Micah 1-2

Holman Christian Standard Bible

1 The word of the Lord that came^(A) to Micah^(B) the Moreshite^(C)—what he saw regarding Samaria and Jerusalem in the days of Jotham,^(D) Ahaz,^(E) and Hezekiah,^(F) kings of Judah.

Coming Judgment on Israel

²Listen, all you peoples;^(G)
pay attention, earth^[a] and everyone in it!^(H)
The Lord God will be a witness against you,^(I)
the Lord, from His holy temple.^(J)
³Look, the Lord is leaving His place^(K)
and coming down to trample
the heights^[b] of the earth.^(L)
⁴The mountains will melt beneath Him,
and the valleys will split apart,
like wax near a fire,^(M)
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?^(N)
And what is the high place of Judah?^(O)
Isn’t it Jerusalem?
⁶Therefore, I will make Samaria
a heap of ruins^(P) in the countryside,
a planting area^(Q) for a vineyard.
I will roll her stones^(R) into the valley
and expose her foundations.^(S)
⁷All her carved images will be smashed^(T) to pieces;
all her wages^(U) will be burned in the fire,
and I will destroy all her idols.
Since she collected the wages of a prostitute,^(V)
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.^(W)
I will howl like the jackals^(X)
and mourn like ostriches.^[c]
⁹For her wound is incurable^(Y)
and has reached even Judah;^(Z)
it has approached the gate of my people,^(AA)
as far as Jerusalem.

¹⁰Don’t announce it in Gath,^(AB)
don’t weep at all.
Roll in the dust in Beth-leaphrah.
¹¹Depart in shameful nakedness,^(AC)
you residents of Shaphir;
the residents of Zaanan^(AD) will not come out.
Beth-ezel is lamenting;
its support^[d] is taken from you.
¹²Though the residents of Maroth
anxiously wait for something good,^(AE)
disaster has come from the Lord^(AF)
to the gate of Jerusalem.
¹³Harness the horses to the chariot,
you residents of Lachish.^(AG)
This was the beginning of sin for Daughter Zion,
because Israel’s acts of rebellion^(AH) can be traced to you.
¹⁴Therefore, send farewell gifts^(AI) to Moresheth-gath;
the houses of Achzib^(AJ) are a deception^(AK)
to the kings of Israel.
¹⁵I will again bring a conqueror
against you who live in Mareshah.^(AL)
The nobility^[e] of Israel will come to Adullam.^(AM)
¹⁶Shave yourselves bald and cut off your hair^(AN)
in sorrow for your precious children;
make yourselves as bald as an eagle,
for they have been taken from you into exile.^(AO)

Oppressors Judged

2 Woe to those who dream up wickedness
and prepare evil plans^(AP) on their beds!
At morning light^(AQ) they accomplish it
because the power is in their hands.^(AR)
²They covet fields^(AS) and seize them;^(AT)
they also take houses.
They deprive a man of his home,^(AU)
a person of his inheritance.^(AV)

³Therefore, the Lord says:

I am now planning^(AW) a disaster
against this nation;^(AX)
you cannot free your necks from it.^(AY)
Then you will not walk so proudly^(AZ)
because it will be an evil time.^(BA)
⁴In that day one will take up^(BB) a taunt against you,
and lament mournfully,^(BC) saying,
“We are totally ruined!^(BD)
He measures out the allotted land of my people.
How He removes it from me!
He allots our fields^(BE) to traitors.”
⁵Therefore, there will be no one
in the assembly of the Lord
to divide the land by casting lots.^[f]^(BF)

God’s Word Rejected

⁶“Quit your preaching,”^(BG) they^[g] preach.
“They should not preach these things;^(BH)
shame will not overtake us.”^[h]^(BI)
⁷House of Jacob, should it be asked,
“Is the Spirit of the Lord impatient?^(BJ)
Are these the things He does?”
Don’t My words bring good^(BK)
to the one who walks uprightly?^(BL)
⁸But recently My people have risen up
like an enemy:^(BM)
You strip off the splendid robe^(BN)
from those who are passing through confidently,^(BO)
like those returning from war.
⁹You force^(BP) the women of My people
out of their comfortable homes,
and you take My blessing^[i]^(BQ)
from their children forever.
¹⁰Get up and leave,
for this is not your place of rest,^(BR)
because defilement^(BS) brings destruction—
a grievous destruction!^(BT)
¹¹If a man of wind^[j] comes
and invents lies:^(BU)
“I will preach to you about wine and beer,”^(BV)
he would be just the preacher for this people!^(BW)

The Remnant Regathered

¹²I will indeed gather^(BX) all of you, Jacob;
I will collect the remnant of Israel.^(BY)
I will bring them together like sheep in a pen,
like a flock in the middle of its fold.
It will be noisy with people.^(BZ)
¹³One who breaks open the way
will advance before them;
they will break out, pass through the gate,
and leave by it.
Their King will pass through before them,
the Lord as their leader.