1The word of the Lord that came to Micah the Moreshite — what he saw regarding Samaria and Jerusalem in the days of Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah.
Coming Judgment on Israel
2Listen, all you peoples;
pay attention, earth and everyone in it!
The Lord God will be a witness against you,
the Lord, from his holy temple.
3Look, the Lord is leaving his place
and coming down to trample
the heights of the earth.
4The mountains will melt beneath him,
and the valleys will split apart,
like wax near a fire,
like water cascading down a mountainside.
5All this will happen because of Jacob’s rebellion
and the sins of the house of Israel.
What is the rebellion of Jacob?
Isn’t it Samaria?
And what is the high place of Judah?
Isn’t it Jerusalem?
6Therefore, I will make Samaria
a heap of ruins in the countryside,
a planting area for a vineyard.
I will roll her stones into the valley
and expose her foundations.
7All her carved images will be smashed to pieces;
all her wages will be burned in the fire,
and I will destroy all her idols.
Since she collected the wages of a prostitute,
they will be used again for a prostitute.
Micah’s Lament
8Because of this I will lament and wail;
I will walk barefoot and naked.
I will howl like the jackals
and mourn like ostriches.
9For her wound is incurable
and has reached even Judah;
it has approached my people’s city gate,
as far as Jerusalem.
10Don’t announce it in Gath,
don’t weep at all.
Roll in the dust in Beth-leaphrah.
11Depart in shameful nakedness,
you residents of Shaphir;
the residents of Zaanan will not come out.
Beth-ezel is lamenting;
its support is taken from you.
12Though the residents of Maroth
anxiously wait for something good,
disaster has come from the Lord
to the gate of Jerusalem.
13Harness the horses to the chariot,
you residents of Lachish.
This was the beginning of sin for Daughter Zion
because Israel’s acts of rebellion can be traced to you.
14Therefore, send farewell gifts to Moresheth-gath;
the houses of Achzib are a deception
to the kings of Israel.
15I will again bring a conqueror
against you who live in Mareshah.
The nobility of Israel will come to Adullam.
16Shave yourselves bald and cut off your hair
in sorrow for your precious children;
make yourselves as bald as an eagle,
for they have been taken from you into exile.