Micah

11The word of Yahweh that was to Micah the Morashtite in the days of Jotham, Ahaz, {and} Hezekiah, kings of Judah, which he saw concerning Samaria and Jerusalem.

2Hear, peoples, all of them;

pay attention, earth, and its fullness,

that the Lord Yahweh may be against you as a witness,

the Lord from the palace of his holiness.

3For behold, Yahweh is going out from his place,

and he will come down and tread on the high places of the earth.

4And the mountains will melt under him,

and the valleys will split open,

like wax from the face of the fire,

like waters poured down a steep place.

5All this {is} because of the transgression of Jacob,

and because of the sins of the house of Israel.

Who {is} the transgression of Jacob?

{Is} it not Samaria?

And who {are} the high places of Judah?

{Is} it not Jerusalem?

6“So I will make Samaria a ruin of the field,

a planting place of a vineyard.

And I will pour down her stones into the gorge,

and her foundations I will uncover.

7And all her carved images will be crushed,

and all her wages will be burned in the fire,

and all her idols I will make a desolation,

for from the wages of a prostitute she gathered {them},

and to the wages of a prostitute they will return.”

8On account of this I shall lament and wail;

I shall go barefoot and naked.

I shall make a lamentation like the jackals

and mourning like the daughters of an owl.

9For her wounds {are} incurable,

for it has come to Judah.

It has reached to the gate of my people,

to Jerusalem.

10In Gath, do not declare {it};

weeping, do not weep.

In Beth Leaphrah,

roll yourself in the dust.

11Pass on your way, dweller of Shaphir,

{in} nakedness of shame.

The dweller of Zaanan has not gone out;

the mourning of Beth Ezel will take from you its standing place.

12Surely the dweller of Maroth writhes for {something} good,

but evil has come down from Yahweh

to the gate of Jerusalem.

13Harness the chariot to the steeds,

dweller of Lachish.

She {was} the beginning of sin to daughter Zion,

for in you were found the transgressions of Israel.

14Therefore you will give dowry gifts

to Moresheth Gath.

The houses of Achzib {will} become a deception

to the kings of Israel.

15Also a possessor I will bring to you,

dweller of Mareshah.

The glory of Israel

will come to Adullam.

16Make yourself bald and shave

for the sons of your delight.

Enlarge your baldness like the eagle,

for they have gone into exile from you.

21Woe to the devisers of iniquity

and the workers of evil on their beds!

In the light of the morning they do it,

for it is in the power of their hand.

2And they covet fields and seize {them},

and houses, and take {them} away.

And they oppress a man and his house,

and a man and his inheritance.

3Therefore, thus says Yahweh, “Behold me, devising against this clan disaster, which you will not remove your necks from there, and you will not walk haughtily, for it {is} an evil time. 4In that day {someone} will lift up against you a proverb, and lament a lamentation of a lamentation. He says, ‘Destroying, we are destroyed! The portion of my people he exchanges! How he removes {it} from me! To a rebel he divides our fields!’” 5Therefore there will not be for you one casting a measuring line by lot

in the assembly of Yahweh.

6“Do not drip,” they drip.

They do not drip about these {things};

disgraces will not depart.

7Should it be said, house of Jacob,

“Is the Spirit of Yahweh short?”

Or “Are these his deeds?”

Do not my words do good

with the one walking uprightly?

8“But recently my people rise up as an enemy.

You strip the splendor from the front of the garment,

from those passing by in security,

{those} returning from war.

9The women of my people you drive out

from the house of her delights;

from upon her infants you take away

my splendor forever.

10Rise up and go!

For this {is} not the resting place;

because of uncleanness it will destroy,

and a grievous destruction.”

11If a man walking {in} wind and falsehood lied,

“I will drip to you of wine and of beer,”

he would be the dripper of this people.

12“Gathering, I will gather Jacob, all of you.

Assembling, I will assemble the remnant of Israel.

Together I will set them like sheep of Bozrah,

like a flock in the midst of its pasture;

they will be noisy from humanity.

13The breaker has gone up to the face of them.

They have broken through and passed through the gate

and gone out through it.

And their king has passed on to the face of them,

and Yahweh {is} at their head.”

31And I said,

“Hear, please, heads of Jacob

and commanders of the house of Israel:

Is it not for you to know justice?

2Haters of good and lovers of evil,

tearing their skin from upon them

and their flesh from upon their bones,

3and who have eaten the flesh of my people,

and their skin from upon them they have stripped,

and their bones they have broken,

and they have chopped {them} up as {what} is in the pot,

and as flesh inside a cauldron.”

4Then they will cry out to Yahweh,

but he will not answer them.

And he will hide his face from them at that time,

just as they have made their deeds evil.

5Thus says Yahweh, “Concerning the prophets

causing my people to wander astray,

biting with their teeth, then they call out, ‘Peace!’

But whoever does not put {something} in their mouths,

they consecrate war against him.

6Therefore, {it will be} night for you without vision,

and it will be dark for you without divining.

