The Holy Bible

word of the Lord that came to Micah of Moresheth in the days of Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah—the visions that he saw concerning Samaria and Jerusalem.

Judgment Against Samaria and Jerusalem

2 Hear, all you peoples!
Listen, O earth, and all who are in it! Let the Lord God be a witness against you,
the Lord, from His holy temple.

3 Look! The Lord is leaving His place;
He is coming down and will tread the high places of the earth. 4 The mountains will melt beneath Him,
and the valleys will split apart, like wax before the fire,
like water cascading down a slope. 5 All this is because of the transgression of Jacob,
because of the sins of the house of Israel. What is Jacob’s transgression?
Is it not Samaria? And what is the high place of Judah?
Is it not Jerusalem?

6 “Therefore I will make Samaria
a heap of ruins in a field, a place for planting vineyards. I will roll down her stones into the valley,
and I will lay bare her foundations. 7 All her carved images will be smashed to pieces;
all her temple gifts will be burned with fire, and I will destroy all her idols. Since she collected the wages of a prostitute,
as the wages of a prostitute they will again be used.”

Mourning for Israel and Judah

8 Because of this I will lament and wail;
I will go about barefoot and naked. I will howl like the jackals
and moan like the ostriches. 9 For her wound is incurable;
it has come to Judah. It has reached the very gate of My people,
even to Jerusalem itself.

10 Tell it not in Gath;
weep not at all. In Beth-leaphrah
roll yourself in the dust. 11 Pass on in shameful nakedness,
you who live in Shaphir. Those who live in Zaanan
will not come out. Beth-ezel is wailing;
its support is taken from you.

12 Those who live in Maroth
anxiously wait for something good, for disaster has come from the Lord,
even to the gate of Jerusalem. 13 Harness the horses to the chariot,
you who live in Lachish. You were the beginning of sin
to 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 prove deceptive
to the kings of Israel. 15 I will again bring a conqueror against you
who will live in Mareshah. The nobility, the glory of Israel,
will come to Adullam. 16 Shave your heads bald and cut off your hair
in sorrow for your delicate children; make yourselves as bald as the vulture,
for they will go from you into exile.