LEB MIC book

The Impending Doom of Samaria and Jerusalem

1 The word of Yahweh that came to Micah the Morashtite in the days of Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, the kings of Judah, that he saw concerning Samaria and Jerusalem:

2 Hear, all you peoples;
- give heed, O earth and its fullness.
And let the Lord Yahweh be against you as a witness,
- the Lord from his holy temple .[fn]
3 For behold, Yahweh is coming out from his place,
- and he will come down and tread upon the high places of the earth.
4 The mountains will melt under him
- and the valleys will burst open,
like wax before the fire,
- like water rushing down a slope.
5 All this is for the rebellion of Jacob,
- and for the sins of the house of Israel.
What is the rebellion of Jacob?
- Is it not Samaria?
And what are the high places of Judah?
- Are they not Jerusalem?
6 So I will make Samaria as a heap of rubble in the field,
- a place for planting a vineyard.
And I will pour down her stones into the valley
- and uncover her foundations.
7 Then all her idols will be broken in pieces,
- and all her prostitution wages will be burned in the fire,
- and all her idols I will make a desolation,
For from the wage of a prostitute she gathered them,
- and to the wage of a prostitute they will return.
8 On account of this I will lament and wail.
- I will go about barefoot and naked.
I will make a lamentation like the jackals,
- and a mourning ceremony like the ostriches .[fn]
9 For her wounds are incurable,
- because it has come to Judah.
- It has reached to the gate of my people, to Jerusalem.
10 Do not tell it in Gath;
- you must not weep at all.
In Beth-le-Aphrah
- roll yourself in dust.
11 Pass on, you inhabitants of Shaphir,
- in naked shame.
The inhabitants of Zaanan do not come forth;
- the wailing of Beth-ha-Ezel will take its protection from you.
12 For the inhabitants of Maroth
- writhed for good,
because disaster has come down from Yahweh
- to the gate of Jerusalem.
13 Harness the chariot to the team of horses,
- O inhabitants of Lachish;
it is the beginning of sin
- for the daughter of Zion,
for the transgressions of Israel
- were found in you.
14 Therefore you will give parting gifts
- to Moresheth-Gath;
the houses of Achzib will be a deception
- to the kings of Israel.
15 I will again bring the conqueror upon you,
- O inhabitants of Mareshah;
the glory of Israel
- will come to Adullam.
16 Make yourselves bald
- and cut off your hair
- for the children of your pleasure.
Expand your baldness as the eagle,
- for they will go into exile away from you.

Woe to the Oppressors of God’s People

2 Woe to those who plan wickedness
- and evil deeds upon their beds!
In the light of the morning they did it,
- because they have power in their hands.
2 They covet fields and seize them,
- and houses, and they take them away.
They oppress a man and his house;
- a man and his inheritance.

3 Therefore, thus says Yahweh: Look! I am planning disaster against this family from which you will not be able to remove your necks. You will not walk proudly, for it is a time of disaster.

4 In that day they will raise a proverb against you,
- and will wail a bitter wailing, saying,
“We are utterly ruined;
- he exchanges the portion of my people.
How he removes it from me;
- he apportions our field to an apostate.”
5 Therefore you will have no one casting a line by lot
- in the assembly of Yahweh.
6 “Do not preach!” they are preaching.
- They should not preach to these;
- disgrace will not overtake us.
7 Should this be said, O house of Jacob?
- Is the patience[fn] of Yahweh shortened?
- Are these his deeds?
Are my words not pleasing
- to him who walks upright?
8 But recently[fn] my people have risen up as an enemy;
- from before the cloak you strip off the robe
from those passing by in confidence,
- returning from war.
9 You have driven out the women of my people
- from the houses of their[fn] pleasure.
From their[fn] children you have taken away
- my glory forever.
10 Arise and go,
- for this is no resting place,
on account of uncleanness that destroys
- with painful destruction.
11 If a man walks about in a spirit of deception and lies,
- saying “I will preach to you of wine and strong drink,”
- then he would be a preacher for this people!
12 I will surely gather all of you, O Jacob;
- I will surely gather together the remainder of Israel.
I will set them like sheep of Bozrah.
Like a herd in the midst of their pasture
- they will be in tumult from people.
13 The one who breaks out before them goes up;
- they break through and pass the gate,
- going out through it.
Their king passes before them,
- Yahweh at their head.

