| 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. |