¹ The word of Jehovah 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, ye peoples, all of you; hearken, O earth, and all that is therein: and let the Lord Jehovah be witness against you, the Lord from his holy temple!

³ For behold, Jehovah 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 melted under him, and the valleys shall be cleft, as wax before the fire, as waters poured down a steep place.

⁵ For the transgression of Jacob is all this, and for the sins of the house of Israel. Whence is the transgression of Jacob? is it not [from] Samaria? And whence are the high places of Judah? are they not [from] Jerusalem?

⁶ Therefore will I make Samaria as a heap of the field, as plantings of a vineyard; and I will pour down the stones thereof into the valley, and I will lay bare the foundations thereof.

⁷ And all her graven images shall be beaten to pieces, and all her harlot-gifts shall be burned with fire, and all her idols will I make a desolation; for of the hire of a harlot hath she gathered [them], and to a harlot's hire shall they return.

⁸ For this will I lament, and I will howl; I will go stripped and naked: I will make a wailing like the jackals, and mourning like the ostriches.

⁹ For her wounds are incurable; for it is come even unto Judah, it reacheth unto the gate of my people, even to Jerusalem.

¹⁰ Tell it not in Gath, weep not at all; at Beth-le-aphrah roll thyself in the dust.

¹¹ Pass away, inhabitress of Shaphir, in nakedness [and] shame. The inhabitress of Zaanan is not come forth for the lamentation of Beth-ezel: he will take from you its shelter.

¹² For the inhabitress of Maroth waited anxiously for good; but evil hath come down from Jehovah unto the gate of Jerusalem.

¹³ Bind the chariot to the swift steed, O inhabitress of Lachish: she was the beginning of sin to the daughter of Zion; for in thee were found the transgressions of Israel.

¹⁴ Therefore shalt thou give parting-gifts to Moresheth-Gath: the houses of Achzib shall be a lie to the kings of Israel.

¹⁵ I will yet bring unto thee an heir, O inhabitress of Mareshah; the glory of Israel shall come even unto Adullam.

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