Israel’s Leaders Denounced

3 And I said,
“Listen, O heads of Jacob
- and leaders of the house of Israel!
- Is it not for you to know justice?
2 Those of you who are haters of good
- and lovers of evil,
who tear their skin from them
- and their flesh from their bones,
3 and who eat the flesh of my people,
- and strip their skin from them,
and break their bones,
- and chop them like meat in the pot,
- and like flesh in the midst of a cooking pot.”
4 Then they will cry to Yahweh,
- but he will not answer them.
He will hide his face from them at that time,
- when they have made their deeds evil.
5 Thus says Yahweh concerning the prophets
- who are leading my people astray,
who are biting with their teeth
- and proclaim, “Peace,”
but whoever puts nothing into their mouths
- they declare war against.
6 Therefore it will be as night to you, without vision,
- and darkness to you, without divination.
And the sun will set on the prophets,
- and the day will grow dark over them.
7 Then the seers will be disgraced,
- and those practicing divination will be put to shame.
All of them will cover their lips,
- for there is no reply from God.
8 But I, I am filled with power,
- with the Spirit of Yahweh,
and with justice and might,
- to declare to Jacob his rebellion,
- and to Israel his sin.
9 Hear this, O rulers of the house of Jacob
- and leaders of the house of Israel,
those detesting justice
- and perverting all that is right,
10 he who builds Zion with blood
- and Jerusalem with wickedness.
11 Its rulers judge for a bribe;
- its priests teach for a price;
- its prophets practice divination for money.
But they lean on Yahweh, saying,
- “ Is not Yahweh in our midst?
- Disaster will not come upon us.”
12 Therefore on account of you
- Zion will be plowed as a field,
and Jerusalem will be a heap of rubble,
- and the temple mount[fn] as a high place in a forest.

The Mountain of Yahweh

4 And it will be that at the end of those days,
the mountain of Yahweh
- will be established as the highest of the mountains,
and it will be lifted up above the hills,
- and people will stream to it.
2 And many nations will come and say,
“Come! Let us go up to the mountain of Yahweh,
- and to the temple[fn] of the God of Jacob,
that he may teach us his ways,
- and that we may walk in his paths,”
for the law will go out from Zion,
- and the word of Yahweh from Jerusalem.
3 And he will judge between many peoples
- and will arbitrate for strong nations far away;
and they will beat their swords into plowshares
- and their spears into pruning hooks;
nation will not lift up a sword against a nation,
- and they will no longer learn war.
4 But they will sit, each under his vine
- and under his fig tree,
and no one will make them afraid,
- for the mouth of Yahweh of hosts has spoken.
5 For all the nations walk,
- each in the name of its god,
but we will walk in the name of Yahweh our God,
- forever and ever.

Yahweh Will Deliver Zion

6 “In that day,” declares Yahweh,[fn]
- “I will assemble the one who limps,
and I will gather the one who has been scattered,
- and those whom I have mistreated.
7 And I will make the one who limps a remnant,
- and the one driven far away a strong nation,
and Yahweh will reign over them on Mount Zion
- from now to forever.
8 And you, O Migdal-Eder,[fn]
- hill of the daughter of Zion,
to you it will come,
- and the former dominion will come,
- the reign of the daughter of Jerusalem.
9 So then, why do you shout a loud shout?
- Is there no king in you?
Has your counselor perished
- that pangs like a woman in labor have seized you?
10 Writhe and groan, O daughter of Zion,
- like a woman in labor.
For now you will go forth from the city,
- and you will camp in the field;
- you will go to Babylon.
There you will be rescued;
- there Yahweh will redeem you
- from the hand of your enemies.
11 And now, many nations are gathered against you
- who are saying, ‘Let her be defiled,
- and let our eyes gaze upon Zion.’
12 But they do not know the thoughts of Yahweh,
- and they do not understand his plan,
that he has gathered them as sheaves
- to his threshing floor.
13 Arise and thresh, O daughter of Zion,
- for your horn I will make as iron
- and your hooves as bronze.
And you will break many peoples in pieces,
- and their gain you will devote to destruction to Yahweh,
- and their wealth to the Lord of the whole earth.”

