Micah 1; Micah 2; Micah 3; Micah 4; Micah 5; Micah 6; Micah 7

Micah 1

1 During the time that Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah were kings of Judah, the word of the Lord came to Micah, who was from Moresheth. He saw these visions about Samaria and Jerusalem.

2 Hear this, all you nations; listen, earth and all you who live on it. The Lord God will be a witness against you, the Lord from his Holy Temple.

3 See, the Lord is coming out of his place; he is coming down to walk on the tops of the mountains.

4 The mountains will melt under him, and the valleys will crack open, like wax near a fire, like water running down a hillside.

5 All this is because of Jacob's sin, because of the sins of the nation of Israel.

6 "So I will make Samaria a pile of ruins in the open country, a place for planting vineyards. I will pour her stones down into the valley and strip her down to her foundations.

7 All her idols will be broken into pieces; all the gifts to her idols will be burned with fire. I will destroy all her idols, and because Samaria earned her money by being unfaithful to me, this money will be carried off by others who are not faithful to me."

8 I will moan and cry because of this evil, going around barefoot and naked. I will cry loudly like the wild dogs and make sad sounds like the owls do,

9 because Samaria's wound cannot be healed. It will spread to Judah; it will reach the city gate of my people, all the way to Jerusalem.

10 Don't tell it in Gath. Don't cry in Acco. Roll in the dust at Beth Ophrah.

11 Pass on your way, naked and ashamed, you who live in Shaphir. won't come out. The people in Beth Ezeln will cry, but they will not give you any support.

12 Those who live in Marothn will be anxious for good news to come, because trouble will come from the Lord, all the way to the gate of Jerusalem.

13 You people living in Lachish, harness the fastest horse to the chariot. Jerusalem's sins started in you; yes, Israel's sins were found in you.

14 So you must give farewell gifts to Moreshethn in Gath. to the kings of Israel.

15 I will bring against you people who will take your land, you who live in Mareshah. will go in to Adullam.

16 Cut off your hair to show you are sad for the children you love. Make yourself bald like the eagle, because your children will be taken away to a foreign land.

Micah 2

1 How terrible it will be for people who plan wickedness, who lie on their beds and make evil plans. When the morning light comes, they do what they planned, because they have the power to do so.

2 They want fields, so they take them; they want houses, so they take them away. They cheat people to get their houses; they rob them even of their property.

3 That is why the Lord says: "Look, I am planning trouble against such people, and you won't be able to save yourselves. You will no longer walk proudly, because it will be a terrible time.

4 At that time people will make fun of you and sing this sad song about you: 'We are completely ruined; the Lord has taken away my people's land. Yes, he has taken it away from me and divided our fields among our enemies!'"

5 So you will have no one from the Lord's people to throw lots to divide the land.

6 The prophets say, "Don't prophesy to us! Don't prophesy about these things! Nothing to make us feel bad will happen!"

7 But I must say this, people of Jacob: The Lord is becoming angry about what you have done. My words are welcome to the person who does what is right.

8 But you are fighting against my people like an enemy. You take the coats from people who pass by; you rob them of their safety; you plan war.

9 You've forced the women of my people from their nice houses; you've taken my glory from their children forever.

10 Get up and leave. This is not your place of rest anymore. You have made this place unclean, and it is doomed to destruction.

11 But you people want a false prophet who will tell you nothing but lies. You want one who promises to prophesy good things for you if you give him wine and beer. He's just the prophet for you.

12 "Yes, people of Jacob, I will bring all of you together; I will bring together all those left alive in Israel. I will put them together like sheep in a pen, like a flock in its pasture; the place will be filled with many people.

13 Someone will open the way and lead the people out. The people will break through the gate and leave the city where they were held captive. Their king will go out in front of them, and the Lord will lead them."

Micah 3

1 Then I said, "Listen, leaders of the people of Jacob; listen, you rulers of the nation of Israel. You should know how to decide cases fairly,

2 but you hate good and love evil. You skin my people alive and tear the flesh off their bones.

3 You eat my people's flesh and skin them and break their bones; you chop them up like meat for the pot, like meat in a cooking pan.

4 They will cry to the Lord, but he won't answer them. At that time he will hide his face from them, because what they have done is evil."

5 The Lord says this about the prophets who teach his people the wrong way of living: "If these prophets are given food to eat, they shout, 'Peace!' But if someone doesn't give them what they ask for, they call for a holy war against that person.

