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Micah 1-2
New King James Version
Micah 1-2
New King James Version
Judgment on Israel and Judah
1 The word of the Lord that came to (A)Micah of Moresheth in the days of (B)Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah, which he saw concerning Samaria and Jerusalem.
The Coming Judgment on Israel
2 Hear, all you peoples!
Listen, O earth, and all that is in it!
Let the Lord God be a witness against you,
The Lord from (C)His holy temple.
3 For behold, the Lord is coming out of His place;
He will come down
And tread on the high places of the earth.
4 (D)The mountains will melt under Him,
And the valleys will split
Like wax before the fire,
Like waters poured down a steep place.
5 All this is for the transgression of Jacob
And for the sins of the house of Israel.
What is the transgression of Jacob?
Is it not Samaria?
And what are the (E)high places of Judah?
Are they not Jerusalem?
6 “Therefore I will make Samaria (F)a heap of ruins in the field,
Places for planting a vineyard;
I will pour down her stones into the valley,
And I will (G)uncover her foundations.
7 All her carved images shall be beaten to pieces,
And all her (H)pay as a harlot shall be burned with the fire;
All her idols I will lay desolate,
For she gathered it from the pay of a harlot,
And they shall return to the (I)pay of a harlot.”
Mourning for Israel and Judah
8 Therefore I will wail and howl,
I will go stripped and naked;
(J)I will make a wailing like the jackals
And a mourning like the ostriches,
9 For her wounds are incurable.
For (K)it has come to Judah;
It has come to the gate of My people—
To Jerusalem.
10 (L)Tell it not in Gath,
Weep not at all;
In [a]Beth Aphrah
Roll yourself in the dust.
11 Pass by in naked shame, you inhabitant of [b]Shaphir;
The inhabitant of [c]Zaanan does not go out.
Beth Ezel mourns;
Its place to stand is taken away from you.
12 For the inhabitant of [d]Maroth [e]pined for good,
But (M)disaster came down from the Lord
To the gate of Jerusalem.
13 O inhabitant of (N)Lachish,
Harness the chariot to the swift steeds
(She was the beginning of sin to the daughter of Zion),
For the transgressions of Israel were (O)found in you.
14 Therefore you shall (P)give presents to [f]Moresheth Gath;
The houses of (Q)Achzib[g] shall be a lie to the kings of Israel.
15 I will yet bring an heir to you, O inhabitant of (R)Mareshah;[h]
The glory of Israel shall come to (S)Adullam.[i]
16 Make yourself (T)bald and cut off your hair,
Because of your (U)precious children;
Enlarge your baldness like an eagle,
For they shall go from you into (V)captivity.
Woe to Evildoers
2 Woe to those who devise iniquity,
And [j]work out evil on their beds!
At (W)morning light they practice it,
Because it is in the power of their hand.
2 They (X)covet fields and take them by violence,
Also houses, and seize them.
So they oppress a man and his house,
A man and his inheritance.
3 Therefore thus says the Lord:
“Behold, against this (Y)family I am devising (Z)disaster,
From which you cannot remove your necks;
Nor shall you walk haughtily,
For this is an evil time.
4 In that day one shall take up a proverb against you,
And (AA)lament with a bitter lamentation, saying:
‘We are utterly destroyed!
He has changed the [k]heritage of my people;
How He has removed it from me!
To [l]a turncoat He has divided our fields.’ ”
5 Therefore you will have no [m]one to determine boundaries by lot
In the assembly of the Lord.
Lying Prophets
6 “Do not prattle,” you say to those who [n]prophesy.
So they shall not prophesy [o]to you;
[p]They shall not return insult for insult.
7 You who are named the house of Jacob:
“Is the Spirit of the Lord restricted?
Are these His doings?
Do not My words do good
To him who walks uprightly?
8 “Lately My people have risen up as an enemy—
You pull off the robe with the garment
From those who trust you, as they pass by,
Like men returned from war.
9 The women of My people you cast out
From their pleasant houses;
From their children
You have taken away My glory forever.
10 “Arise and depart,
For this is not your (AB)rest;
Because it is (AC)defiled, it shall destroy,
Yes, with utter destruction.
11 If a man should walk in a false spirit
And speak a lie, saying,
‘I will [q]prophesy to you [r]of wine and drink,’
Even he would be the (AD)prattler of this people.
Israel Restored
12 “I(AE) will surely assemble all of you, O Jacob,
I will surely gather the remnant of Israel;
I will put them together (AF)like sheep of [s]the fold,
Like a flock in the midst of their pasture;
(AG)They shall make a loud noise because of so many people.
13 The one who breaks open will come up before them;
They will break out,
Pass through the gate,
And go out by it;
(AH)Their king will pass before them,
(AI)With the Lord at their head.”
Footnotes
- Micah 1:10 Lit. House of Dust
- Micah 1:11 Lit. Beautiful
- Micah 1:11 Lit. Going Out
- Micah 1:12 Lit. Bitterness
- Micah 1:12 Lit. was sick
- Micah 1:14 Lit. Possession of Gath
- Micah 1:14 Lit. Lie
- Micah 1:15 Lit. Inheritance
- Micah 1:15 Lit. Refuge
- Micah 2:1 Plan
- Micah 2:4 Lit. portion
- Micah 2:4 Lit. one turning back, an apostate
- Micah 2:5 Lit. one casting a surveyor’s line
- Micah 2:6 Or preach, lit. drip words
- Micah 2:6 Lit. to these
- Micah 2:6 Vg. He shall not take shame
- Micah 2:11 Or preach, lit. drip
- Micah 2:11 concerning
- Micah 2:12 Heb. Bozrah
Micah 1-2
New International Version
Micah 1-2
New International Version
1 The word of the Lord that came to Micah of Moresheth(A) during the reigns of Jotham,(B) Ahaz(C) and Hezekiah,(D) kings of Judah(E)—the vision(F) he saw concerning Samaria and Jerusalem.
