away
    and hide in the cave of Adullam.
¹⁶ The children you enjoy so much
    will be taken away as prisoners.
So shave your heads and mourn.
    Make them as bare as the head of a vulture.