\v 1 This is the word of Yahweh that came to Micah the Morashtite in the days of Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah, which he saw concerning Samaria and Jerusalem.
\s5
\q
\v 2 Listen, all you peoples.
\q Listen, earth, and all that is in you.
\q Let the Lord Yahweh be a witness against you,
\q the Lord from his holy temple.
\q
\v 3 Look, Yahweh comes out of his place;
\q he will come down and tread
\q on the high places of the earth.
\q
\v 4 The mountains will melt under him;
\q the valleys will break apart,
\q like wax before fire,
\q like waters that are poured down a steep place.
\s5
\q
\v 5 All this is because of the Jacob's transgression,
\q and because of the sins of the house of Israel.
\q What is Jacob's transgression?
\q Is it not Samaria?
\q What is Judah's high place?
\q Is it not Jerusalem?
\s5
\q
\v 6 "I will make Samaria a heap of ruins in the field,
\q a place for planting vineyards,
\q and I will pour her stones down into the valley
\q and I will uncover her foundations.
\q
\v 7 All her carved figures will be broken to pieces,
\q and all her gifts that she received will be burned with fire,
\q and I will destroy all her idols.
\q Since she gathered her gifts from the wages of prostitutes,
\q they will become the wages of prostitutes again."
\s5
\q
\v 8 For this reason I will lament and wail;
\q I will go barefoot and naked;
\q I will wail like the jackals
\q and mourn like owls.
\q
\v 9 For her wound is incurable,
\q for it has come to Judah.
\q It has reached the gate of my people,
\q to Jerusalem.
\q
\v 10 Do not tell about it in Gath;
\q do not weep at all.
\q At Beth Leaphrah I roll myself in the dust.
\s5
\q
\v 11 Pass by, inhabitants of Shaphir,
\q in nakedness and shame.
\q The inhabitants of Zaanan do not come out.
\q Beth Ezel mourns,
\q for their protection is taken away.
\q
\v 12 For the inhabitants of Maroth wait anxiously for good news,
\q because disaster has come down from Yahweh
\q to the gates of Jerusalem.
\s5
\q
\v 13 Harness the chariot to the team of horses, inhabitants of Lachish.
\q You, Lachish, were the beginning of sin for the daughter of Zion,
\q for the transgressions of Israel were found in you.
\q
\v 14 So you will give a parting gift to Moresheth Gath;
\q the town of Akzib will disappoint the kings of Israel.
\s5
\q
\v 15 I will again bring a conqueror to you,
\q inhabitants of Mareshah;
\q the splendor of Israel will come to Adullam.
\q
\v 16 Shave your head
\q and cut off your hair
\q for the children in whom you delight.
\q Make yourself as bald as eagles,
\q for your children will go into exile from you.
\s5
\c 2
\m
\q
\v 1 Woe to those who plan iniquity,
\q to those who plan on their beds to do evil.
\q In the morning light they do it
\q because they have power.
\q
\v 2 They desire fields and seize them;
\q they desire houses and take them.
\q They oppress a man and his house,
\q a man and his inheritance.
\s5
\q
\v 3 Therefore Yahweh says this,
\q "Look, I am about to bring disaster against this clan,
\q from which you will not remove your necks.
\q You will not walk arrogantly,
\q for it will be an evil time.
\q
\v 4 In that day men will sing a song about you,
\q and lament with a wailing lamentation.
\q They will sing, 'We Israelites are completely ruined;
\q Yahweh changes the territory of my people.
\q How can he remove it from me?
\q He portions out our fields to traitors!'"
\q
\v 5 Therefore, you rich people will have no descendants to divide up the territory by lot
\q in the assembly of Yahweh.
\s5
\q
\v 6 "Do not prophesy,"
\q they say.
\q "They must not prophesy these things;
\q reproaches must not come."
\q
\v 7 Should it really be said, house of Jacob,
\q "Is the Spirit of Yahweh angry?
\q Are these really his deeds?"
\q Do not my words do good
\q to anyone who walks uprightly?
\q
\v 8 Lately my people have risen up like an enemy.
\q You strip the robe, the garment, from those who pass by unsuspectingly,
\q as soldiers return from war to what they think is safety.
