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.
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.
For,
behold,
the LORD
cometh forth
out of his place,
and
will come down,
and tread
upon the high places
of the earth.
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.
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?
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.
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.
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.
For her wound
is incurable;
for it
is come
unto Judah;
he is come
unto the gate
of my people,
even to Jerusalem.
Declare
ye it
not at Gath,
weep
ye not at all:
in the house
of Aphrah
roll thyself
in the dust.
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.
For the inhabitant
of Maroth
waited carefully
for good:
but evil
came down
from the LORD
unto the gate
of Jerusalem.
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.
Therefore shalt
thou give
presents
to Moreshethgath:
the houses
of Achzib
shall be a lie
to the kings
of Israel.
Yet will
I bring
an heir
unto thee,
O inhabitant
of Mareshah:
he shall come
unto Adullam
the glory
of Israel.
Make thee bald,
and poll thee
for thy
delicate children;
enlarge thy baldness
as the eagle;
for they
are gone
into captivity
from thee.
Woe to them
that devise
iniquity,
and work evil
upon their beds!
when the morning
is light,
they practise it,
because
it is in the power
of their hand.
And
they covet fields,
and take them
by violence;
and houses,
and take them away:
so they
oppress a man
and his house,
even a man
and his heritage.
Therefore thus
saith the LORD;
Behold,
against this family
do
I devise an evil,
from which
ye shall not remove
your necks;
neither shall
ye go haughtily:
for this time
is evil.
In that day
shall one take up
a parable
against you,
and lament
with a doleful lamentation,
and say,
We be utterly spoiled:
he hath changed
the portion
of my people:
how hath
he removed it
from me!
turning away
he hath divided
our fields.
Therefore thou
shalt have none
that shall cast
a cord
by lot
in the congregation
of the LORD.
Prophesy ye not,
say
they
to them that prophesy:
they shall not prophesy
to them,
that they
shall not take shame.
O thou
that art
named
the house
of Jacob,
is the spirit
of the LORD straitened?
are these
his doings?
do not
my words
do good
to him
that walketh uprightly?
Even of late my people
is risen up
as an enemy:
ye pull
off the robe
with the garment
from them that pass by
securely as men averse
from war.
The women
of my people
have
ye cast out
from their pleasant houses;
from their children
have
ye taken away
my glory
for ever.
Arise ye,
and depart;
for this
is not your rest:
because
it is polluted,
it shall destroy you,
even with a sore destruction.
If a man
walking
in the spirit
and falsehood
do lie,
saying,
I will prophesy
unto thee
of wine
and of strong drink;
he shall even be the prophet
of this people.
I will surely assemble,
O Jacob,
all of thee;
I will surely gather the remnant
of Israel;
I will put
them together
as the sheep
of Bozrah,
as the flock
in the midst
of their fold:
they shall make great noise
by reason
of the multitude
of men.
The breaker
is come up
before them:
they have broken up,
and have passed
through the gate,
and are gone out by it:
and their king
shall pass
before them,
and the LORD
on the head
of them.
And I said,
Hear,
I pray you,
O heads of Jacob,
and
ye princes
of the house
of Israel;
Is it
not for you
to know judgment?
Who hate
the good,
and love
the evil;
who pluck
off their skin
from off them,
and their flesh from
off their bones;
Who also eat
the flesh
of my people,
and flay
their skin
from off them;
and
they break
their bones,
and chop them
in pieces,
as for the pot,
and as flesh
within the caldron.
Then shall
they cry
unto the LORD,
but
he will not hear them:
he will even hide
his face
from them
at that time,
as they
have behaved
themselves ill
in their doings.
Thus
saith
the LORD
concerning the prophets
that make my people err,
that bite
with their teeth,
and cry,
Peace;
and
he that
putteth not
into their mouths,
they even prepare
war against him.
Therefore night
shall be
unto you,
that ye
shall not have
a vision;
and it
shall be dark
unto you,
that ye
shall not divine;
and the sun
shall go down
over the prophets,
and the day
shall be dark
over them.
Then shall
the seers
be ashamed,
and the diviners confounded:
yea,
they shall all cover
their lips;
for there is
no answer
of God.
But truly
I am full of
power
by the spirit
of the LORD,
and of judgment,
and of might,
to declare
unto Jacob
his transgression,
and
to Israel his sin.
Hear this,
I pray you,
ye heads
of the house
of Jacob,
and princes
of the house
of Israel,
that abhor
judgment,
and pervert
all equity.
They build up Zion
with blood,
and Jerusalem
with iniquity.
The heads
thereof judge
for reward,
and the priests
thereof teach
for hire,
and the prophets
thereof divine
for money:
yet will
they lean
upon the LORD,
and say,
Is not
the LORD
among us?
none evil
can come upon us.
Therefore shall
Zion
for your sake
be plowed
as a field,
and Jerusalem
shall become heaps,
and the mountain
of the house
as the high places
of the forest.
But in the last days
it shall come
to pass,
that the mountain
of the house
of the LORD
shall be established in the top
of the mountains,
and it
shall be exalted above
the hills;
and people
shall flow
unto it.
