| Chapter 1 |
| 1 | The word of the LORD that came
to Micah the Morasthite in the days of Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of
Judah, which he saw concerning Samaria and Jerusalem. |
| 2 | Hear, all ye
people; hearken, O earth, and all that therein is: and let the Lord GOD be
witness against you, the LORD from his holy temple. |
| 3 | For, behold,
the LORD cometh forth out of his place, and will come down, and tread upon the
high places of the earth. |
|
4 | And the mountains shall be molten under
him, and the valleys shall be cleft, as wax before the fire, and as the waters
that are poured down a steep place. |
| 5 | For the transgression of Jacob
is all this, and for the sins of the house of Israel. What is the transgression
of Jacob? is it not Samaria? and what are the high places of Judah? are they
not Jerusalem? |
|
6 | Therefore I will make Samaria as an heap of the
field, and as plantings of a vineyard: and I will pour down the stones thereof
into the valley, and I will discover the foundations thereof. |
| 7 | And
all the graven images thereof shall be beaten to pieces, and all the hires
thereof shall be burned with the fire, and all the idols thereof will I lay
desolate: for she gathered it of the hire of an harlot, and they shall return
to the hire of an harlot. |
|
8 | Therefore I will wail and howl, I will
go stripped and naked: I will make a wailing like the dragons, and mourning as
the owls. |
| 9
| For her wound is incurable; for it is come unto Judah; he
is come unto the gate of my people, even to Jerusalem. |
| 10 | Declare ye
it not at Gath, weep ye not at all: in the house of Aphrah roll thyself in the
dust. |
| 11 |
Pass ye away, thou inhabitant of Saphir, having thy shame
naked: the inhabitant of Zaanan came not forth in the mourning of Bethezel; he
shall receive of you his standing. |
| 12 | For the inhabitant of Maroth
waited carefully for good: but evil came down from the LORD unto the gate of
Jerusalem. |
| 13
| O thou inhabitant of Lachish, bind the chariot to the
swift beast: she is the beginning of the sin to the daughter of Zion: for the
transgressions of Israel were found in thee. |
|
14 | Therefore shalt thou
give presents to Moreshethgath: the houses of Achzib shall be a lie to the
kings of Israel. |
|
15 | Yet will I bring an heir unto thee, O inhabitant of
Mareshah: he shall come unto Adullam the glory of Israel. |
| 16 | Make
thee bald, and poll thee for thy delicate children; enlarge thy baldness as the
eagle; for they are gone into captivity from thee. |
