Calamity in Israel and Judah

1The word of [†]Yahweh which came to Micah of Moresheth in the days of Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah, which he beheld concerning Samaria and Jerusalem.

2Hear, O peoples, all of [†]you;

Give heed, O earth, as well as its fullness,

And let Lord Yahweh be a witness against you,

The Lord from His holy temple.

3For behold, Yahweh is going forth from His place.

He will come down and tread on the high places of the [†]earth.

4The mountains will melt under Him,

And the valleys will be split,

Like wax before the fire,

Like water poured down a steep place.

5All 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?

What is the high [†]place of Judah?

Is it not Jerusalem?

6So I will make Samaria a heap of ruins in the field,

Planting places for a vineyard.

And I will pour her stones down into the valley

And will lay bare her foundations.

7And all of her graven images will be smashed,

And all of her earnings will be burned with fire

And all of her idols I will make desolate,

For she collected them from a harlot’s earnings,

And to the earnings of a harlot they will return.

8Because of this I must lament and wail;

I must go barefoot and naked;

I must make a lament like the jackals

And a mourning like the ostriches.

9For her [†]wound is incurable,

For it has come to Judah;

It has reached the gate of my people,

Even to Jerusalem.

10Tell it not in Gath,

Weep not at all.

At [†]Beth-le-aphrah roll yourself in the dust.

11[†]Pass on by, inhabitant of [†]Shaphir, in shameful nakedness.

The inhabitant of [†]Zaanan does not go out.

The lamentation of [†]Beth-ezel: “He will take from you its [†]support.”

12For the inhabitant of [†]Maroth

Writhes in waiting for good

Because a [†]calamity has come down from Yahweh

To the gate of Jerusalem.

13Harness the chariot to the team of horses,

O inhabitant of Lachish—

She was the beginning of sin

To the daughter of Zion—

Because in you were found

The transgressions of Israel.

14Therefore you will give parting gifts

On behalf of [†]Moresheth-gath;

The houses of [†]Achzib will become a deception

To the kings of Israel.

15Moreover, I will bring on you

The one who takes possession,

O inhabitant of [†]Mareshah.

The glory of Israel will enter Adullam.

16Make yourself bald and cut off your hair,

Because of the children of your delight;

Extend your baldness like the eagle,

For they will go from you into exile.