1This is the message from Yahweh that came to Micah, from Moresheth, during the reigns of Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah. It was a vision concerning Samaria and Jerusalem.
2Listen, all you people. Pay attention, O earth, and everything on it! Let the Lord Yahweh testify against you, the Lord from his holy temple.
3Watch! Yahweh is leaving his Dwelling Place; he will come down and walk on the high places of the earth.
4The mountains will melt under him, and the valleys will split apart, like wax before the fire, like water pouring down a steep slope.
5“All this is because of Jacob’s rebellion and the sins of the house of Israel. What is Jacob’s rebellion? Isn’t it Samaria? And what are the idolatrous shrines of Judah? Aren’t they Jerusalem?
6Therefore, I will turn Samaria into a heap of rubble in the fields, a place for planting vineyards. I will pour its stones into the valley and lay bare its foundations.
7All her idols will be smashed to pieces, all her temple gifts will be burned with fire, and I will destroy all her images. For she gathered them by acting like a prostitute, and they will become a prostitute’s wages again.”
8Because of this, I will mourn and wail. I will go barefoot and naked. I will howl like jackals and moan like owls.
9Because her wounds are incurable, and the disaster has even reached Judah; it has come to the gate of my people, right up to Jerusalem.
10Don’t tell it in Gath; don’t weep at all. At Beth Ophrah, I have rolled myself in the dust.
11Pass on in nakedness and shame, you inhabitants of Shaphir. The people of Zaanan will not come out. The wailing from Beth Ezel will take away your security.
12The people of Maroth anxiously wait for good, but evil has come down from Yahweh to the gate of Jerusalem.
13Harness the chariot to the swift horse, people of Lachish. You were the beginning of sin for Jerusalem; Israel’s wrongdoings were found in you.
14Therefore, you will give a parting gift to Moresheth Gath. The houses of Achzib will prove to be a deceptive thing for the kings of Israel.
15I will bring the enemy to you again, people of Mareshah. The one who is the glory of Israel will come to Adullam.
16Shave your heads and cut off your hair to mourn for the children you love. Make yourselves as bald as a vulture, because your children have been taken away from you into captivity!