Micah 1-2
New American Standard Bible
Destruction in Israel and Judah
1 The (A)word of the Lord which came to (B)Micah of Moresheth in the days of (C)Jotham, (D)Ahaz, and (E)Hezekiah, kings of Judah, and which he saw regarding Samaria and Jerusalem.
2 Hear, you peoples, all of [a]you;
(F)Listen carefully, earth and [b]all it contains,
And may the Lord [c]God be a (G)witness against you,
The Lord from His holy temple.
3 For behold, the Lord is (H)coming forth from His place.
He will come down and (I)tread on the high places of the [d]earth.
4 (J)The mountains will melt under Him
And the valleys will be split,
Like wax before the fire,
Like water poured down a steep place.
5 All this is due to the [e]wrongdoing of Jacob
And the sins of the house of Israel.
What is the (K)[f]wrongdoing of Jacob?
Is it not (L)Samaria?
What is the (M)high [g]place of Judah?
Is it not Jerusalem?
6 For I will make Samaria a (N)heap of ruins [h]in the open country,
(O)Planting places for a vineyard.
I will (P)hurl her stones down into the valley,
And (Q)lay bare her foundations.
7 All of her (R)idols will be crushed,
All of her earnings will be burned with fire,
And all of her images I will make desolate;
For she collected them from a (S)prostitute’s earnings,
And to the earnings of a prostitute they will return.
8 Because of this I must mourn and wail,
I must go (T)barefoot and naked;
I must do mourning like the (U)jackals,
And a mourning like the ostriches.
9 For her (V)wound is incurable,
For (W)it has come to Judah;
It has reached the (X)gate of my people,
Even to Jerusalem.
10 (Y)Do not tell it in Gath,
Do not weep at all.
At [i]Beth-le-aphrah roll yourself in the dust in mourning.
11 [j]Go on your way, inhabitant of [k]Shaphir, in (Z)shameful nakedness.
The inhabitant of [l](AA)Zaanan does not [m]escape.
The mourning of [n]Beth-ezel: “He will take from you its [o]support.”
12 For the inhabitant of [p]Maroth
[q](AB)Waits for something good,
Because a disaster has come down from the Lord
To the (AC)gate of Jerusalem.
13 Harness the chariot to the team of horses,
You inhabitant of (AD)Lachish—
She was the beginning of sin
To the daughter of Zion—
Because in you were found
The (AE)rebellious acts of Israel.
14 Therefore you will give parting (AF)gifts
In behalf of Moresheth-gath;
The houses of (AG)Achzib will become a [r](AH)deception
To the kings of Israel.
15 Moreover, I will bring on you
The one who takes possession,
You inhabitant of [s](AI)Mareshah.
The glory of Israel will enter (AJ)Adullam.
16 Shave yourself (AK)bald, yes, cut off your hair,
Because of the children of your delight;
Extend your baldness like the eagle,
For they will (AL)go from you into exile.
Woe to Oppressors
2 Woe to those who (AM)devise wrongdoing,
Who practice evil on their beds!
[t](AN)When morning comes, they do it,
Because it is in the (AO)power of their hands.
2 They (AP)covet fields, so they (AQ)seize them;
And houses, so they take them.
They [u](AR)exploit a man and his house,
A person and his inheritance.
3 Therefore this is what the Lord says:
“Behold, I am (AS)planning against this (AT)family a catastrophe
From which you (AU)cannot remove your necks;
And you will not walk (AV)haughtily,
For it will be an (AW)evil time.
4 On that day they will (AX)take up against you a [v]song of mocking
And [w](AY)utter a song of mourning and say,
‘We are completely (AZ)destroyed!
He exchanges the share of my people;
How He removes it from me!
To the apostate He (BA)apportions our fields.’
5 Therefore you will have no one [x](BB)applying a measuring line
For you by lot in the assembly of the Lord.
6 ‘(BC)Do not prophesy,’ so they prophesy.
But if [y]they do (BD)not prophesy about these things,
(BE)Insults will not be turned back.
7 Is it being said, house of Jacob:
‘Is the Spirit of the Lord (BF)impatient?
Are these His works?’
Do My words not (BG)do good
For the one (BH)walking rightly?
8 [z]Recently My people have arisen as an (BI)enemy—
You (BJ)strip the robe off the garment
From (BK)unsuspecting passers-by,
From those returned from war.
9 You (BL)evict the women of My people,
Each one from her pleasant house.
From her children you take My (BM)splendor forever.
10 Arise and go,
For this is no place (BN)of rest
Because of the (BO)uncleanness that brings on destruction,
A painful destruction.
11 If someone walking after wind and (BP)falsehood
Had lied and said,
‘I will prophesy to you about (BQ)wine and liquor,’
He would become a prophet to (BR)this people.
12 “I will certainly (BS)assemble all of you, Jacob,
I will certainly gather the (BT)remnant of Israel.
I will put them together like sheep in the fold;
Like a flock in the midst of its pasture
They will be noisy with people.
13 The one who breaks through goes up before them;
They break through, pass through the gate, and go out by it.
So their king passes on before them,
And the Lord at their head.”
Footnotes
- Micah 1:2 Lit them
- Micah 1:2 Lit its fullness
- Micah 1:2 Heb YHWH, usually rendered Lord
- Micah 1:3 Or land
- Micah 1:5 Or rebellion
- Micah 1:5 Or rebellion
- Micah 1:5 Lit places
- Micah 1:6 Lit of the field
- Micah 1:10 I.e., house of dust
- Micah 1:11 I.e., Go into captivity
- Micah 1:11 I.e., pleasantness
- Micah 1:11 I.e., going out
- Micah 1:11 Lit go out
- Micah 1:11 I.e., the house beside
- Micah 1:11 Lit standing place
- Micah 1:12 I.e., bitterness
- Micah 1:12 Or possibly has been in agony for
- Micah 1:14 Heb achzab, wordplay on Achzib
- Micah 1:15 I.e., possession
- Micah 2:1 Lit In the light of the morning
- Micah 2:2 Or oppress
- Micah 2:4 Or proverb
- Micah 2:4 Lit lament
- Micah 2:5 Lit casting
- Micah 2:6 I.e., God’s prophets
- Micah 2:8 Lit And yesterday
New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. All rights reserved.
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