Micah · Majority Standard Bible
Micah 1 Majority Standard Bible
Audio: World English Bible (WEB), read by Winfred W. Henson · About the recordings
1 This is the word of the LORD that came to Micah the Moreshite in the days of Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah—what he saw regarding Samaria and Jerusalem:
1 Yahweh’s word that came to Micah of Morasheth in the days of Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah, which he saw concerning Samaria and Jerusalem.
2 Hear, O peoples, all of you; listen, O earth, and everyone in it! May the Lord GOD bear witness against you, the Lord from His holy temple.
2 Hear, you peoples, all of you! Listen, O earth, and all that is therein. Let the Lord Yahweh be witness against you, the Lord from his holy temple.
3 For behold, the LORD comes forth from His dwelling place; He will come down and tread on the high places of the earth.
3 For behold, Yahweh comes out of his place, and will come down and tread on the high places of the earth.
4 The mountains will melt beneath Him, and the valleys will split apart, like wax before the fire, like water rushing down a slope.
4 The mountains melt under him, and the valleys split apart like wax before the fire, like waters that are poured down a steep place.
5 All this is for the transgression of Jacob and the sins of the house of Israel. What is the transgression of Jacob? Is it not Samaria? And what is the high place of Judah? Is it not Jerusalem?
5 “All this is for the disobedience of Jacob, and for the sins of the house of Israel. What is the disobedience of Jacob? Isn’t it Samaria? And what are the high places of Judah? Aren’t they Jerusalem?
6 Therefore I will make Samaria a heap of rubble in the open field, a planting area for a vineyard. I will pour her stones into the valley and expose her foundations.
6 Therefore I will make Samaria like a rubble heap of the field, like places for planting vineyards; and I will pour down its stones into the valley, and I will uncover its foundations.
7 All her carved images will be smashed to pieces; all her wages will be burned in the fire, and I will destroy all her idols. Since she collected the wages of a prostitute, they will be used again on a prostitute.
7 All her idols will be beaten to pieces, all her temple gifts will be burned with fire, and I will destroy all her images; for of the hire of a prostitute has she gathered them, and to the hire of a prostitute shall they return.”
8 Because of this I will lament and wail; I will walk barefoot and naked. I will howl like a jackal and mourn like an ostrich.
8 For this I will lament and wail. I will go stripped and naked. I will howl like the jackals and mourn like the ostriches.
9 For her wound is incurable; it has reached even Judah; it has approached the gate of my people, as far as Jerusalem itself.
9 For her wounds are incurable; for it has come even to Judah. It reaches to the gate of my people, even to Jerusalem.
10 Do not tell it in Gath; do not weep at all. Roll in the dust in Beth-leaphrah.
10 Don’t tell it in Gath. Don’t weep at all. At Beth Ophrah I have rolled myself in the dust.
11 Depart in shameful nakedness, O dwellers of Shaphir. The dwellers of Zaanan will not come out. Beth-ezel is in mourning; its support is taken from you.
11 Pass on, inhabitant of Shaphir, in nakedness and shame. The inhabitant of Zaanan won’t come out. The wailing of Beth Ezel will take from you his protection.
12 For the dwellers of Maroth pined for good, but calamity came down from the LORD, even to the gate of Jerusalem.
12 For the inhabitant of Maroth waits anxiously for good, because evil has come down from Yahweh to the gate of Jerusalem.
13 Harness your chariot horses, O dweller of Lachish. You were the beginning of sin to the Daughter of Zion, for the transgressions of Israel were found in you.
13 Harness the chariot to the swift steed, inhabitant of Lachish. She was the beginning of sin to the daughter of Zion; for the transgressions of Israel were found in you.
14 Therefore, send farewell gifts to Moresheth-gath; the houses of Achzib will prove deceptive to the kings of Israel.
14 Therefore you will give a parting gift to Moresheth Gath. The houses of Achzib will be a deceitful thing to the kings of Israel.
15 I will again bring a conqueror against you, O dweller of Mareshah. The glory of Israel will come to Adullam.
15 I will yet bring a conqueror to you, inhabitants of Mareshah. The glory of Israel will come to Adullam.
16 Shave yourselves bald and cut off your hair in mourning for your precious children; make yourselves as bald as an eagle, for they will go from you into exile.
