מיכה א

The word of GOD that came to Micah the Morashtite, who prophesied concerning Samaria and Jerusalem in the reigns of Kings Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah of Judah.

Listen, all you peoples,
Give heed, O earth, and all it holds;
And let the Sovereign GOD be your accuser—
The Sovereign from the holy abode.

For lo! GOD
Is coming forth from the heavenly dwelling-place—
To come down and stride
Upon the heights of the earth.

The mountains shall melt underfoot
And the valleys burst open—
Like wax before fire,
Like water cascading down a slope.

All this is for the transgression of Jacob,
And for the sins of the House of Israel.
What is the transgression of Jacob
But Samaria,
And what the shrines of Judah
But Jerusalem?

So I will turn Samaria
Into a ruin in open country,
Into ground for planting vineyards;
For I will tumble her stones into the valley
And lay her foundations bare.

All her sculptured images shall be smashed,
And all her prostitute’s wealth be burned,
And I will make a waste heap of all her idols,
For they were amassed from fees for prostitution,
And they shall become prostitute’s fees again.

Because of this I will lament and wail;
I will go stripped and naked!
I will lament as sadly as the jackals,
As mournfully as the ostriches.

For the nation’s wound is incurable,
It has reached Judah,
It has spread to the gate of my people,
To Jerusalem.

Tell it not in Gath,
Refrain from weeping;
In Beth-leaphrah,
Strew dust, a play on Beth-leaphrah; vv. 10–15 contain several similar puns. over your [head].

Pass on, inhabitants of Shaphir!
Did not the inhabitants of Zaanan
Have to go forth naked in shame?
There is lamentation in Beth-ezel—
It will withdraw its support from you.

Though the inhabitants of Maroth
Hoped for good,
Yet disaster from GOD descended
Upon the gate of Jerusalem.

Hitch the steeds to the chariot,
Inhabitant of Lachish!
It is the beginning
Of Fair Zion’s guilt;
Israel’s transgressions
Can be traced to you!

Truly, you must give a farewell gift
To Moresheth-gath.
The houses of Achzib are
To the kings of Israel
Like a spring that fails.

A dispossessor will I bring to you
Who dwell in Mareshah;
At Adullam the glory
Of Israel shall set.

Shear off your hair and make yourself bald
For the children you once delighted in;
Make yourself as bald as a vulture,
For they have been banished from you.