The Book of Micah

Chapter 1
1 The word of Yahweh which came to Micah the Morashite in the days of Jotham, Ahaz and Hezekiah, kings of Judah, which he perceived concerning Samaria and Jerusalem:
2 Hear, ye peoples, all of them! Attend, earth and its fullness! My Lord Yahweh is coming among you as a Witness My Lord, from His holy temple.
3 For behold, Yahweh will go forth from His place, And He will descend and tread on the high-places of the land.
4 The mountains will be melted under Him, And the vales, they shall be rent Like wax from the presence of fire, Like water being spilled down a descent.
5 All this comes 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 is the sin of Judah? Is it not Jerusalem?
6 I will make Samaria a rubbish heap, A field for the plantings of a vineyard; I will spill her stones down the ravine, And her foundations will I expose.
7 All her carvings, they shall be pounded to pieces, And all her fees, they shall be burned with fire. All her fetishes shall I make a desolation; For from the fee of a prostitute she got them together, And unto the fee of a prostitute shall they return.
8 On this account let me wail and howl; Let me go looted and naked. I shall make a wailing like the wild-jackals, And a mourning like the ostrich.
9 For her smiting is mortal, for it comes unto Judah. It touches unto the gateway of my people, unto Jerusalem.
10 In Gath you must not magnify it; You must not lament, nay lament. In Beth-leaphrah, wallow in the soil.
11 Pass away! To you, dweller of Shaphir, is naked shame! The dweller of Zaanan will not go forth. Wailing is in Beth-ezel; Its protective position shall be taken away from you.
12 Though the dweller of Maroth waits for good, Yet evil descends from Yahweh to the gateway of Jerusalem.
13 Harness the chariot to the stallion, dweller of Lachish. She is the beginning of sin to the daughter of Zion, For in you are found the transgressions of Israel.
14 Therefore you shall give dismissal gifts to Moresheth-gath; The houses of Achzib are like a failing spring to the kings of Israel.
15 Still I shall bring a tenant to you, dweller of Mareshah. Unto Adullam shall come the glory of Israel.
16 Make yourself bald, And shear yourself over your delicate sons. Widen your baldness like the vulture, For they are carried away from you into exile.

Chapter 2
1 Woe to devisers of lawlessness And contrivers of evil on their beds! In the light of the morning are they executing it, For it is at the disposal of their hand.
2 And they covet fields and snatch them, And houses, and bear them away, And they extort the master and his house, The man and his allotment.
3 Therefore, thus says Yahweh: Behold Me devising evil against this family, From which you shall not remove your necks. Nor shall you walk haughtily, For it shall be an era of evil.
4 In that day one shall take up a proverb concerning you, And he will make a plaint, a plaintive plaint, saying: We are devastated, yea devastated. He is changing the portion of my people. How is He removing what is for me? He is apportioning our fields to the backslider.
5 Therefore there is not coming to be for you One flinging the line by lot, in the assembly of Yahweh.
6 You must not preach, is what they are preaching. They shall not preach about these matters. It shall not turn away mortifications.
7 Is this said, house of Jacob: Is the spirit of Yahweh shortened if these be His actions? Are not My words doing good with the one walking uprightly?
8 Even yesterday, My people, they are rising as an enemy; You are stripping the fur robe from off the peaceful, From those passing in serenity, turning away from battle.
9 The wives of My people are you driving out, each from her cozy home; From her infants you are taking My honor for the eon.
10 Rise and go, for this is not your rest, On account of your uncleanness that shall bring harm and painful cramp.
11 Suppose a man, going by a spirit of falsehood, lies, saying: I shall preach to you in favor of wine and intoxicant; Then he would become the preacher of this people!
12 I shall gather, yea gather Jacob all of you; I shall convene, yea convene the remnant of Israel. Together I shall place them like a flock in a sheepfold, Like a drove in the midst of the pen; And they shall clamor because of humanity.
13 The One Who breaches forth ascends before them; They breach forth and shall pass to the gateway and go forth by it. And their King shall pass before them, Yahweh at their head.

Chapter 3
1 And He is saying, Oh hear this, heads of the house of Jacob, And captains of the house of Israel! Is it not yours to know right judgment?
2 You who are hating good and loving evil, Snatching their skin off them, And their brawn off their bones,
3 And who devour the brawn of My people, And their skin they strip off them, And their bones they crunch And spread them like meat in the pot, And like flesh in the midst of the caldron.
4 Then they shall cry out to Yahweh, And He shall not answer them, And He shall conceal His face from them in that era, According as they do evil in their actions.
5 Thus says Yahweh concerning the prophets who are leading My people astray, Who are biting with their teeth, yet they call, Peace, And whoever is giving nothing into their mouths, then they hallow a war against him:
6 Wherefore night shall be for you, without a vision, And it will be dark for you, without divination; The sun will set on the prophets, And the day will be somber over them.
7 The vision seers will be ashamed, And the diviners will be abashed, And all of them will muffle over the upper lip, For there is no answer from Elohim.
8 Nevertheless, I am full of vigor of the spirit of Yahweh, And of right judgment and of mastery, To tell to Jacob his transgression, And to Israel his sin.
9 Oh hear this, heads of the house of Jacob, And captains of the house of Israel, Who are abhorring right judgment And are perverting all uprightness,
10 Building Zion with bloodguilt, And Jerusalem with iniquity;
11 Her heads, they are judging for a bribe, And her priests, they are directing for a price, And her prophets, they are divining for money; Yet on Yahweh they are leaning, saying: Is not Yahweh in our midst? Evil shall not come upon us.
12 Therefore, owing to you, Zion, it shall be plowed like a field, And Jerusalem, it shall become rubbish heaps, And the mountain of the house for high-places of a grove.