A Ruler from Bethlehem

5 [fn] Now muster troops, O daughter of troops;
- a siege he puts against us.
They strike the ruler of Israel
- with a rod on the cheek.
2 But you, O Bethlehem Ephrathah,
- too small to be among the clans of Judah,
from you one will go out for me,
- to be ruler in Israel;
and his origins are from of old,
- from ancient days.
3 Therefore he will give them up
- until the time of she who is with child has given birth.
And the rest of his brothers will return
- to the children of Israel.
4 And he will stand and shepherd his flock
- in the strength of Yahweh,
- in the majesty of the name of Yahweh his God.
And they will live,
- for now he will be great unto the ends of the earth.
5 And this one will be peace.
As for the Assyrian,[fn] when he comes into our land
- and when he treads on our fortresses,
then we will raise up against him seven shepherds
- and eight leaders of men.
6 And they will shepherd the land of Assyria with the sword,
- and the land of Nimrod at its entrances.
And he will rescue us from the Assyrian[fn]
- when he comes into our land,
- and when they tread upon our border.

A Remnant Delivered

7 And the remnant of Jacob will be
- in the midst of many nations,
like dew from Yahweh,
- like showers upon the grass
which does not wait for a man,
- nor delays for the children of humankind.
8 And the remnant of Jacob will be among the nations,
- in the midst of many peoples,
like a lion among the wild animals of the forest,
- like a young lion among the herds of sheep
which, when it passes through and treads down
- and tears in pieces, there is none who can deliver.
9 Your hand will be lifted high over your enemies,
- and all your foes will be cut off.
10 “And it will happen that in that day,” declares[fn] Yahweh,
- “then I will cut off your horses from among you,
- and I will destroy your chariots.
11 And I will cut off the cities of your land,
- and I will demolish all your fortifications.
12 And I will cut off sorceries from your hand,
- and you will not have soothsayers.
13 And I will cut off your idols
- and your stone pillars from among you,
and you will no longer bow down
- to the work of your hands.
14 And I will uproot your Asherahs from among you,
- and I will destroy your cities.
15 And in anger and in wrath I will execute vengeance
- on the nations who did not obey.”

Yahweh Brings a Charge against Israel

6 Hear now what Yahweh says:
“Arise! Plead your case with the mountains,
- and let the hills hear your voice.”
2 Hear, O mountains, the indictment of Yahweh,
- and you eternal foundations of the earth,
for Yahweh has an indictment against his people,
- and against Israel he contends.
3 “O my people, what have I done to you,
- and how have I wearied you? Answer me!
4 For I brought you up from the land of Egypt,
- and from the house of slavery I redeemed you.
- And I sent Moses, Aaron, and Miriam before you.
5 O my people, remember what Balak the king of Moab devised,
- and what Balaam the son of Beor answered him,
and what happened from Shittim to Gilgal,
- so that you might know the righteous acts of Yahweh.”

What Does Yahweh Require?

6 With what shall I approach Yahweh,
- and bow down to God on high?
Shall I approach him with burnt offerings,
- with bull calves a year old?
7 Will Yahweh be pleased with thousands of rams,
- with myriads of rivers of oil?
Shall I give my firstborn for my transgression,
- the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?
8 He has told you, O mortal, what is good,
- and what does Yahweh ask from you
but to do justice, and to love kindness,
- and to walk humbly with your God?

