The Lord will come to judge the people of Israel
1The Lord talked to Micah. He was from the town of Moresheth. This happened when Jotham was king_of_Judah. After Jotham died, Ahaz became king and after Ahaz, Hezekiah became king. The Lord talked to Micah and showed him what would happen to the cities of Samaria and Jerusalem.
The Lord will come because the Israelites have sinned
2‘All the people must listen.
All who live on earth must listen.
The Lord will tell you
what you did wrong.
He comes out of his holy temple.
3He comes from the place where He lives.
He comes down from heaven
and He tramples and destroys
the places_of_sacrifice in the land.
4When He comes,
the mountains and the valleys melt under Him.
They disappear like something melting in a fire,
like water that flows down a hill.
5The Lord comes
because the Israelites have sinned.
The descendants of Jacob have done wrong.
Samaria is the place
where the Israelites have sinned.
Jerusalem is the place of offering
where the people of Judah sacrifice.’
I will destroy Samaria completely
6The Lord says:
‘I will destroy Samaria completely.
People will plant vineyards where the town was before.
I will destroy the buildings of Samaria,
and there will be only a few stones left over.
7The enemies will break the idols
of Samaria into pieces
and they will burn the gifts
that the people brought to the temple.
These were gifts that came from temple-prostitutes,
and the enemies will use them
to pay other temple-prostitutes.’
Micah will be sad
8I, Micah, will be sad, and I will mourn
when the enemies destroy Samaria.
I will take off my shoes and my clothes.
I will howl like a fox.
I will moan like an ostrich.
9Samaria will suffer.
She is wounded and she will never be healed.
The same has happened to the people of Judah,
and to Jerusalem where my people live.
The enemies will catch the people of Judah
10Don't tell the people of the town of Gath,
and don't cry for it.
Go and lie down in the dust
in the town of Beth-Ophrah.
11Come out of your town, people of Shaphir.
You will be naked and ashamed.
People of the town of Zaanan
will not come out naked.
The people of Beth-Ezel
mourn for their people who are killed.
They no longer protect you.
12The people of the town of Maroth
thought someone would help them,
because the Lord punished the city of Jerusalem.
13People of the town of Lachish,
you must tie your horses
in front of your war-chariots
and get them ready to go.
It is you who made the people
of Jerusalem and Israel sin.
14You must say goodbye to the people
of the town of Moresheth-Gath.
The people who live in Akzib
will not be able to help the kings_of_Israel.
15People of the town of Mareshah,
the enemies will also come to you.
They will come as far as the town of Adullam
and no one will respect the Israelites.
The leaders_of_Israel will flee to Adullam.
16Shave your heads,
because you mourn for the children
that you love, shave your foreheads
as bald as a vulture,
because your children are taken away
from you to be prisoners
in a far away land.
