Calamity in Israel and Judah
The aword of Yahweh which came to bMicah of Moresheth in the days of cJotham, dAhaz, and eHezekiah, kings of Judah, which he beheld concerning Samaria and Jerusalem.
2 Hear, O peoples, all of you;
aGive heed, O earth, as well as its fullness,
And let Lord Yahweh be a bwitness against you,
The Lord from His holy temple.
3 For behold, Yahweh is agoing forth from His place.
He will come down and btread on the high places of the earth.
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 transgression of Jacob
And for the sins of the house of Israel.
What is the atransgression of Jacob?
Is it not bSamaria?
What is the chigh place of Judah?
Is it not Jerusalem?
6 So I will make Samaria a aheap of ruins in the field,
bPlanting places for a vineyard.
And I will cpour her stones down into the valley
And will dlay bare her foundations.
7 And all of her agraven images will be smashed,
And all of her earnings will be burned with fire
And all of her idols 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 awound 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 Beth‑le‑aphrah roll yourself in the dust.
11 Pass on by, inhabitant of Shaphir, in ashameful nakedness.
The inhabitant of bZaanan does not go out.
The lamentation of Beth‑ezel: “He will take from you its support.”
12 For the inhabitant of Maroth
Writhes ain waiting for good
Because a calamity has come down from Yahweh
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 btransgressions 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 aMareshah.
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.