The word of the LORD that came to Micah of Moresheth in the days of Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah, which he saw concerning Samaria and Jerusalem.

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 His holy temple.

For behold, the LORD is coming out of His place; He will come down And tread on the high places of the earth.

The mountains will melt under Him, And the valleys will split Like wax before the fire, Like waters poured down a steep place.

All this is for the transgression of Jacob And for the sins of the house of Israel. What is the transgression of Jacob? Is it not Samaria? And what are the high places of Judah? Are they not Jerusalem?

«Therefore I will make Samaria a heap of ruins in the field, Places for planting a vineyard; I will pour down her stones into the valley, And I will uncover her foundations.

All her carved images shall be beaten to pieces, And all her pay 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 pay of a harlot.»

Therefore I will wail and howl, I will go stripped and naked; I will make a wailing like the jackals And a mourning like the ostriches,

For her wounds are incurable. For it has come to Judah; It has come to the gate of My people-- To Jerusalem.

Tell it not in Gath, Weep not at all; In Beth Aphrah Roll yourself in the dust.

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.

For the inhabitant of Maroth pined for good, But disaster came down from the LORD To the gate of Jerusalem.

O inhabitant of Lachish, Harness the chariot to the swift steeds (She was the beginning of sin to the daughter of Zion), For the transgressions of Israel were found in you.

Therefore you shall give presents to Moresheth Gath; The houses of Achzib shall be a lie to the kings of Israel.

I will yet bring an heir to you, O inhabitant of Mareshah; The glory of Israel shall come to Adullam.

Make yourself bald and cut off your hair, Because of your precious children; Enlarge your baldness like an eagle, For they shall go from you into captivity.

Now gather yourself in troops, O daughter of troops; He has laid siege against us; They will strike the judge of Israel with a rod on the cheek.

«But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, Though you are little among the thousands of Judah, Yet out of you shall come forth to Me The One to be Ruler in Israel, Whose goings forth are from of old, From everlasting.»

Therefore He shall give them up, Until the time that she who is in labor has given birth; Then the remnant of His brethren Shall return to the children of Israel.

And He shall stand and feed His flock In the strength of the LORD, In the majesty of the name of the LORD His God; And they shall abide, For now He shall be great To the ends of the earth;

And this One shall be peace. When the Assyrian comes into our land, And when he treads in our palaces, Then we will raise against him Seven shepherds and eight princely men.

They shall waste with the sword the land of Assyria, And the land of Nimrod at its entrances; Thus He shall deliver us from the Assyrian, When he comes into our land And when he treads within our borders.

Then the remnant of Jacob Shall be in the midst of many peoples, Like dew from the LORD, Like showers on the grass, That tarry for no man Nor wait for the sons of men.

And the remnant of Jacob Shall be among the Gentiles, In the midst of many peoples, Like a lion among the beasts of the forest, Like a young lion among flocks of sheep, Who, if he passes through, Both treads down and tears in pieces, And none can deliver.

Your hand shall be lifted against your adversaries, And all your enemies shall be cut off.

«And it shall be in that day,» says the LORD, «That I will cut off your horses from your midst And destroy your chariots.

I will cut off the cities of your land And throw down all your strongholds.

I will cut off sorceries from your hand, And you shall have no soothsayers.

Your carved images I will also cut off, And your sacred pillars from your midst; You shall no more worship the work of your hands;

I will pluck your wooden images from your midst; Thus I will destroy your cities.

And I will execute vengeance in anger and fury On the nations that have not heard.»

Hear now what the LORD says: «Arise, plead your case before the mountains, And let the hills hear your voice.

Hear, O you mountains, the LORD́s complaint, And you strong foundations of the earth; For the LORD has a complaint against His people, And He will contend with Israel.

«O My people, what have I done to you? And how have I wearied you? Testify against Me.

For I brought you up from the land of Egypt, I redeemed you from the house of bondage; And I sent before you Moses, Aaron, and Miriam.

O My people, remember now What Balak king of Moab counseled, And what Balaam the son of Beor answered him, From Acacia Grove to Gilgal, That you may know the righteousness of the LORD.»

With what shall I come before the LORD, And bow myself before the High God? Shall I come before Him with burnt offerings, With calves a year old?

Will the LORD be pleased with thousands of rams, Ten thousand rivers of oil? Shall I give my firstborn for my transgression, The fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?

He has shown you, O man, what is good; And what does the LORD require of you But to do justly, To love mercy, And to walk humbly with your God?

The LORD́s voice cries to the city-- Wisdom shall see Your name: «Hear the rod! Who has appointed it?

Are there yet the treasures of wickedness In the house of the wicked, And the short measure that is an abomination?

Shall I count pure those with the wicked scales, And with the bag of deceitful weights?

For her rich men are full of violence, Her inhabitants have spoken lies, And their tongue is deceitful in their mouth.

«Therefore I will also make you sick by striking you, By making you desolate because of your sins.

You shall eat, but not be satisfied; Hunger shall be in your midst. You may carry some away, but shall not save them; And what you do rescue I will give over to the sword.

«You shall sow, but not reap; You shall tread the olives, but not anoint yourselves with oil; And make sweet wine, but not drink wine.

For the statutes of Omri are kept; All the works of Ahab́s house are done; And you walk in their counsels, That I may make you a desolation, And your inhabitants a hissing. Therefore you shall bear the reproach of My people.»