The Destruction of the Wicked

9 The voice of Yahweh calls to the city
- ( it is sound judgment to fear your name):
- “Hear, O staff![fn] Now who has appointed it?
10 Is there any longer a man in the house of the wicked
- treasures of wickedness,
- and the ephah of scarcity which is accursed?[fn]
11 Shall I regard as pure the one with scales of wickedness,
- and with a bag of deceitful weights?
12 Because her rich are full of violence,
- and her inhabitants speak lies,
- and their tongue is deceitful in their mouth.
13 And I also have made you sick by striking you down ,[fn]
- making you desolate because of your sins.
14 You yourself will eat but not be satisfied;
- your hunger will be in your midst,
and you will put away, but you will not save,
- and what you save I will hand over to the sword.
15 You yourself will sow, but you will not reap;
- you will tread olives, but you will not anoint yourself with oil;
- you will tread grapes, but you will not drink wine.
16 For you have observed the regulations of Omri
- and all the works of the house of Ahab.
And you have walked in their counsels,
- so that I am making you a desolation
and your inhabitants an object of scorn.
- So you will bear the scorn of my people.

Wait Upon Yahweh

7 Woe is me! For I have become
- like the gatherings of summer,
- like the gleanings of the grape harvest,
when there is no cluster of grapes to eat
- or early ripened fruit that my soul desires.
2 The faithful person has perished from the land,
- and there is none who is upright among humankind.
All of them lie in wait;
- each hunts his brother with a net.
3 Their hands are upon evil, to do it well;
- the official and the judge ask for the bribe,
and the great man utters the evil desire of his soul;
- and they weave it together.
4 The best of them is like a brier;
- the most upright worse than a thorn hedge.
The day of your watchman, your punishment, has come;
- now their confusion will come.
5 Do not put faith in a friend;
- put no trust in a close friend.
Guard the doorways of your mouth
- from the one who lies in your lap.
6 For a son treats a father with contempt;
- a daughter rises up against her mother,
a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law;
- the enemies of a man are the men of his own house.
7 But as for me, I will look to Yahweh;
- I will wait for the God of my salvation.
- My God will hear me.
8 You should not rejoice over me, O my enemy!
- When I fall I will stand up;
when I sit in darkness
- Yahweh will be a light for me.
9 I will bear the rage of Yahweh,
- for I have sinned against him,
until he pleads my cause
- and executes my justice.
He will bring me out to the light;
- I will see his righteousness.
10 Then my enemy will see,
- and shame will cover her who said to me,
“Where is Yahweh your God?”
- My eyes will look upon her;
now she will become a trampling place,
- like mud in the streets.
11 A day for building your walls;
- on that day he will extend your boundary.
12 On that day he will come to you
- from Assyria and the cities of Egypt,
and from Egypt to the River,
- and from sea to sea
- and mountain to mountain.
13 But the earth will be a desolation
- because of its inhabitants,
- for the fruit of their deeds.
14 Shepherd your people with your staff,
- the flock of your inheritance,
those dwelling alone in a forest
- in the midst of Carmel.
Let them feed in Bashan and Gilead,
- as in the days of old.
15 As in the days when you came out
- from the land of Egypt
- I will show him wondrous things.
16 The nations will see and be ashamed
- because of all their might.
They will lay the hand on the mouth;
- their ears will be deaf.
17 They will lick the dust like the serpent,
- like the crawling things of the earth.
They will come trembling from their strongholds
- to Yahweh our God.
- Let them fear and be afraid of you.
18 Who is a God like you, forgiving sin
- and passing over rebellion for the remnant of his inheritance?
He does not retain his anger forever,
- for he delights in loyal love.
19 He will again have compassion[fn] on us;
- he will trample our iniquities.
And you will hurl all their sins
- in the depths of the sea.
20 You will show faithfulness to Jacob,
- and loyal love to Abraham,
as you have sworn to our ancestors[fn]
- from the days of old.