Micah 1

1The LORD’s word came to Micah of Moresheth during the reigns of Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah over Judah. It is what he saw concerning Samaria and Jerusalem. 2Listen, all you peoples; pay attention, earth and everything in it! Let the Lord GOD be a witness against you, the Lord from his holy temple. 3See, the LORD is coming out from his dwelling; he will come down and tread on the heights of the earth. 4The mountains will melt beneath him, and the valleys will burst apart, like wax before the fire, like water rushing down a steep slope. 5All this is because of Jacob’s rebellion and because of the sins of the house of Israel. What is Jacob’s rebellion? Is it not Samaria? And what are Judah’s high places? Are they not Jerusalem? 6So I will make Samaria a heap of rubble in the open country, a place for planting vineyards. I will hurl her stones down into the valley and lay her foundations bare. 7All her carved idols will be smashed to pieces, all her temple gifts burned in the fire, and I will lay waste all her images. For she collected them from a prostitute’s pay, and they will go back to be a prostitute’s pay. 8For this I will mourn and wail; I will go about barefoot and stripped. I will howl like the jackals and mourn like the ostriches. 9For her wound cannot be healed; it has spread to Judah. It has reached the gate of my people, Jerusalem itself. 10Do not tell it in Gath; do not weep at all. In Beth-leaphrah, roll in the dust. 11Pass on your way, people of Shaphir, in shameful nakedness. The people of Zaanan have not come out. Beth-ezel is mourning; it will take its support away from you. 12The people of Maroth writhe in pain as they wait for relief, for disaster has come down from the LORD to the very gate of Jerusalem. 13Harness the horses to the chariot, people of Lachish! You were the beginning of sin for Daughter Zion, for the rebellious ways of Israel were found in you. 14So you will give farewell gifts to Moresheth-gath. The houses of Achzib will prove a deception to the kings of Israel. 15I will once more bring a conqueror against you, people of Mareshah. The glory of Israel will come to Adullam. 16Shave your head in mourning for the children you delight in. Make yourself as bald as the vulture, for they will be taken from you into exile.