16 Shave your heads, and cut off your hair for the children of your delight. Enlarge your baldness like the vulture, for they have gone into captivity from you!
People & places in this chapter
From this site's family tree and Bible maps, only where those guides cite this chapter.
People
Micah
The prophet from Moresheth to whom the word of the LORD came in the days of Jotham, Ahaz and Hezekiah concerning Samaria and Jerusalem.
Cited in the guide: Jeremiah 26:18; Micah 1:1
Cross references (16)
Related passages for each verse, from the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge as collected and ranked by readers at OpenBible.info.
- 1 Jeremiah 26:18; Isaiah 1:1; Hosea 1:1; Amos 1:1; 2 Chronicles 27:1–9
- 2 Psalm 11:4; Isaiah 1:2; Psalm 49:1–2; Malachi 3:5; Revelation 3:22
- 3 Amos 4:13; Isaiah 26:21; Deuteronomy 32:13; Psalm 115:3; Habakkuk 3:19
- 4 Nahum 1:5; Psalm 97:5; Habakkuk 3:6; Judges 5:4; Habakkuk 3:10
- 5 Amos 8:14; Jeremiah 2:19; 1 Thessalonians 2:15–16; Jeremiah 6:19; Lamentations 5:16
- 6 Ezekiel 13:14; Micah 3:12; 2 Kings 19:25; Lamentations 4:1; Isaiah 25:12
- 7 Deuteronomy 23:18; Hosea 2:12; Hosea 8:6; Hosea 10:5–6; Revelation 18:3
- 8 Isaiah 20:2–4; Isaiah 22:4; Isaiah 21:3; Jeremiah 9:10; Jeremiah 9:1
- 9 Jeremiah 30:11–15; Isaiah 8:7–8; Micah 1:12; 2 Chronicles 32:1–23; Jeremiah 15:18
- 10 2 Samuel 1:20; Jeremiah 6:26; Amos 6:10; Amos 5:13; Job 2:8
- 11 Isaiah 20:4; Jeremiah 13:22; Nahum 3:5; Jeremiah 48:6; Micah 1:8
- 12 Jeremiah 14:19; Micah 1:9; Amos 3:6; Job 30:26; Isaiah 45:7
- 13 2 Kings 18:17; Joshua 10:3; 2 Chronicles 32:9; 2 Kings 8:18; 1 Kings 13:33–34
- 14 Joshua 15:44; 2 Kings 16:8; Psalm 118:8–9; 2 Chronicles 16:1–3; Psalm 146:3–4
- 15 Joshua 15:44; 1 Samuel 22:1; Joshua 15:35; Joshua 12:15; Isaiah 7:17–25
- 16 Isaiah 22:12; Job 1:20; Jeremiah 7:29; Amos 8:10; Jeremiah 16:6
Cross references: OpenBible.info (CC BY), drawn mainly from the public-domain Treasury of Scripture Knowledge. · Sources & licences
What the Fathers said
Passages from the Church Fathers that expound or quote this chapter, verbatim from the public-domain Schaff edition (19th-century English translations).
How these were chosen
“Commentary” is the opening of a homily or exposition on this chapter (John Chrysostom’s homilies, Augustine’s tractates, sermons and expositions of the Psalms). “Quotes” are sentences where the edition’s own footnotes identify a quotation of a verse here, kept only when the wording matches the verse. Only works whose authorship is not in doubt are used. Psalms follow the Hebrew/English numbering (Augustine numbers them as the Septuagint does: his Psalm 50 is Psalm 51 here).
Micah also names the same times as those of his prophecy, after the days of Uzziah; for he names the same three kings as Hosea named,--Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah.
Read in context · Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, series 1, vol. 2 (1887)
… in the future tense: for instance, He shall come openly, and this from Zechariah, Behold, thy King cometh unto thee, and this from Micah, Behold, the Lord cometh out of His place and will come down and tread upon the high places of the earth.
Read in context · Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, series 2, vol. 9 (1899)