AFV2020 - Micah

Chapter 1

1:1  The Word of the LORD that came to Micah the Morasthite in the days of Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah, which he saw concerning Samaria and Jerusalem.

1:2  Hear, all you people! Hearken, O earth, and all its fullness. And let the Lord GOD be witness against you, even the LORD from His holy temple,

1:3  For behold, the LORD is coming out of His place, and will come down and tread on the high places of the earth.

1:4  And the mountains shall melt under Him, and the valleys shall split open, as wax before the fire, and as waters that are poured down a steep place.

1:5  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?

1:6  "And I will make Samaria as a heap of ruins in the field, and as planting places for a vineyard; and I will hurl down her stones into the valley, and I will uncover her foundations.

1:7  And all her graven images shall be smashed to pieces, and all her gifts shall be burned with the fire, and I will destroy all her idols, for she gathered them as the hire of a harlot, and they shall return as the hire of a harlot."

1:8  Therefore I will wail and howl; I will go stripped and naked; I will make a wailing like jackals, and mourn like the ostrich,

1:9  For her wounds are not curable; for it has come to Judah; it has reached to the gate of My people, even to Jerusalem.

1:10  Do not declare it in Gath; weep not at all; in the house of Leaphrah roll yourself in the dust.

1:11  Pass over to them, O inhabitant of Shaphir, in the nakedness of your shame. The inhabitant of Zaanan has not gone out; the mourning of Beth Ezel shall take from you its protection,

1:12  For the inhabitant of Maroth waited carefully for good, but instead evil came down from the LORD to the gate of Jerusalem.

1:13  O inhabitant of Lachish, bind the chariot to the stallion—she was the beginning of sin to the daughter of Zion— for the transgressions of Israel were found in you.

1:14  Therefore you shall give parting gifts to Moresheth Gath; the houses of Achzib are for a lying thing to the kings of Israel.

1:15  Yet I will bring an heir to you, O inhabitant of Mareshah. The glory of Israel shall come to Adullam.

1:16  Make yourself bald, and cut off your hair for the children of your delight; make your baldness large like the eagle; for they go into exile from you.

Chapter 2

2:1  Woe to those who plot wickedness and prepare evil on their beds! When the morning is light they practice it because it is in the power of their hand.

2:2  And they covet and seize fields, and houses, and take them away. And they oppress a man and his household, even a man and his inheritance.

2:3  Therefore thus says the LORD, "Behold, against this family I am plotting an evil from which you shall not remove your necks; nor shall you go proudly, for it is an evil time.

2:4  In that day one shall take up a parable against you and mourn a bitter lamentation, saying, 'We shall be completely laid waste. He has exchanged the portion of my people. How He has removed it from me! To the apostate He has divided our fields.' ”

2:5  Therefore there shall not be for you anyone casting a line by lot in the congregation of the LORD.

2:6  "Do not prophesy," they say to those who prophesy. They say, "Do not prophesy about these things, for we shall not be made ashamed."

2:7  O you that are named the house of Jacob, "Is the Spirit of the LORD limited, are these His doings? Do not My words do good to him who walks uprightly?

2:8  Even recently, My people have risen up like an enemy; you strip off a cloak along with an outer robe from those who trustingly pass by you, as those returning from war.

2:9  You have thrown the women of My people out from their pleasant houses; from their young children you have taken away My majesty forever.

2:10  Arise and depart! For this is not your rest because it is polluted, it shall destroy you, even with a grievous destruction.

2:11  If a man, walking in lying spirit and deceit, says, 'I will prophesy unto you of wine and of strong drink,' he shall even be the prophet for this people.

2:12  I will surely gather all of you, O Jacob; I will surely gather the remnant of Israel. I will put them together like the sheep of Bozrah, like the flock in the midst of their fold. They shall make great noise by reason of the multitude of men.

2:13  The one breaking through has come up before them; they have broken up, and have passed through the gate, and have gone out of it. And their king shall pass before them, and the LORD at the head of them."

Chapter 3

3:1  And I said, "Hear, I pray you, O heads of Jacob and magistrates of the house of Israel. Is it not for you to know justice?

3:2  You who hate the good and love the evil; who tear the skin off My people and strip the flesh from their bones;

3:3  Who also eat the flesh of My people, and tear their skin off them—and break their bones and chop them into pieces, like meat for the pot, and like flesh for the caldron."

3:4  Then they shall cry to the LORD, but He will not answer them. He will even hide His face from them at that time, as they have done evil in their doings.

3:5  Thus says the LORD concerning the prophets who mislead the people, who bite with their teeth and cry, "Peace!"— and even prepare war against those who do not put something in their mouths:

3:6  "Therefore night shall be to you without a vision; and darkness and not divination. And the sun shall go down over the prophets, and the day shall be darkness over them.

