Micah 1; Micah 2; Micah 3

1 The LORD spoke his word to Micah, who was from Moresheth, when Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah were kings of Judah. This is the vision that Micah saw about Samaria and Jerusalem.

2 Listen, all you people! Pay attention, earth and all who are on it. The Almighty LORD will be a witness against you. The Lord will be a witness from his holy temple.

3 The LORD is going to come from his place. He is going to come down and step on the worship places of the earth.

4 Mountains will melt under him like wax near a fire. Valleys will split apart like water pouring down a steep hill.

5 All this is because of Jacob's crime and Israel's sin. What is Jacob's crime? Isn't it Samaria? What is Judah's worship place? Isn't it Jerusalem?

6 So I will turn Samaria into a pile of rubble, a place for planting vineyards. I will roll its stones down into a valley and expose its foundations.

7 All its idols will be smashed to pieces. All its wages for being a prostitute will be burned. All its statues will be turned into a pile of rubble. Samaria collected its wages for being a prostitute. That money will again pay for prostitutes.

8 I will mourn and cry because of this. I will walk around barefoot and naked. I will cry like a jackal and mourn like an ostrich.

9 Samaria's wounds are incurable. [The news about Samaria] will come to Judah. It will reach the gates of my people in Jerusalem.

10 Don't report it in Gath. Don't cry there. Roll in the dust of Beth Leaphrah.

11 Pass by, naked and ashamed, inhabitants of Shaphir. Don't come out, inhabitants of Zaanan. Beth Ezel is in mourning. It will take its support away from you.

12 Wait anxiously for good, inhabitants of Maroth. From the LORD disaster will come on the gates of Jerusalem.

13 Harness the horses to the chariots, inhabitants of Lachish. You were the first to lead the people of Zion into sin. The rebellious acts of Israel are found in you.

14 That is why you will give farewell gifts to Moresheth Gath. The town of Achzib will betray the kings of Israel.

15 I will again bring a conqueror against the inhabitants of Mareshah. The glory of Israel will come to Adullam.

16 Shave your head in mourning for the children you love. Make yourselves as bald as vultures because your children will be taken from you into exile.

1 How horrible it will be for those who invent trouble and work out plans for disaster while in bed. When the morning dawns, they carry out their plans because they are able to.

2 They desire [other people's] fields, so they seize them. They desire [people's] houses, so they take them. They cheat a man and his family, a man and his inheritance.

3 So this is what the LORD says: I'm planning a disaster to punish your family. You won't be able to rescue yourselves. You will no longer be able to walk proudly. This will be a time of disaster.

4 When that day comes, people will make fun of you. They will sing this sad song about you: "We are completely ruined. The LORD gives our people's possessions [to others]. He takes them from us. He divides our fields among our captors."

5 That is why none of you in the LORD's assembly will draw lots to divide your property.

6 Your prophets say, "Don't prophesy! Don't prophesy such things! Disgrace will never overtake us."

7 Should the descendants of Jacob be asked: Has the Spirit of the LORD become impatient with you? Has he done these things? Are his words good for those who live honestly?

8 Recently, my people have turned into enemies. You take coats from those who pass by without a care as they return from war.

9 You force the women among my people out of their pleasant homes and take my glory away from their children forever.

10 Get up, and go away! This is not a place to rest! It will be destroyed, completely destroyed, because it offends me.

11 Liars and frauds may go around and say, "We will preach to you about wine and liquor." They would be just the type of preacher you want.

12 I will surely gather all of you, Jacob. I will surely bring together the few people left in Israel. I will gather them together like sheep in a pen, like a flock in its pasture. They will make a lot of noise because there will be so many people.

13 [The LORD] will open the way and lead them. They will break out, go through the gate, and leave. Their king will travel in front of them. The LORD will lead the people.

1 Then I said: Listen, you leaders of Jacob, you rulers of the nation of Israel. You should know justice.

2 You hate good and love evil. You strip the skin off my people and the flesh off their bones.

3 You eat my people's flesh. You strip off their skin. You break their bones to pieces. You chop them up like meat for a pot, like stew meat for a kettle.

4 Then you will cry to the LORD, but he will not answer you. He will hide his face from you at that time because you have done evil things.

5 This is what the LORD says about the prophets who mislead my people: When they have something to eat, they say, "All is well!" But they declare a holy war against those who don't feed them.

6 That is why you will have nights without visions. You will have darkness without revelations. The sun will set on the prophets, and the day will turn dark for them.

7 Seers will be put to shame. Those who practice witchcraft will be disgraced. All of them will cover their faces, because God won't answer them.

8 But I am filled with the power of the LORD's Spirit, with justice, and with strength. So I will tell [the descendants of] Jacob about their crimes and [the nation of] Israel about its sins.

9 Listen to this, you leaders of the descendants of Jacob, you rulers of the nation of Israel. You despise justice and pervert everything that is right.

10 You build Zion on bloodshed and Jerusalem on wickedness.

11 Your leaders exchange justice for bribes. Your priests teach for a price. Your prophets tell the future for money. But they rely on the LORD when they say, "After all, the LORD is with us. Nothing bad will happen to us."

12 Because of you, Zion will be plowed like a field, Jerusalem will become a pile of rubble, and the temple mountain will become a worship site covered with trees.