Micah 1
New King James Version

Judgment on Israel and Judah

1 The word of theLordthat came to^(A)Micah of Moresheth in the days of^(B)Jotham, Ahaz,andHezekiah, kings of Judah, which he saw concerning Samaria and Jerusalem.

The Coming Judgment on Israel

²Hear, all you peoples!
Listen, O earth, and all that is in it!
Let the LordGodbe a witness against you,
The Lord from^(C)His holy temple.

³For behold, theLordis 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.
⁵All this is for the transgression of Jacob
And for the sins of the house of Israel.
Whatisthe transgression of Jacob?
Is itnot Samaria?
And whatarethe^(E)high places of Judah?
Are theynot 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.
⁷All 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 gathereditfrom the pay of a harlot,
And they shall return to the^(I)pay of a harlot.”

Mourning for Israel and Judah

⁸Therefore 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,
⁹For her woundsareincurable.
For^(K)it has come to Judah;
It has come to the gate of My people—
To Jerusalem.

¹⁰^(L)Tellitnot in Gath,
Weep not at all;
In^[a]Beth Aphrah
Roll yourself in the dust.
¹¹Pass 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.

¹²For the inhabitant of^[d]Maroth^[e]pined for good,
But^(M)disaster came down from theLord
To the gate of Jerusalem.
¹³O inhabitant of^(N)Lachish,
Harness the chariot to the swift steeds
(Shewasthe beginning of sin to the daughter of Zion),
For the transgressions of Israel were^(O)found in you.

¹⁴Therefore you shall^(P)give presents to^[f]Moresheth Gath;
The houses of^(Q)Achzib^[g]shall bea lie to the kings of Israel.
¹⁵I will yet bring an heir to you, O inhabitant of^(R)Mareshah;^[h]
The glory of Israel shall come to^(S)Adullam.^[i]
¹⁶Make 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.