1 The word of the Lord that came to (2 Pet. 1:21); Jer. 26:18Micah of Moresheth in the days of 2 Kin. 15:5, 7, 32–38; 2 Chr. 27:1–9; Is. 1:1; Hos. 1:1Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah, which he saw concerning Samaria and Jerusalem.
The Coming Judgment on Israel
2 Hear, all you peoples!
Listen, O earth, and all that is in it!
Let the Lord God be a witness against you,
The Lord from (Ps. 11:4)His holy temple.
3 For behold, the Lord is coming out of His place;
He will come down
And tread on the high places of the earth.
4 Amos 9:5The mountains will melt under Him,
And the valleys will split
Like wax before the fire,
Like waters poured down a steep place.
5 All this is for the transgression of Jacob
And for the sins of the house of Israel.
What is the transgression of Jacob?
Isit not Samaria?
And what are the Deut. 32:13; 33:29; Amos 4:13high places of Judah?
Arethey not Jerusalem?
6 "Therefore I will make Samaria 2 Kin. 19:25; Mic. 3:12a heap of ruins in the field,
Places for planting a vineyard;
I will pour down her stones into the valley,
And I will Ezek. 13:14uncover her foundations.
7 All her carved images shall be beaten to pieces,
And all her Hos. 2:5pay as a harlot shall be burned with the fire;
All her idols I will lay desolate,
For she gathered it from the pay of a harlot,
And they shall return to the Deut. 23:18; Is. 23:17pay of a harlot."
Mourning for Israel and Judah
8 Therefore I will wail and howl,
I will go stripped and naked;
Ps. 102:6I will make a wailing like the jackals
And a mourning like the ostriches,
9 For her wounds are incurable.
For 2 Kin. 18:13; Is. 8:7, 8it has come to Judah;
It has come to the gate of My people—
To Jerusalem.
10 2 Sam. 1:20Tell it not in Gath,
Weep not at all;
In Beth Aphrah
Roll yourself in the dust.
11 Pass by in naked shame, you inhabitant of Shaphir;
The inhabitant of Zaanan does not go out.
Beth Ezel mourns;
Its place to stand is taken away from you.
12 For the inhabitant of Maroth pined for good,
But Is. 59:9–11; Jer. 14:19; Amos 3:6disaster came down from the Lord
To the gate of Jerusalem.
13 O inhabitant of Josh. 10:3; 2 Kin. 14:19; 18:14; Is. 36:2Lachish,
Harness the chariot to the swift steeds
(She was the beginning of sin to the daughter of Zion),
For the transgressions of Israel were Ezek. 23:11found in you.
14 Therefore you shall 2 Sam. 8:2give presents to Moresheth Gath;
The houses of Josh. 15:44Achzib shallbe a lie to the kings of Israel.
15 I will yet bring an heir to you, O inhabitant of Josh. 15:44Mareshah;
The glory of Israel shall come to 2 Chr. 11:7Adullam.
16 Make yourself Job 1:20bald and cut off your hair,
Because of your Lam. 4:5precious children;
Enlarge your baldness like an eagle,
For they shall go from you into 2 Kin. 17:6; Amos 7:11, 17; (Mic. 4:10)captivity.