3:7  And the seers shall be ashamed, and the diviners confounded; yea, they shall all cover their mouths, for there is no answer from God."

3:8  But truly I am full of power by the Spirit of the LORD, and of judgment, and of might, to declare to Jacob his transgression, and to Israel his sin.

3:9  Hear this, I pray you, you heads of the house of Jacob, and magistrates of the house of Israel, who hate judgment and pervert all equity.

3:10  They build up Zion with blood, and Jerusalem with iniquity.

3:11  Her heads judge for a bribe, and her priests teach for pay, and her prophets divine for silver, yet they will lean on the LORD and say, "Is not the LORD among us? No evil can come on us!"

3:12  Therefore, on account of you, Zion shall be plowed as a field, and Jerusalem shall become heaps, and the mountain of the temple as high places of the forest.

Chapter 4

4:1  But it shall be in the last days that the mountain of the house of the LORD shall be established in the top of the mountains, and it shall be exalted above the hills; and people shall flow unto it.

4:2  And many nations shall come and say, "Come and let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, and to the house of the God of Jacob. And He will teach us of His ways, and we will walk in His paths"— for the law shall go forth out of Zion, and the Word of the LORD from Jerusalem.

4:3  And He shall judge among many people, and will rebuke strong nations afar off; and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks. Nation shall not lift up a sword against nation, neither shall they learn war anymore.

4:4  But they shall sit each one under his own vine and under his own fig tree; and no one shall make them afraid; for the mouth of the LORD of hosts has spoken,

4:5  For all people will walk, each one in the name of his god; and we will walk in the name of the LORD our God forever and ever.

4:6  "In that day," says the LORD, "I will gather the lame, and I will gather the exiled ones, and those that I have afflicted.

4:7  And I will make the lame into a remnant, and she who was cast off into a mighty nation; and the LORD shall reign over them in Mount Zion from henceforth, even forever.

4:8  And you, O tower of the flock, the stronghold of the daughter of Zion, unto you it shall come, even the dominion of your former kingdom shall return to the daughter of Jerusalem."

4:9  Now why do you cry aloud? Is there no king among you? Has your counselor perished? For pangs have taken you like a woman giving birth.

4:10  Be in pain and deliver, daughter of Zion, like a woman giving birth, for now you shall go out from the city, and you shall dwell in the field; and you shall go to Babylon. There you shall be delivered; there the LORD shall redeem you from the hand of your enemies.

4:11  Now also many nations are gathered against you, who say, "Let her be defiled, and let our eyes look upon Zion."

4:12  But they do not know the thoughts of the LORD, nor do they understand His counsel, for He has gathered them like the sheaves to the threshing floor.

4:13  "Arise and thresh, O daughter of Zion; for I will make your horn iron, and I will make your hoofs bronze; and you shall crush in pieces many people. And I will consecrate their gain to the LORD, and their wealth to the Lord of the whole earth."

Chapter 5

5:1  Now gather yourself in troops, daughter of troops; one has laid a siege against us; they shall strike the judge of Israel with a rod on the cheek.

5:2  "And you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, you being least among the thousands of Judah, out of you He shall come forth to Me, that is to become Ruler in Israel. He Whose goings forth have been from of old, from the days of eternity."

5:3  Therefore He will give them over until the time that she who is in travail has given birth; then the rest of His brethren shall return to the children of Israel.

5:4  And He shall stand and feed in the strength of the LORD, in the majesty of the name of the LORD His God. And they shall live, for now He shall be great to the ends of the earth.

5:5  And this One shall be our peace. When the Assyrian shall come into our land, and when he shall walk in our palaces, then we shall raise against him seven shepherds and eight anointed ones from among men.

5:6  And they shall waste the land of Assyria with the sword, and the land of Nimrod at her own entrances. And thus He shall deliver us from Assyria when he comes into our land, and when he treads within our border.

5:7  And the remnant of Jacob shall be in the midst of many people, as dew from the LORD, as showers on grass, which does not wait for man, nor wait for the sons of men.

5:8  And the remnant of Jacob shall be among the Gentiles, in the midst of many people, like a lion among the beasts of the forest, like a young lion among the flocks of sheep, who, if he goes through, both tramples and tears in pieces, and none can deliver.

5:9  Your hand shall be high above your adversaries, and all your enemies shall be cut off.

5:10  "And it shall be in that day," says the LORD, "I will cut off your horses out of your midst, and I will destroy your chariots.

5:11  And I will cut off the cities of your land, and throw down all your strongholds.

5:12  And I will cut off witchcrafts out of your hand, and there shall not be fortunetellers among you.

5:13  I will also cut off your graven images, and your sacred pillars out of the midst of you; and you shall never again worship the work of your hands.

5:14  And I will pluck your groves out of the midst of you; thus I will destroy your cities.

