MICAH 1 [†]The word of the LORD that came to Micah  a of Moresheth  b in the days of Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah, which he saw  c concerning  d Samaria and Jerusalem.

2[†]  e Hear, you peoples, all of you; [1]

 f pay attention, O earth, and all that is in it,

and  g let the Lord GOD be a witness against you,

 h the Lord from his holy temple.

3[†] For behold,  i the LORD is coming out of  j his place,

and will come down and  k tread upon the high places of the earth.

4[†] And  l the mountains will melt under him,

and the valleys will split open,

like wax before the fire,

like waters poured down a steep place.

5[^][†] All this is for  m the transgression of Jacob

and for the sins of the house of Israel.

 n What is the transgression of Jacob?

Is it not  d Samaria?

And what is  o the high place of Judah?

Is it not Jerusalem?

6[†] Therefore I will make  d Samaria  p a heap in the open country,

a place for planting vineyards,

and I will pour down her stones  q into the valley

and  r uncover her foundations.

7[†] All  s her carved images shall be beaten to pieces,

 t all her wages shall be burned with fire,

and all her idols I will lay waste,

for from  t the fee of a prostitute she gathered them,

and to the fee of a prostitute they shall return.

8[†]  u For this I will lament and wail;

I will go  v stripped and naked;

I will make lamentation  w like the jackals,

and mourning  x like the ostriches.

9[†]  y For her wound is incurable,

and it has come to Judah;

it has reached to the gate of my people,

to Jerusalem.

10[†]  z Tell it not in  a Gath;

weep not at all;

in Beth-le-aphrah

 b roll yourselves in the dust.

11[†] Pass on your way,

inhabitants of Shaphir,

 c in nakedness and shame;

the inhabitants of Zaanan

do not come out;

the lamentation of Beth-ezel

shall take away from you its standing place.

12[†] For the inhabitants of Maroth

wait anxiously for good,

because disaster has come down  d from the LORD

to the gate of Jerusalem.

13[†] Harness the steeds to the chariots,

inhabitants of  e Lachish;

it was the beginning of sin

to the daughter of Zion,

for in you were found

 f the transgressions of Israel.

14[†] Therefore you shall give parting gifts [2]

to  g Moresheth-gath;

the houses of  h Achzib shall be a deceitful thing

to the kings of Israel.

15[†] I will again bring  i a conqueror to you,

inhabitants of  h Mareshah;

the glory of Israel

shall come to  j Adullam.

16  k Make yourselves bald and cut off your hair,

for the children of your delight;

 k make yourselves as bald as the eagle,

for they shall go from you into exile.