Samaria and Israel to Be Punished
2 Listen, all you people!
Earth and everyone on it,[a] listen!
The Lord God will be a witness against you.
The Lord will come from his holy temple.
3 See, the Lord is leaving his place
to come down and walk on the high places[b] of the earth.
4 The mountains will melt under him
like wax in a fire.
The valleys will break apart
and slide like water rushing down a hill.
5 This will happen because of Jacob’s sin,
because of the sins of the nation[c] of Israel.
Samaria, the Cause of Sin
What caused Jacob to sin?
It was Samaria.
Where is the high place in Judah?
It is Jerusalem.
6 So I will change Samaria into a pile of rocks in the field,
a place ready for planting grapes.
I will push Samaria’s stones down into the valley,
leaving nothing but the foundations.
7 All her idols will be broken to pieces.
And the offerings to her idols will be burned.
I will destroy all her statues of false gods,
because she got them as pay for being a prostitute.
So those things will be taken away
to be used again for paying prostitutes.
Micah’s Great Sadness
8 I will be very sad about what will happen.
I will go without sandals and clothes.
I will cry like a dog.[d]
I will mourn like a bird.[e]
9 Samaria’s[f] wound cannot be healed.
Her disease has spread to Judah.
It has reached the city gate of my people;
it has spread all the way to Jerusalem.
10 Don’t tell it in Gath.[g]
Don’t cry in Acco.[h]
Roll yourself in the dust
at Beth Ophrah.[i]
11 You people living in Shaphir,[j]
pass on your way, naked and ashamed.
The people living in Zaanan[k]
will not come out.
The people in Beth Ezel[l] will cry
and take their support from you.
12 The people living in Maroth[m]
wait for something good to happen,
even though trouble has come down from the Lord
and has reached the city gate of Jerusalem.
13 You people living in Lachish,[n]
get the horses ready for your chariots.
You are guilty of the same sins Israel[o] committed,
and you brought those sins to Jerusalem.[p]
14 So you must give goodbye gifts
to Moresheth[q] in Gath.
The houses in Aczib[r] will trick
the kings of Israel.
15 You people who live in Mareshah,[s]
I will bring someone against you who will take the things you own.
The Glory of Israel
will come into Adullam.[t]
16 So cut off your hair, make yourself bald,[u]
because you will cry for the children you love.
Make yourself bald like an eagle[v] and show your sadness,
because your children will be taken away from you.
Footnotes
- Micah 1:2 everyone on it Literally, “its fullness.”
- Micah 1:3 high places Here, this might mean simply “hills,” or it might mean places of worship (see “high place” in the Word List).
- Micah 1:5 nation Literally, “house.” This might mean the royal family of that country.
- Micah 1:8 dog Literally, “jackal,” a kind of wild dog.
- Micah 1:8 bird Literally, “ostrich,” a large bird.
- Micah 1:9 Samaria The capital city of the northern kingdom of Israel.
- Micah 1:10 Gath This is a wordplay. This name means “tell.”
- Micah 1:10 Acco This name means “cry.”
- Micah 1:10 Beth Ophrah This name means “house of dust.”
- Micah 1:11 Shaphir This name means “beautiful.”
- Micah 1:11 Zaanan This name means “come out.”
- Micah 1:11 Beth Ezel This name means “house of support.”
- Micah 1:12 Maroth This name means “bitter,” “angry,” or “sad.”
- Micah 1:13 Lachish This name is like the Hebrew word meaning “horse.”
- Micah 1:13 Israel Here, probably the northern kingdom of Israel centered in Samaria.
- Micah 1:13 Jerusalem Literally, “Daughter Zion.” See “Zion” in the Word List.
- Micah 1:14 Moresheth Micah’s hometown.
- Micah 1:14 Aczib This name means “lie” or “trick.”
- Micah 1:15 Mareshah The name means “a person who takes things.”
- Micah 1:15 Adullam A cave that David hid in when he ran away from Saul. See 1 Sam. 22:1.
- Micah 1:16 cut … bald This showed that a person made a special agreement with God or that a person was very sad.
- Micah 1:16 eagle Or “vulture.” See “vulture” in the Word List.