And many nations
shall come,
and say,
Come,
and let us
go up to
the mountain
of the LORD,
and to the house
of the God
of Jacob;
and
he will teach us
of his ways,
and
we will walk
in his paths:
for the law
shall go forth
of Zion,
and the word
of the LORD
from Jerusalem.
And
he shall judge
among many people,
and rebuke strong nations
afar off;
and
they shall beat
their swords
into plowshares,
and their spears
into pruninghooks:
nation
shall not lift
up a sword
against nation,
neither shall
they learn
war any more.
But
they shall sit
every man
under his vine
and under his fig tree;
and none
shall make them afraid:
for the mouth
of the LORD
of hosts
hath spoken it.
For all
people will walk every one
in the name
of his god,
and
we will walk
in the name
of the LORD
our God
for ever and ever.
In that day,
saith the LORD,
will
I assemble
her that halteth,
and I
will gather
her
that is driven out,
and her that
I have afflicted;
And I
will make
her
that halted
a remnant,
and her
that was cast far
off a strong nation:
and the LORD
shall reign
over them
in mount Zion
from henceforth,
even for ever.
And thou,
O tower
of the flock,
the strong hold
of the daughter
of Zion,
unto thee
shall it come,
even the first dominion;
the kingdom
shall come
to the daughter
of Jerusalem.
Now
why dost
thou cry out aloud?
is there no king
in thee?
is thy counsellor perished?
for pangs
have taken thee
as a woman
in travail.
Be in pain,
and labour
to bring forth,
O daughter
of Zion,
like a woman
in travail:
for now shalt thou
go forth
out of the city,
and
thou shalt dwell
in the field,
and
thou shalt go even
to Babylon;
there shalt
thou be delivered;
there
the LORD
shall redeem thee
from the hand
of thine enemies.
Now also
many nations
are gathered
against thee,
that say,
Let her
be defiled,
and let
our eye look
upon Zion.
But
they know not
the thoughts
of the LORD,
neither understand
they his counsel:
for he
shall gather them
as the sheaves
into the floor.
Arise and thresh,
O daughter
of Zion:
for I
will make
thine horn iron,
and I
will make
thy hoofs brass:
and
thou shalt beat
in pieces many people:
and
I will consecrate
their gain
unto the LORD,
and their substance
unto the Lord
of the whole earth.
Now gather thyself
in troops,
O daughter
of troops:
he hath laid siege
against us:
they shall smite the judge
of Israel
with a rod
upon the cheek.
But thou,
Bethlehem Ephratah,
though thou
be little
among the thousands of Judah,
yet out of thee shall
he come forth
unto me that is
to be ruler
in Israel;
whose goings
forth have been from
of old,
from everlasting.
Therefore will
he give them up,
until the time that
she
which travaileth
hath brought forth:
then the remnant
of his brethren
shall return
unto the children
of Israel.
And
he shall stand
and feed
in the strength
of the LORD,
in the majesty
of the name
of the LORD his God;
and
they shall abide:
for now shall
he be great
unto the ends
of the earth.
And this man
shall be
the peace,
when the Assyrian
shall come
into our land:
and
when
he shall tread
in our palaces,
then shall
we raise
against him seven shepherds,
and eight principal men.
And
they shall waste
the land
of Assyria
with the sword,
and the land
of Nimrod
in the entrances
thereof:
thus
shall
he deliver us
from the Assyrian,
when
he cometh into our land,
and
when he
treadeth
within our borders.
And the remnant
of Jacob
shall be in the midst
of many people
as a dew
from the LORD,
as the showers
upon the grass,
that tarrieth not
for man,
nor waiteth for the sons
of men.
And the remnant
of Jacob
shall be among the Gentiles
in the midst
of many people
as a lion
among the beasts
of the forest,
as a young lion
among the flocks
of sheep:
who,
if he go through,
both treadeth down,
and teareth in pieces,
and none
can deliver.
Thine hand
shall be lifted up
upon thine adversaries,
and all thine enemies
shall be cut off.
And it
shall come
to pass
in that day,
saith the LORD,
that I
will cut off
thy horses
out of the midst
of thee,
and
I will destroy
thy chariots:
And I
will cut off
the cities
of thy land,
and throw
down all
thy strong holds:
And
I will cut off witchcrafts
out of thine hand;
and
thou shalt have
no more soothsayers:
Thy graven
images
also will
I cut off,
and thy
standing
images
out of the midst
of thee;
and
thou shalt
no more worship the work
of thine hands.
And
I will pluck
up thy groves
out of the midst
of thee:
so will
I destroy
thy cities.
And
I will execute vengeance
in anger and fury
upon the heathen,
such as
they have not heard.
Hear ye now
what the LORD saith;
Arise,
contend
thou
before the mountains,
and let
the hills
hear thy voice.
Hear ye,
O mountains,
the LORD's controversy,
and
ye strong foundations
of the earth:
for the LORD
hath a controversy
with his people,
and
he will plead
with Israel.
O my people,
what have
I done
unto thee?
and wherein have
I wearied thee?
testify against me.
