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 from his place , and will come down , and tread upon the high places of the earth .
4
And the mountains shall be melted 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 a heap of the field , and as plantings of a vineyard : and I will pour down her stones into the valley, and I will lay bare her foundations .
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And all her graven images shall be beaten to pieces, and all her hires shall be burned with the fire , and all her idols will I lay desolate: for she gathered it from the hire of a harlot , and they shall return to the hire of a 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 to Judah ; he is come to 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 exposed: the inhabitant of Zaanan came not forth in the mourning of Beth-ezel; he shall receive from you his standing.
12
For the inhabitant of Maroth waited anxiously for good : but evil came down from the LORD to 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 Moresheth-gath: the houses of Achzib shall be a lie to the kings of Israel .
15
Yet will I bring an heir to thee, O inhabitant of Mareshah: he shall come to 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.