Chapter 4
1 And it will come to pass in the latter days, The Mount of the House of Yahweh shall be established on the summit of the mountains, And it shall be lifted up above the hills. And all the peoples will stream unto it.
2 Many nations will come and say: Come, and let us ascend to the Mount of Yahweh, And to the house of the Elohim of Jacob, And He shall direct us out of His ways, So that we may indeed walk in His paths. For from Zion shall go forth the law, And the word of Yahweh from Jerusalem.
3 He will judge between many peoples, And arbitrate for staunch nations afar off. They will pound their swords into mattocks, And their spears into pruners; Nation shall not lift the sword against nation, Nor shall they learn war any more.
4 Each man will sit under his vine and under his fig tree, And there will be nothing causing them to tremble. For the mouth of Yahweh of hosts has spoken.
5 Though all the peoples, they shall walk, each man in the name of his elohim, Yet we shall walk in the Name of Yahweh our Elohim, for the eon and further.
6 In that day, averring is Yahweh, I shall gather her who is limping, And she who is expelled, I shall convene her, And her to whom I have brought evil.
7 Then I will make her who is limping a remnant, And her who is beyond the border a staunch nation. And Yahweh will reign over them in Mount Zion, henceforth and unto the eon.
8 And you, tower of the drove, Fort of the daughter of Zion, Unto you shall it arrive, Even the former rule will come, The kingdom to the daughter of Jerusalem.
9 Now why are you shouting a shout? Is there no king among you? Or has your counselor perished? For travail held you fast, like a woman giving birth.
10 Travail, and rush forth, daughter of Zion, as if bearing. For now you shall go forth from the town, And you will tabernacle in the field; Then you will come unto Babylon. There you shall be rescued; There Yahweh shall redeem you from the clutch of your enemies.
11 And now many nations are gathered against you, saying: She shall be polluted, and our eyes shall perceive it in Zion.
12 Yet they do not know the designs of Yahweh, Nor have they understood His counsel. For He convenes them like a sheaf to the threshing site.
13 Rise and thresh, daughter of Zion, For I shall make your horn iron, And I shall make your hoofs bronze, So that you will pulverize many peoples. You will devote to Yahweh their gain, And their estate to the Lord of all the earth.

Chapter 5
1 Now you shall slash yourself, daughter of troops; He will place a siege work against us. With a club they shall smite the judge of Israel on the cheek.
2 Yet you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, Inferior to be among the mentors of Judah, From you shall One come forth for Me to become the Ruler in Israel; Yet His goings forth are from aforetime, from days eonian.
3 Therefore He shall give them up until the time when she who is to bear will bear, And the rest of His brothers shall return to the sons of Israel.
4 And He will stand and shepherd them in the strength of Yahweh, In the augustness of the Name of Yahweh, His Elohim. And they will dwell securely, For now shall He be great unto the limits of the land.
5 And this One will be Peace. As for Assyria, when he is entering into our land, And when he is treading upon our ground, Then we will raise against him seven shepherds, And eight overlords of humanity.
6 And they will shepherd the land of Assyria with the sword, And the land of Nimrod with unloosed swords; And He will rescue from Assyria, When he is entering into our land, And when he is treading upon our territory.
7 Then the remnant of Jacob will come to be among the nations, In the midst of many peoples, like the night mist from Yahweh, Like showers on the herbage, Which is not expectant toward man, Nor is it waiting for the sons of humanity.
8 Then the remnant of Jacob will come to be among the nations, In the midst of many peoples, like a lion among the beasts of the wildwood, Like a sheltered lion among the droves of the flock, Which, if it passes through, then it tramps down, and it tears to pieces, And there is no rescue.
9 Your hand shall be raised high over your foes, And all your enemies, they shall be cut off.
10 It will come to be in that day, averring is Yahweh, That I will cut off your horses from your midst, And I will destroy your chariots.
11 I will cut off the cities of your land And demolish all your fortresses.
12 I will cut off enchantments from your hand, And cloud consulters, they shall not be among you.
13 I will cut off your carvings, And your monuments from your midst, And no longer shall you worship the work of your hands.
14 I will pluck up your Ashera poles from your midst, And I will exterminate your forms,
15 I will execute in anger and in fury Vengeance to the nations which do not hearken!