5:15  And I will execute vengeance in anger and fury upon the heathen, such as they have never heard."

Chapter 6

6:1  Hear now what the LORD says, "Arise, contend with the mountains and let the hills hear your voice.

6:2  O mountains, hear the LORD'S controversy; and you, strong foundations of the earth, for the LORD has a controversy with His people, and He will plead His case with Israel.

6:3  O My people, what have I done to you? And in what way have I made you weary? Testify against Me!

6:4  For I brought you up out of the land of Egypt, and redeemed you out of the house of slaves; and I sent Moses, Aaron, and Miriam before you.

6:5  O My people, remember now what Balak king of Moab planned, and what Balaam the son of Beor answered him from Shittim to Gilgal, so that you may know the righteousness of the LORD."

6:6  With what shall I come before the LORD, to bow myself before God the Most High? Shall I come before Him with burnt offerings, with calves of a year old?

6:7  Will the LORD be pleased with thousands of rams, with ten thousands of rivers of oil? Shall I give my firstborn for my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my life?

6:8  He has shown you, O man, what is good. And what does the LORD require of you but to do justice and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God?

6:9  Hearken! The LORD cries unto the city, and it is wisdom to have regard for Your name. "Hear the rod and Him who has appointed it.

6:10  Are there yet treasures of wickedness in the house of the wicked, and the scant measure that is abominable?

6:11  Shall I count pure those with wicked balances, and those with a bag of deceitful weights?

6:12  For her rich men are full of violence, and her inhabitants have spoken lies, and their tongue is deceitful in their mouth.

6:13  Therefore I also have made you sick by striking you, making you desolate because of your sins.

6:14  You shall eat, but not be satisfied; and your hunger shall be in your midst. And you shall conceive, but shall not deliver; and that which you deliver I will give up to the sword.

6:15  You shall sow, but you shall not reap; you shall tread the olives, but you shall not anoint yourself with oil; and make sweet wine, but shall not drink wine,

6:16  For the statutes of Omri are kept, and all the works of the house of Ahab, and you walk in their counsels, so that I should make you a desolation and your inhabitants a hissing; therefore you shall bear the reproach of My people."

Chapter 7

7:1  Woe is me! For I am like the gatherings of summer fruits, like the grape gleanings of the vintage. There is no cluster to eat; but my soul desires the first-ripe fruit.

7:2  The good man has perished from the earth, and there is none upright among men, for they all lie in wait for blood; each one hunts his brother with a net.

7:3  They use both hands diligently to do evil. The ruler asks for a bribe, and the judge for a reward; and the great man speaks the evil desire of his soul. Thus they weave it together.

7:4  The best of them is like a briar; the most upright is sharper than a hedge of thorns. The day of your watchmen and your punishment comes; now they shall be confused.

7:5  Put no trust in a friend; put no hope in a guide; keep the door of your mouth from her who lies in your bosom,

7:6  For the son dishonors the father; the daughter rises up against her mother, the daughter-in-law against her mother-inlaw. A man's enemies are the men of his own household.

7:7  Therefore I will look to the LORD; I will wait for the God of my salvation. My God will hear me!

7:8  Rejoice not against me, O my enemy; for if I fall, I shall arise; for if I sit in darkness, the LORD shall be a light to me.

7:9  I will bear the indignation of the LORD because I have sinned against Him, until He pleads my cause and executes judgment for me. He will bring me forth to the light, and I shall behold His righteousness.

7:10  Then my enemy shall see it; and shame shall cover her who said to me, "Where is the LORD your God?" My eyes shall behold her; now she shall be trampled like the mud of the streets.

7:11  In the day that your walls are to be built, in that day the decree shall go far and wide.

7:12  In that day people shall come even to you from Assyria, and from the fortified cities, and from the fortress even to the river, and from sea to sea, and from mountain to mountain.

7:13  But the land shall be wasted because of those who dwell in it, for the fruit of their doings.

7:14  Feed your people with your rod, the flock of your inheritance, who dwell alone in the woods, in the midst of Carmel; let them feed in Bashan and Gilead, as in the days of old.

7:15  "According to the days of your coming out of the land of Egypt I will show to them marvelous things."

7:16  The nations shall see and be ashamed at all their might; they shall lay their hand on their mouths; their ears shall be deaf.

7:17  They shall lick the dust like a snake; they shall move out of their holes like worms of the earth. They shall be afraid of the LORD our God, and shall fear because of You.

7:18  Who is a God like You, Who pardons iniquity and passes over the transgression of the remnant of His heritage? He does not keep His anger forever because He delights in mercy.

7:19  He will turn again; He will have compassion upon us. He will subdue our iniquities. Yea, You will cast all their sins into the depths of the sea.

7:20  You will perform the truth to Jacob, and mercy to Abraham, which You have sworn to our fathers from the days of old.