6 So it will become like night for them, without visions. It will become dark for them, without any way to tell the future. The sun is about to set for the prophets; their day will become dark.

7 The seers will be ashamed; the people who see the future will be embarrassed. Yes, all of them will cover their mouths, because there will be no answer from God."

8 But I am filled with power, with the Spirit of the Lord, and with justice and strength, to tell the people of Jacob how they have turned against God, and the people of Israel how they have sinned.

9 Leaders of Jacob and rulers of Israel, listen to me, you who hate fairness and twist what is right.

10 You build Jerusalem by murdering people; you build it with evil.

11 Its judges take money to decide who wins in court. Its priests only teach for pay, and its prophets only look into the future when they get paid. But they lean on the Lord and say, "The Lord is here with us, so nothing bad will happen to us."

12 Because of you, Jerusalem will be plowed like a field. The city will become a pile of rocks, and the hill on which the Temple stands will be covered with bushes.

Micah 4

1 In the last days the mountain on which the Lord's Temple stands will become the most important of all mountains. It will be raised above the hills, and people from other nations will come streaming to it.

2 Many nations will come and say, "Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the Temple of the God of Jacob, so that he can teach us his ways, and we can obey his teachings." His teachings will go out from Jerusalem, the word of the Lord from that city.

3 The Lord will judge many nations; he will make decisions about strong nations that are far away. They will hammer their swords into plow blades and their spears into hooks for trimming trees. Nations will no longer raise swords against other nations; they will not train for war anymore.

4 Everyone will sit under his own vine and fig tree, and no one will make them afraid, because the Lord All-Powerful has said it.

5 All other nations may follow their own gods, but we will follow the Lord our God forever and ever.

6 The Lord says, "At that time, I will gather the crippled; I will bring together those who were sent away, those whom I caused to have trouble.

7 I will keep alive those who were crippled, and I will make a strong nation of those who were sent away. The Lord will be their king in Mount Zion from now on and forever.

8 And you, watchtower of the flocks, hill of Jerusalem, to you will come the kingdom as in the past. Jerusalem, the right to rule will come again to you."

9 Now, why do you cry so loudly? Is your king gone? Have you lost your helper, so that you are in pain, like a woman trying to give birth?

10 People of Jerusalem, strain and be in pain. Be like a woman trying to give birth, because now you must leave the city and live in the field. You will go to Babylon, but you will be saved from that place. and buy you back from your enemies.

11 But now many nations have come to fight against you, saying, "Let's destroy Jerusalem. We will look at her and be glad we have defeated her."

12 But they don't know what the Lord is thinking; they don't understand his plan. He has gathered them like bundles of grain to the threshing floor.

13 "Get up and beat them, people of Jerusalem. I will make you strong as if you had horns of iron and hoofs of bronze. You will beat many nations into small pieces and give their wealth to the Lord, their treasure to the Lord of all the earth."

Micah 5

1 So, strong city, gather your soldiers together, because we are surrounded and attacked. in the face with a club.

2 "But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, though you are too small to be among the army groups from Judah, from you will come one who will rule Israel for me. He comes from very old times, from days long ago."

3 The Lord will give up his people until the one who is having a baby gives birth; then the rest of his relatives will return to the people of Israel.

4 At that time the ruler of Israel will stand and take care of his people with the Lord's strength and with the power of the name of the Lord his God. The Israelites will live in safety, because his greatness will reach all over the earth.

5 He will bring peace. Assyria will surely come into our country and walk over our large buildings. We will set up seven shepherds, eight leaders of the people.

6 They will destroy the Assyrians with their swords; they will conquer the land of Assyria with their swords drawn. They will rescue us from the Assyrians when they come into our land, when they walk over our borders.

7 Then the people of Jacob who are left alive will be to other people like dew from the Lord or rain on the grass -- it does not wait for human beings; it does not pause for any person.

8 Those of Jacob's people who are left alive will be scattered among many nations and peoples. They will be like a lion among the animals of the forest, like a young lion in a flock of sheep: As it goes, it jumps on them and tears them to pieces, and no one can save them.

9 So you will raise your fist in victory over your enemies, and all your enemies will be destroyed.

10 The Lord says, "At that time, I will take your horses from you and destroy your chariots.

11 I will destroy the cities in your country and tear down all your defenses.

12 I will take away the magic charms you use so you will have no more fortune-tellers.

13 I will destroy your statues of gods and the stone pillars you worship so that you will no longer worship what your hands have made.

