Micah, 1
1. The word of Yahweh which came to Micah of Moresheth during the reigns of Jotham, Ahaz and Hezekiah kings of Judah. His visions about Samaria and Jerusalem.
1. The word of the LORD that came to Micah of Mo'resheth in the days of Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezeki'ah, kings of Judah, which he saw concerning Sama'ria and Jerusalem.
2. Listen, all you peoples, attend, earth and everyone on it! Yahweh intends to give evidence against you, the Lord, from his holy temple.
2. Hear, you peoples, all of you; hearken, O earth, and all that is in it; and let the Lord GOD be a witness against you, the Lord from his holy temple.
3. For look, Yahweh is leaving his home, down he comes, he treads the heights of earth.
3. For behold, the LORD is coming forth out of his place, and will come down and tread upon the high places of the earth.
4. Beneath him, the mountains melt, and valleys are torn open, like wax near a fire, like water pouring down a slope.
4. And the mountains will melt under him and the valleys will be cleft, like wax before the fire, like waters poured down a steep place.
5. All this is because of the crime of Jacob, the sin of the House of Israel. What is the crime of Jacob? Is it not Samaria? What is the sin of the House of Judah? Is it not Jerusalem?
5. All this is for the transgression of Jacob and for the sins of the house of Israel. What is the transgression of Jacob? Is it not Sama'ria? And what is the sin of the house of Judah? Is it not Jerusalem?
6. So I shall make Samaria a ruin in the open country, a place for planting vines. I shall send her stones rolling into the valley, until I have laid her foundations bare.
6. Therefore I will make Sama'ria a heap in the open country, a place for planting vineyards; and I will pour down her stones into the valley, and uncover her foundations.
7. All her images will be shattered, all her earnings consumed by fire. I shall leave all her idols derelict- they were amassed out of prostitutes' earnings and prostitutes' earnings once more they will be.
7. All her images shall be beaten to pieces, all her hires shall be burned with fire, and all her idols I will lay waste; for from the hire of a harlot she gathered them, and to the hire of a harlot they shall return.
8. This is why I shall howl and wail, why I shall go barefoot and naked, why I shall howl like the jackals, why I shall shriek like the owls;
8. For this I will lament and wail; I will go stripped and naked; I will make lamentation like the jackals, and mourning like the ostriches.
9. for there is no cure for the wounds that Yahweh inflicts: the blow falls on Judah, it falls on the gateway of my people, on Jerusalem itself.
9. For her wound is incurable; and it has come to Judah, it has reached to the gate of my people, to Jerusalem.
10. Do not announce it in Gath, in . . . shed no tears! In Beth-Leaphrah roll in the dust!
10. Tell it not in Gath, weep not at all; in Beth-le-aph'rah roll yourselves in the dust.
11. Sound the horn, inhabitant of Shaphir! She has not left her city, she who lives in Zaanan. Beth-Ezel is torn from its foundations, from its strong supports.
11. Pass on your way, inhabitants of Shaphir, in nakedness and shame; the inhabitants of Za'anan do not come forth; the wailing of Beth-e'zel shall take away from you its standing place.
12. What hope has she of happiness, she who lives in Maroth? Instead Yahweh sent down disaster on the gateway of Jerusalem itself!
12. For the inhabitants of Maroth wait anxiously for good, because evil has come down from the LORD to the gate of Jerusalem.
13. Harness the horse to the chariot, you inhabitant of Lachish! That is where the sin of the daughter of Zion began; the crimes of Israel can be traced to you!
13. Harness the steeds to the chariots, inhabitants of Lachish; you were the beginning of sin to the daughter of Zion, for in you were found the transgressions of Israel.
14. And so you must provide a dowry for Moresheth-Gath. Beth-Achzib will prove a disappointment for the kings of Israel.
14. Therefore you shall give parting gifts to Mo'resheth-gath; the houses of Achzib shall be a deceitful thing to the kings of Israel.
15. The plunderer will come to you again, you citizen of Mareshah! And into Adullam will vanish the glory of Israel.
15. I will again bring a conqueror upon you, inhabitants of Mare'shah; the glory of Israel shall come to Adullam.
16. Off with your hair, shave your head, for the children that were your joy. Make yourselves bald like the vulture, for they have left you for exile.
16. Make yourselves bald and cut off your hair, for the children of your delight; make yourselves as bald as the eagle, for they shall go from you into exile.