\s5
\q
\v 9 You drive the women belonging to my people from their pleasant houses;
\q you take my blessing from their young children forever.
\q
\v 10 Get up and leave,
\q for this is not a place where you can stay,
\q because of its uncleanness;
\q it is destroyed with complete destruction.
\q
\v 11 If someone comes to you in a spirit of falsehood and lies and says,
\q "I will prophesy to you about wine and strong drink,"
\q he would be considered to be a prophet for this people.
\s5
\p
\v 12 I will surely assemble all of you, Jacob.
\q I will surely gather the remnant of Israel.
\q I will bring them together like sheep in a fold,
\q like a flock in the midst of their pasture.
\q There will be a loud noise because of the multitude of people.
\q
\v 13 Someone who breaks open their way for them will go ahead of them.
\q They break through the gate and go out;
\q their king will pass on before them.
\q Yahweh will be at their head.
\s5
\c 3
\m
\q
\v 1 I said, "Now listen,
\q you leaders of Jacob
\q and rulers of the house of Israel:
\q Is it not right for you to understand justice?
\q
\v 2 You who hate good
\q and love evil,
\q you who tear off their skin,
\q their flesh from their bones—
\q
\v 3 you who also eat the flesh of my people,
\q and tear their skin off,
\q break their bones,
\q and chop them in pieces,
\q just like meat for a pot,
\q just like meat in a cauldron.
\s5
\q
\v 4 Then you rulers will cry out to Yahweh,
\q but he will not answer you.
\q He will hide his face from you at that time,
\q because you have done evil deeds."
\s5
\q
\v 5 Yahweh says this,
\q "As for the prophets who lead my people astray,
\q if one gives them something to eat,
\q they proclaim, 'Peace.'
\q But if he puts nothing in their mouths,
\q they dedicate themselves to wage war on him.
\q
\v 6 Therefore, it will be night for you with no vision for you;
\q it will be dark so that you will do no divination.
\q The sun will go down on the prophets,
\q and the day will be dark on them.
\q
\v 7 The seers will be put to shame,
\q and the diviners will be confused.
\q All of them will cover their lips,
\q for there is no answer from me."
\s5
\q
\v 8 But as for me, I am full of power by the Spirit of Yahweh,
\q and am full of justice and might,
\q to declare to Jacob his transgression,
\q and to Israel his sin.
\s5
\q
\v 9 Now listen to this,
\q you leaders of the house of Jacob,
\q and rulers of the house of Israel,
\q you who detest justice,
\q and pervert everything right.
\q
\v 10 You build Zion with blood
\q and Jerusalem with iniquity.
\q
\v 11 Your leaders judge for a bribe,
\q your priests teach for a price,
\q and your prophets do divination for money.
\q Yet you rely on Yahweh and say,
\q "Is not Yahweh with us?
\q No evil will come on us."
\s5
\q
\v 12 Therefore, because of you,
\q Zion will become a plowed field,
\q Jerusalem will become a heap of rubble,
\q and the hill of the temple will become a thicket.
\f + \ft Instead of \fqa come together in battle ranks \fqa* , some modern translations read: \fqa cut yourselves \fqa* , referring to the pagan practice of cutting oneself while praying to idols. There are some modern translations that follow an ancient translation of the Hebrew text that reads \fqa build up your fortifications \fqa* . \f*
\f + \ft The copies of the ancient Hebrew text has the phrase: \fqa in its entrances \fqa* , that is, in their gates. However, some modern translations suppose that a different Hebrew word was intended: \fqa with a drawn sword \fqa* . \f*
\f + \ft Instead of the reading in the ancient copies of the Hebrew text: \fqa Pay attention to the rod and to the one who has put it into place \fqa* , some modern translations have \fqa Listen, tribe, and those assembled together in the city \fqa* . \f*
\f + \ft Parts of this verse are difficult to understand, because in the copies of the ancient Hebrew text there are two Hebrew words in it whose meanings are not known. As a result, various other readings have been proposed by scholars and some modern translations follow those suggestions. \f*
\f + \ft The copies of the ancient Hebrew text have \fqa you will bear the reproach of my people \fqa* , but an ancient translation (the LXX) of the Hebrew copies read: \fqa you will bear the scorn of the nations \fqa* . And some modern translations are following that reading. \f*
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