14 I will tear down Asherah idols from you and destroy your cities.

15 In my anger and rage, I will pay back the nations that have not listened."

Micah 6

1 Now hear what the Lord says: "Get up; plead your case in front of the mountains; let the hills hear your story.

2 Mountains, listen to the Lord's legal case. Foundations of the earth, listen. The Lord has a legal case against his people, and he will accuse Israel."

3 He says, "My people, what did I do to you? How did I make you tired of me? Tell me.

4 I brought you from the land of Egypt and freed you from slavery; I sent Moses, Aaron, and Miriam to you.

5 My people, remember the evil plans of Balak king of Moab and what Balaam son of Beor told Balak. so that you will know the Lord does what is right!"

6 You say, "What can I bring with me when I come before the Lord, when I bow before God on high? Should I come before him with burnt offerings, with year-old calves?

7 Will the Lord be pleased with a thousand male sheep? Will he be pleased with ten thousand rivers of oil? Should I give my first child for the evil I have done? Should I give my very own child for my sin?"

8 The Lord has told you, human, what is good; he has told you what he wants from you: to do what is right to other people, love being kind to others, and live humbly, obeying your God.

9 The voice of the Lord calls to the city, and the wise person honors him. So pay attention to the rod of punishment; pay attention to the One who threatens to punish.

10 Are there still in the wicked house wicked treasures and the cursed false measure?

11 Can I forgive people who cheat others with wrong weights and scales?

12 The rich people of the city do cruel things. Its people tell lies; they do not tell the truth.

13 As for me, I will make you sick. I will attack you, ruining you because of your sins.

14 You will eat, but you won't become full; you will still be hungry and empty. You will store up, but save nothing, and what you store up, the sword will destroy.

15 You will plant, but you won't harvest. You will step on your olives, but you won't get any oil from them. You will crush the grapes, but you will not drink the new wine.

16 This is because you obey the laws of King Omri and do all the things that Ahab's family does; you follow their advice. So I will let you be destroyed. The people in your city will be laughed at, and other nations will make fun of you.

Micah 7

1 Poor me! I am like a hungry man, and all the summer fruit has been picked -- there are no grapes left to eat, none of the early figs I love.

2 All of the faithful people are gone; there is not one good person left in this country. Everyone is waiting to kill someone; everyone is trying to trap someone else.

3 With both hands they are doing evil. Rulers ask for money, and judges' decisions are bought for a price. Rich people tell what they want, and they get it.

4 Even the best of them is like a thornbush; the most honest of them is worse than a prickly plant. The day that your watchmenn warned you about has come. Now they will be confused.

5 Don't believe your neighbor or trust a friend. Don't say anything, even to your wife.

6 A son will not honor his father, a daughter will turn against her mother, and a daughter-in-law will be against her mother-in-law; a person's enemies will be members of his own family.

7 Israel says, "I will look to the Lord for help. I will wait for God to save me; my God will hear me.

8 Enemy, don't laugh at me. I have fallen, but I will get up again. I sit in the shadow of trouble now, but the Lord will be a light for me.

9 I sinned against the Lord, so he was angry with me, but he will defend my case in court. He will bring about what is right for me. Then he will bring me out into the light, and I will see him set things right.

10 Then my enemies will see this, and they will be ashamed, those who said to me, 'Where is the Lord your God?' I will look down on them. They will get walked on, like mud in the street."

11 The time will come when your walls will be built again, when your country will grow.

12 At that time your people will come back to you from Assyria and the cities of Egypt, and from Egypt to the Euphrates River, and from sea to sea and mountain to mountain.

13 The earth will be ruined for the people who live in it because of their deeds.

14 So shepherd your people with your stick; tend the flock of people who belong to you. That flock now lives alone in the forest in the middle of a garden land. as in days long ago.

15 "As in the days when I brought you out of Egypt, I will show them miracles."

16 When the nations see those miracles, they will no longer brag about their power. They will put their hands over their mouths, refusing to listen.

17 They will crawl in the dust like a snake, like insects crawling on the ground. They will come trembling from their holes to the Lord our God and will turn in fear before you.

18 There is no God like you. You forgive those who are guilty of sin; you don't look at the sins of your people who are left alive. You will not stay angry forever, because you enjoy being kind.

19 You will have mercy on us again; you will conquer our sins. You will throw away all our sins into the deepest part of the sea.

20 You will be true to the people of Jacob, and you will be kind to the people of Abraham as you promised to our ancestors long ago.