And the sun will go down on the prophets,

and the day will become dark over them.”

7And the seers will be ashamed,

and the diviners will be disgraced.

And all of them will cover over the mustache,

for there is no answer of God.

8But I, in contrast, I am full of power,

the Spirit of Yahweh, and justice, and might,

to declare to Jacob his transgression,

and to Israel his sin.

9Hear this, please,

heads of the house of Jacob

and commanders of the house of Israel,

the ones abhorring justice

and making all of the straight {things} crooked,

10building Zion with bloodshed

and Jerusalem with injustice.

11Her heads judge for a bribe,

and her priests teach for a price,

and her prophets divine for silver.

Yet they lean on Yahweh, saying,

“Is not Yahweh in our midst?

Evil will not come upon us.”

12Therefore, because of you,

Zion will be plowed {as} a field,

and Jerusalem will become heaps,

and the mountain of the house, as high places of a forest.

41But it will be in the last of the days,

the mountain of the house of Yahweh

will be established as the head of the mountains.

And it will be lifted above the hills,

and peoples will stream to it.

2Many nations will go and say,

“Come and let us go up to the mountain of Yahweh,

and to the house of the God of Jacob,

so that he will teach us from his ways,

and so that we may walk in his paths.”

For from Zion the law will go out,

and the word of Yahweh from Jerusalem.

3And he will judge among many peoples

and will decide for strong nations far away.

And they will beat their swords into plowshares

and their spears into pruning hooks.

Nation will not lift up sword against nation,

and they will not train for war any more.

4And they will sit, each person under his vine

and under his fig tree.

And there will be no terrorizer,

for the mouth of Yahweh of Armies has spoken.

5For all the peoples walk,

each one, in the name of his god.

But we, we will walk in the name of Yahweh our God forever and ever.

6“On that day,” declares Yahweh,

“I shall assemble the lame

and gather the outcast,

and those whom I have afflicted.

7And I will turn the lame into a remnant,

and the ones driven away into a strong nation,

and Yahweh will reign over them on Mount Zion,

from now and until forever.

8And you, watchtower for the flock,

hill of daughter Zion—

to you it will arrive, and the former dominion will come,

the kingdom {belonging} to daughter Jerusalem.

9Now, why do you shout a shout?

Is there no king among you,

or has your counselor perished,

that pain grips you like a woman giving birth?

10Writhe in pain and burst forth, daughter Zion, like a woman giving birth.

For now you will you go out of the city,

and live in the field,

and go to Babylon.

There you will be rescued.

There Yahweh will redeem you from the hand of your enemies.

11But now many nations are assembled against you,

those saying, ‘Let her be defiled

and let our eyes gaze on Zion.’

12But they, they do not know the thoughts of Yahweh

and they do not understand his plan,

for he has gathered them

like bundles of grain for the threshing floor.

13Arise and thresh, daughter Zion,

for I will make your horn iron,

and I will make your hooves bronze.

So break into pieces many peoples and devote to Yahweh their plunder

and their wealth to the Lord of all of the earth.”

51Now gather yourself as a troop, daughter troop!

He has set a siege against us;

with the rod they strike on the cheek

the judge of Israel.

2But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah,

small to be among the clans of Judah,

from you will come out for me

{one} to be a ruler in Israel,

and his goings out {are} from aforetime,

from the days of eternity.

3Therefore he will give them up

until the time {when} the bearing {one} gives birth,

and the remainder of his brothers

will return to the sons of Israel.

4And he will stand and shepherd in the strength of Yahweh,

in the majesty of the name of Yahweh his God.

And they will dwell, for now he will be great

to the ends of the earth.

5And this one will be peace.

Assyria—when he comes into our land,

and when he treads on our citadels,

then we will raise up against him seven shepherds

and eight princes of man.

6And they will shepherd the land of Assyria with the sword,

and the land of Nimrod in its entrances.

And he will deliver {us} from Assyria,

when he comes into our land,

and when he treads within our border.

7And the remnant of Jacob will be

in the midst of many peoples,

like dew from Yahweh,

like showers on the grass,

that does not wait for a man

and does not hope for the sons of man.

8And the remnant of Jacob will be among the nations,

in the midst of many peoples,

like a lion among the animals of the forest,

like a young lion among the flocks of sheep,

who, if he passes through,

both tramples and tears,

and there is no deliverer.

9May your hand rise over your adversaries,

and may all of your enemies be cut off!

10And it will be on that day—the declaration of Yahweh—

that I will cut off your horses from your midst,

and I will destroy your chariots.

11And I will cut off the cities of your land,

and I will tear down all of your fortifications.

12And I will cut off sorceries from your hand,

and soothsayers will not be to you.

13And I will cut off your carved images

and your stone pillars from your midst,

and you will no longer bow down

to the work of your hands.

14And I will uproot your Asherah s from your midst,

and I will destroy your cities.

15And I will execute in nose and in wrath vengeance on the nations that have not listened.