2 Hear,(G) you peoples, all of you,(H)
listen, earth(I) and all who live in it,
that the Sovereign Lord may bear witness(J) against you,
the Lord from his holy temple.(K)
Judgment Against Samaria and Jerusalem
3 Look! The Lord is coming from his dwelling(L) place;
he comes down(M) and treads on the heights of the earth.(N)
4 The mountains melt(O) beneath him(P)
and the valleys split apart,(Q)
like wax before the fire,
like water rushing down a slope.
5 All this is because of Jacob’s transgression,
because of the sins of the people of Israel.
What is Jacob’s transgression?
Is it not Samaria?(R)
What is Judah’s high place?
Is it not Jerusalem?
6 “Therefore I will make Samaria a heap of rubble,
a place for planting vineyards.(S)
I will pour her stones(T) into the valley
and lay bare her foundations.(U)
7 All her idols(V) will be broken to pieces;(W)
all her temple gifts will be burned with fire;
I will destroy all her images.(X)
Since she gathered her gifts from the wages of prostitutes,(Y)
as the wages of prostitutes they will again be used.”
Weeping and Mourning
8 Because of this I will weep(Z) and wail;
I will go about barefoot(AA) and naked.
I will howl like a jackal
and moan like an owl.
9 For Samaria’s plague(AB) is incurable;(AC)
it has spread to Judah.(AD)
It has reached the very gate(AE) of my people,
even to Jerusalem itself.
10 Tell it not in Gath[a];
weep not at all.
In Beth Ophrah[b]
roll in the dust.
11 Pass by naked(AF) and in shame,
you who live in Shaphir.[c]
Those who live in Zaanan[d]
will not come out.
Beth Ezel is in mourning;
it no longer protects you.
12 Those who live in Maroth[e] writhe in pain,
waiting for relief,(AG)
because disaster(AH) has come from the Lord,
even to the gate of Jerusalem.
13 You who live in Lachish,(AI)
harness fast horses to the chariot.
You are where the sin of Daughter Zion(AJ) began,
for the transgressions of Israel were found in you.
14 Therefore you will give parting gifts(AK)
to Moresheth(AL) Gath.
The town of Akzib[f](AM) will prove deceptive(AN)
to the kings of Israel.
15 I will bring a conqueror against you
who live in Mareshah.[g](AO)
The nobles of Israel
will flee to Adullam.(AP)
16 Shave(AQ) your head in mourning
for the children in whom you delight;
make yourself as bald as the vulture,
for they will go from you into exile.(AR)
Human Plans and God’s Plans
2 Woe to those who plan iniquity,
to those who plot evil(AS) on their beds!(AT)
At morning’s light they carry it out
because it is in their power to do it.
2 They covet fields(AU) and seize them,(AV)
and houses, and take them.
They defraud(AW) people of their homes,
they rob them of their inheritance.(AX)
3 Therefore, the Lord says:
“I am planning disaster(AY) against this people,
from which you cannot save yourselves.
You will no longer walk proudly,(AZ)
for it will be a time of calamity.
4 In that day people will ridicule you;
they will taunt you with this mournful song:
‘We are utterly ruined;(BA)
my people’s possession is divided up.(BB)
He takes it from me!
He assigns our fields to traitors.’”
False Prophets
6 “Do not prophesy,” their prophets say.
“Do not prophesy about these things;
disgrace(BE) will not overtake us.(BF)”
7 You descendants of Jacob, should it be said,
“Does the Lord become[h] impatient?
Does he do such things?”
“Do not my words do good(BG)
to the one whose ways are upright?(BH)
8 Lately my people have risen up
like an enemy.
You strip off the rich robe
from those who pass by without a care,
like men returning from battle.
9 You drive the women of my people
from their pleasant homes.(BI)
You take away my blessing
from their children forever.
10 Get up, go away!
For this is not your resting place,(BJ)
because it is defiled,(BK)
it is ruined, beyond all remedy.
11 If a liar and deceiver(BL) comes and says,
‘I will prophesy for you plenty of wine and beer,’(BM)
that would be just the prophet for this people!(BN)
Deliverance Promised
12 “I will surely gather all of you, Jacob;
I will surely bring together the remnant(BO) of Israel.
I will bring them together like sheep in a pen,
like a flock in its pasture;
the place will throng with people.(BP)
13 The One who breaks open the way will go up before(BQ) them;
they will break through the gate(BR) and go out.
Their King will pass through before them,
the Lord at their head.”
Footnotes
- Micah 1:10 Gath sounds like the Hebrew for tell.
- Micah 1:10 Beth Ophrah means house of dust.
- Micah 1:11 Shaphir means pleasant.
- Micah 1:11 Zaanan sounds like the Hebrew for come out.
- Micah 1:12 Maroth sounds like the Hebrew for bitter.
- Micah 1:14 Akzib means deception.
- Micah 1:15 Mareshah sounds like the Hebrew for conqueror.
- Micah 2:7 Or Is the Spirit of the Lord
New King James Version (NKJV) 
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
New International Version (NIV) 
Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
NIV Reverse Interlinear Bible: English to Hebrew and English to Greek. Copyright © 2019 by Zondervan.