Chapter 6
1 Hear now what Yahweh is saying: Rise, contend before the mountains, And let the hills hear your voice.
2 Hear, mountains, the contention of Yahweh, And perennial foundations of the earth; For a contention has Yahweh with His people, And with Israel shall He plead.
3 My people! what have I done to you? And how have I tired you? Answer against Me!
4 For I brought you up from the land of Egypt, And from the house of servants I ransomed you. And I sent before you Moses, Aaron and Miriam.
5 My people, remember, indeed, what Balak, king of Moab, counseled, And what Balaam, son of Beor, answered him, From Shittim unto Gilgal, That you may know the righteous acts of Yahweh.
6 With what shall I go before Yahweh, And be bending down to Elohim of the height? Shall I go before Him with ascent offerings, With calves a year old?
7 Shall Yahweh accept thousands of rams, With myriads of watercourses of oil? Shall I give my firstborn for my transgression, The fruit of my belly for the sin of my soul?
8 He has told you, humanity, what is good; What is Yahweh requiring from you Save to do right judgment and love kindness, And to walk meekly with your Elohim?
9 The voice of Yahweh, it is calling to the city, And sagacity, it shall fear His Name. Hear the rod and the One Who appointed it.
10 Are there yet, in the house of the wicked one, treasures of wickedness And the lean ephah calling for indignation?
11 Shall I clear the one with wicked scales, And with a purse of deceitful standard weights?
12 Its rich men, they are full of wrong, And its dwellers, they speak falsehood, And their tongue is deceitful in their mouth.
13 Moreover, I will start to smite you, To desolate you on account of your sins.
14 You shall eat yet not be satisfied, And darkness shall be within you; You shall overtake, yet you shall not deliver away, And that which you do deliver away, I shall give to the sword.
15 You shall sow, yet you shall not reap. You shall tread olives, yet you shall not rub with oil, And grape juice, yet you shall not drink wine.
16 For the statutes of Omri are being kept, And every act of the house of Ahab; And you are going in their counsels, That I may give you up to desolation, And its dwellers to hissing, And you shall bear the reproach of My people.

Chapter 7
1 Woe to me! for I become like the gatherings of summer fruit, Like the clean-gleanings of the vintage. There is no cluster to eat; My soul yearns for the firstfruit.
2 The kindly one has perished from the earth, And there is none upright among humanity. All of them, they are ambushing for blood; Each man, he is hunting his brother with a seine net.
3 Both palms are set upon the evil to do it thoroughly: The chief official is asking, also the judge, for a payment, And the great one, he is speaking the avarice of his soul. And so they entwine it.
4 The best of them is like prickly nightshade; Their most upright one is a hedge. The day of your watchmen, your visitation, it comes; Now shall be their perplexity.
5 You must not believe in an associate; You must not trust in a mentor. From her who is lying in your bosom, keep the portals of your mouth,
6 For the son is disgracing the father; The daughter is rising against her mother; The daughter-in-law against her husband’s mother; The enemies of a man are the men of his house.
7 Yet I shall keep watch for Yahweh; I shall wait for the Elohim of my salvation; My Elohim shall hear me.
8 You must not rejoice against me, my enemy. Though I fall, I will rise; Though I am sitting in darkness, Yahweh shall be light for me.
9 The ire of Yahweh I shall bear For I have sinned against Him Until He is contending my cause, And will execute my judgment. He shall bring me forth to the light; I shall look upon His righteousness.
10 Then my enemy shall see, and shame shall cover her, the one saying to me: Where is He, Yahweh your Elohim? My eyes shall look upon her. Now shall she come to be for tramping down, like the mud of the streets.
11 A day to build your stone dikes! In that day the marked out boundary shall be extended afar.
12 In that day also, unto you shall one come from Assyria And the cities of lower Egypt, And from lower Egypt unto the Stream, And sea to sea, And mountain to mountain.
13 Yet the earth will become a desolation, On account of its dwellers, because of the fruit of their actions.
14 Shepherd Your people with Your club, The flock of Your allotment, Tabernacling alone in the wildwood in the midst of crop land. They shall graze in Bashan and Gilead as in the days of the eon.
15 As in the days of your going forth from the land of Egypt, Shall I show him marvelous works.
16 The nations shall see and be ashamed of all their mastery; They shall place a hand on their mouth; Their ears shall be deaf.
17 They shall lick up soil like a serpent; Like skulkers of the earth they shall be disturbed from their enclosures; Of Yahweh, our Elohim shall they be afraid, And they shall fear because of You.
18 Who is an El like You, bearing with depravity, And passing over transgression, for the remnant of His allotment? He does not hold fast His anger for the future, For He delights in benignity.
19 He shall have compassion on us again; He shall subdue our depravities. And You shall fling into the shadowy depths of the sea all our sins.
20 You shall render truth to Jacob, Benignity to Abraham, Which You swore to our fathers from days aforetime.