Micah - 1

1 - The word of the LORD that came to Micah the Morasthite in the days of Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah - , which he saw concerning Samaria - and Jerusalem - .

2 - Hear, all ye people; hearken, O earth, and all that therein is: and let the Lord GOD be witness against you, the LORD from his holy temple.

3 - For, behold, the LORD cometh forth out of his place, and will come down, and tread upon the high places of the earth.

4 - And the mountains shall be molten under him, and the valleys shall be cleft, as wax before the fire, and as the waters that are poured down a steep place.

5 - For the transgression of Jacob - is all this, and for the sins of the house of Israel - . What is the transgression of Jacob - ? is it not Samaria - ? and what are the high places of Judah - ? are they not Jerusalem - ?

6 - Therefore I will make Samaria - as an heap of the field, and as plantings of a vineyard: and I will pour down the stones thereof into the valley, and I will discover the foundations thereof.

7 - And all the graven images thereof shall be beaten to pieces, and all the hires thereof shall be burned with the fire, and all the idols thereof will I lay desolate: for she gathered it of the hire of an harlot, and they shall return to the hire of an harlot.

8 - Therefore I will wail and howl, I will go stripped and naked: I will make a wailing like the dragons, and mourning as the owls.

9 - For her wound is incurable; for it is come unto Judah - ; he is come unto the gate of my people, even to Jerusalem - .

10 - Declare ye it not at Gath, weep ye not at all: in the house of Aphrah roll thyself in the dust.

11 - Pass ye away, thou inhabitant of Saphir, having thy shame naked: the inhabitant of Zaanan came not forth in the mourning of Bethezel; he shall receive of you his standing.

12 - For the inhabitant of Maroth waited carefully for good: but evil came down from the LORD unto the gate of Jerusalem - .

13 - O thou inhabitant of Lachish, bind the chariot to the swift beast: she is the beginning of the sin to the daughter of Zion: for the transgressions of Israel - were found in thee.

14 - Therefore shalt thou give presents to Moreshethgath: the houses of Achzib shall be a lie to the kings of Israel - .

15 - Yet will I bring an heir unto thee, O inhabitant of Mareshah: he shall come unto Adullam the glory of Israel - .

16 - Make thee bald, and poll thee for thy delicate children; enlarge thy baldness as the eagle; for they are gone into captivity from thee.