For I
brought thee up
out of the land
of Egypt,
and redeemed thee
out of the house
of servants;
and I
sent
before thee Moses, Aaron,
and Miriam.
O my people,
remember now
what
Balak king
of Moab consulted,
and
what Balaam
the son
of Beor
answered him
from Shittim
unto Gilgal;
that ye
may know
the righteousness
of the LORD.
Wherewith shall
I come
before the LORD,
and bow myself
before the high God?
shall
I come
before him
with burnt offerings,
with calves
of a year old?
Will
the LORD
be pleased
with thousands of rams,
or with ten thousands of rivers
of oil?
shall
I give
my firstborn
for my transgression,
the fruit
of my body
for the sin
of my soul?
He hath shewed thee,
O man,
what is good;
and what
doth
the LORD
require of thee,
but to do justly,
and to love mercy,
and
to walk humbly
with thy God?
The LORD's voice
crieth unto the city,
and the man
of wisdom
shall see
thy name:
hear ye
the rod,
and
who hath appointed it.
Are there yet the treasures
of wickedness
in the house
of the wicked,
and the scant measure
that is abominable?
Shall
I count them pure
with the wicked balances,
and with the bag
of deceitful weights?
For the rich men
thereof are
full of violence,
and the inhabitants
thereof have spoken lies,
and their tongue
is deceitful
in their mouth.
Therefore also will
I make thee sick
in smiting thee,
in making thee desolate
because of thy sins.
Thou shalt eat,
but not be satisfied;
and thy
casting
down shall be
in the midst
of thee;
and
thou shalt take hold,
but shalt not deliver;
and
that which
thou deliverest
will
I give up
to the sword.
Thou shalt sow,
but
thou shalt not reap;
thou shalt tread
the olives,
but
thou shalt not anoint thee
with oil;
and sweet wine,
but shalt not drink wine.
For the statutes
of Omri
are kept,
and all
the works
of the house
of Ahab,
and ye
walk
in their counsels;
that I
should make thee
a desolation,
and the inhabitants
thereof an hissing:
therefore ye
shall bear
the reproach
of my people.
Woe is me!
for I
am
as when
they have gathered
the summer fruits,
as the grapegleanings
of the vintage:
there is
no cluster
to eat:
my soul
desired the firstripe fruit.
The good man
is perished
out of the earth:
and there is none upright
among men:
they all lie
in wait
for blood;
they hunt every man
his brother
with a net.
That they
may do evil
with both hands earnestly,
the prince asketh,
and the judge
asketh for a reward;
and the great man,
he uttereth his mischievous desire:
so they
wrap it up.
The best
of them is as a brier:
the most upright
is sharper than
a thorn hedge:
the day
of thy watchmen
and thy visitation cometh;
now shall be
their perplexity.
Trust ye
not in a friend,
put
ye not confidence
in a guide:
keep the doors
of thy
mouth
from her
that lieth
in thy bosom.
For the son
dishonoureth the father,
the daughter
riseth up
against her mother,
the daughter
in law
against her mother
in law;
a man's enemies
are the men
of his own house.
Therefore I
will look
unto the LORD;
I will wait
for the God
of my salvation:
my God
will hear me.
Rejoice not against me,
O mine enemy:
when I fall,
I shall arise;
when I sit
in darkness,
the LORD
shall be a light
unto me.
I will bear the indignation
of the LORD,
because
I have sinned against him,
until he
plead my cause,
and execute judgment
for me:
he will bring
me forth
to the light,
and
I shall behold
his righteousness.
Then
she that is mine enemy
shall see it,
and shame
shall cover
her which said
unto me, Where
is the LORD
thy God?
mine
eyes
shall behold her:
now shall
she be trodden down
as the mire
of the streets.
In the day
that thy
walls
are to be built,
in that day
shall
the decree
be far removed.
In that day
also he
shall come even
to thee
from Assyria,
and
from the fortified cities,
and
from the fortress
even to the river,
and from sea to sea,
and from mountain to mountain.
Notwithstanding
the land
shall be
desolate
because of them that
dwell therein,
for the fruit
of their doings.
Feed thy people
with thy rod,
the flock
of thine heritage,
which dwell solitarily
in the wood,
in the midst
of Carmel:
let them
feed
in Bashan
and Gilead,
as in the days of old.
According to the days
of thy
coming
out of the land
of Egypt
will
I shew
unto him marvellous things.
The nations
shall see
and be confounded
at all their might:
they shall lay their hand
upon their mouth,
their ears shall be deaf.
They shall lick
the dust like a serpent,
they
shall move
out of their holes like worms
of the earth:
they shall be afraid
of the LORD our God,
and shall fear
because of thee.
Who is a God like
unto thee,
that pardoneth iniquity,
and passeth
by the transgression
of the remnant
of his heritage?
he retaineth not his anger
for ever,
because
he delighteth in mercy.
He will turn again,
he will have compassion
upon us;
he will subdue
our iniquities;
and
thou wilt cast all
their sins
into the depths
of the sea.
Thou wilt perform
the truth
to Jacob,
and the mercy
to Abraham,
which thou
hast sworn
unto our fathers
from the days
of old.