1 The word of the Lord which came to Micah of Moresheth in the days of Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah, which he saw concerning Samaria and Jerusalem.
2 Hear, O peoples, all of you, give heed, O earth, and all that is in it! [AA] Let the Lord God be witness against you, the Lord from his holy temple! [1]
3 For see, the Lord goes out from his place [AB] and descending, treads upon the heights of the earth. [2]
4 The mountains melt under him and the valleys split open, Like wax before the fire, like water poured down a slope.
5 All this is for the crime of Jacob, for the sins of the house of Israel. [3] What is the crime of Jacob? Is it not Samaria? And what is the sin of the house of Judah? Is it not Jerusalem?
6 So I will make Samaria a ruin in the field, a place to plant vineyards; I will throw its stones into the valley, and lay bare its foundations. [4]
7 All its carved figures shall be broken to pieces, [AC] all its wages shall be burned in the fire, and all its idols I will destroy. As the wages of a prostitute [5] it gathered them, and to the wages of a prostitute they shall return.
8 t[6] For this I will lament and wail, go barefoot and naked; I will utter lamentation like the jackals, mourning like the ostriches, [AD]
9 For her wound is incurable; it has come even to Judah. It has reached to the gate of my people, even to Jerusalem.
10 t[7] Do not announce it in Gath, do not weep at all; In Beth-leaphrah roll in the dust. [AE]
11 Pass by, you who dwell in Shaphir! The inhabitants of Zaanan do not come forth from their city. There is lamentation in Beth-ezel. It will withdraw its support from you.
12 The inhabitants of Maroth hope for good, But evil has come down from the Lord to the gate of Jerusalem.
13 Harness steeds to the chariots, inhabitants of Lachish; You are the beginning of sin for daughter Zion, For in you were found the crimes of Israel.
14 Therefore you must give back the dowry to Moresheth-gath; The houses of Achzib [8] are a dry stream bed to the kings of Israel.
15 Again I will bring the conqueror to you, inhabitants of Mareshah; The glory of Israel shall come even to Adullam.
16 Make yourself bald, cut off your hair, for the children whom you cherish; Make yourself bald as a vulture, for they are taken from you into exile. [9]