Chapter 1

Destruction in Israel and Judah

1 The aword of the Lord which came to bMicah of Moresheth in the days of cJotham, dAhaz and eHezekiah, kings of Judah, which he saw concerning Samaria and Jerusalem.

2 Hear, O peoples, all of 1you;

aListen, O earth and 2all it contains,

And let the Lord 3God be a bwitness against you,

The Lord from His holy temple.

3 For behold, the Lord is acoming forth from His place.

He will come down and btread on the high places of the 1earth.

4 aThe mountains will melt under Him

And the valleys will be split,

Like wax before the fire,

Like water poured down a steep place.

5 All this is for the rebellion of Jacob

And for the sins of the house of Israel.

What is the arebellion of Jacob?

Is it not bSamaria?

What is the chigh 1place of Judah?

Is it not Jerusalem?

6 For I will make Samaria a aheap of ruins 1in the open country,

bPlanting places for a vineyard.

I will cpour her stones down into the valley

And will dlay bare her foundations.

7 All of her aidols will be smashed,

All of her earnings will be burned with fire

And all of her images I will make desolate,

For she collected them from a bharlot’s earnings,

And to the earnings of a harlot they will return.

8 Because of this I must lament and wail,

I must go abarefoot and naked;

I must make a lament like the bjackals

And a mourning like the ostriches.

9 For her 1awound is incurable,

For bit has come to Judah;

It has reached the cgate of my people,

Even to Jerusalem.

10 aTell it not in Gath,

Weep not at all.

At 1Beth-le-aphrah roll yourself in the dust.

11 1Go on your way, inhabitant of 2Shaphir, in ashameful nakedness.

The inhabitant of 3bZaanan does not 4escape.

The lamentation of 5Beth-ezel: “He will take from you its 6support.”

12 For the inhabitant of 1Maroth

Becomes weak awaiting for good,

Because a calamity has come down from the Lord

To the bgate of Jerusalem.

13 Harness the chariot to the team of horses,

O inhabitant of aLachish—

She was the beginning of sin

To the daughter of Zion—

Because in you were found

The brebellious acts of Israel.

14 Therefore you will give parting agifts

On behalf of Moresheth-gath;

The houses of bAchzib will become a cdeception

To the kings of Israel.

15 Moreover, I will bring on you

The one who takes possession,

O inhabitant of 1aMareshah.

The glory of Israel will enter bAdullam.

16 Make yourself abald and cut off your hair,

Because of the children of your delight;

Extend your baldness like the eagle,

For they will bgo from you into exile.