61Hear, please, what Yahweh is saying,

“Arise, contend before the mountains,

and let the hills hear your voice.”

2Hear the dispute of Yahweh, mountains,

and permanent foundations of the earth,

for a dispute{is} to Yahweh with his people,

and with Israel he will argue, 3“My people, what have I done to you,

and how have I wearied you?

Testify against me!

4For I brought you up from the land of Egypt,

and from the house of slaves I redeemed you,

and I sent to your face

Moses, Aaron, and Miriam.

5My people, please remember what Balak, king of Moab, counseled,

and what Balaam, son of Beor, answered him,

from Shittim to Gilgal,

in order to know the righteousnesses of Yahweh.”

6With what shall I come before Yahweh,

bow down to the God of the height?

Shall I come before him with burnt offerings,

with calves, sons of a year?

7Will Yahweh be pleased with thousands of rams,

with ten thousands of rivers of oil?

Shall I give my firstborn {for} my transgression,

the fruit of my belly {for} the sin of my soul?

8He has told you, man, what {is} good,

and what Yahweh is seeking from you:

only to do justice,

and the love of covenant faithfulness,

and to be humble to walk with your God.

9The voice of Yahweh calls to the city

—(and sound wisdom fears your name),

Hear, tribe and whoever he appointed!

10“Are there still {in} the house of the wicked

treasuries of wickedness,

and the ephah of leanness

{that is} cursed?

11Would I be innocent with scales of wickedness,

and with a bag of stones of deceit?

12—which her rich are full of violence,

and her inhabitants speak falsehood,

and their tongue {is} deceit in their mouth.

13And even I, I will make sick the striking of you,

devastating {you} because of your sins.

14You, you will eat but not be satisfied,

for dysentery {will be} inside you.

And you will bring to safety but not deliver,

and what you do deliver, I will give to the sword.

15You, you will sow but not reap;

you, you will tread the olive but not anoint {yourself} {with} oil;

and—new wine but not drink wine.

16For the statutes of Omri are kept,

and all of the deeds of the house of Ahab;

and you have walked in their counsels,

so that I will make you a desolation,

and her inhabitants a hissing,

and the reproach of my people you will bear.” The Hebrew text has you will bear the reproach of my people, but an ancient Greek version has you will bear the scorn of the nations. Some modern versions follow this reading.

71Woe to me!

For I have become like the gatherings of summer fruit,

like the gleanings of the grape harvest.

There is no cluster to eat,

no early fig {that} my soul desires.

2The faithful one has perished from the land,

and there is no upright one among mankind.

All of them lie in wait for bloodshed;

each man hunts his brother with a net.

3Concerning evil, the two hands {act} to do {it} well;

the ruler is asking,

and the judge, for the recompense,

and the great one is speaking the desire of his very soul;

and they weave it together.

4The best of them {is} like a brier;

the upright, {worse} than a thorn hedge.

The day of your watchers, your visitation, has come.

Now their confusion will be.

5Do not believe in a neighbor;

Do not trust in a friend.

From the one lying in your bosom,

guard the doors of your mouth.

6For a son is dishonoring a father;

a daughter is rising against her mother;

a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law.

The enemies of a man

{are} the men of his house.

7But I, I will watch for Yahweh;

I shall wait for the God of my salvation.

My God will hear me.

8Do not rejoice over me, my enemy!

Though I have fallen; I will arise.

Though I sit in the darkness;

Yahweh {is} a light to me.

9I will bear the rage of Yahweh,

for I have sinned against him,

until he pleads my case

and accomplishes my justice.

He will bring me out to the light;

I will look on his righteousness.

10Then may my enemy see,

so that shame covers her,

the one saying to me,

“Where {is} Yahweh your God?”

My eyes will look at her;

now she will become a trampling place

like the mud of the streets.

11A day to build your walls!

That day the boundary will be far away.

12That {is} the day when as far as you he will come,

from Assyria and the cities of Egypt,

and from Egypt and as far as the River,

and {to} sea from sea,

and mountain {to} the mountain.

13And the land will become a desolation

on account of her inhabitants,

from the fruit of their deeds.

14Shepherd your people with your rod,

the flock of your inheritance,

the one dwelling alone,

a forest in the midst of Carmel.

May they graze in Bashan and Gilead

as in the days of old.

15As in the days of your going out from the land of Egypt,

I will make him see wonders.

16The nations will see

and will be ashamed of all of their might.

They will put a hand over mouth;

their ears will be deaf.

17They will lick dust like the serpent;

like crawling things of the earth,

they will tremble from their strongholds.

They will approach in dread Yahweh our God,

and they will fear because of you.

18Who is a God like you,

bearing iniquity and passing over transgression

for the remnant of his inheritance?

He does not hold his nose forever,

for he delights in covenant faithfulness, he {does}.

19He will return; he will have compassion on us.

He will subdue our iniquities,

and you will throw into the depths of the sea

all of their sins.

20You will grant trustworthiness to Jacob,

covenant faithfulness to Abraham,

which you swore to our fathers

from the days of old.