Micah Chapter 1 The word of the
Lord that came to Micah, the Moresthite, in the days of Jotham,
Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah, which he saw concerning
Samaria and Jerusalem. Hear, all ye people, hearken,
O earth, and all that therein is, and let the Lord God be witness
against you, the Lord from his holy temple. For behold, the
Lord cometh forth out of his place, and will come down, and
tread upon the high places of the earth. and the mountains
shall be molten unto him, and the valleys shall be cleft as
wax before the fire, and as the waters that pour down a steep
place. For the transgression of Jacob
is all this, 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 as an heap of the field, and as plantings
of a vineyard, and I will pour down the stones thereof into
the valley, and I will discover the foundations thereof. And
all the graven images thereof shall be beaten to pieces, and
all the hires thereof shall be burned with the fire, and all
the idols thereof will I lay desolate. For she gathered it
of the hire of an harlot, and they shall return to the hire
of an harlot. Therefore I will wail and howl,
I will go stripped and naked, I will make a wailing like the
dragons, and mourning as the owls, for her wound is incurable. For it is come unto Judah, he
is come unto the gate of my people, even to Jerusalem. Declare ye
it not at Gath, weep ye not at all, in the house of Aphra roll
thyself in the dust. Pass ye away, thou inhabitant
of Saphia, having thy shame naked. The inhabitant of Zaonon came
not forth in the morning of Bethesda. He shall receive of you his standing. For the inhabitant of Maroth
waited carefully for good, but evil came down from the Lord
unto the gate of Jerusalem. O thou inhabitant of Lachish,
bind the chariot to the swift beast. She is the beginning of
the sin to the daughter of Zion, for the transgressions of Israel
were found in thee. Therefore shalt thou give presents
to Moreshethgath. The houses of Aqsib shall be
a lie to the kings of Israel. Yet will I bring an heir unto
thee, O inhabitant of Meresha. He shall come unto Adullam, the
glory of Israel. Make thee bald, and pull thee
for thy delicate children. Enlarge thy baldness as the eagle,
for they are gone into captivity from thee. Micah chapter 2 Woe to them that
devise iniquity, and work evil upon their beds! When the morning
is light they practice it, because it is in the power of their hand.
And they covet fields, and take them by violence, and houses,
and take them away. So they oppress a man and his
house, even a man and his heritage. Therefore thus saith the Lord,
Behold, against this family do I devise an evil, from which
ye shall not remove your necks, neither shall ye go haughtily,
for this time is evil. In that day shall one take up
a parable against you, and lament with a doleful lamentation, and
say, We be utterly spoiled, ye hath changed the portion of my
people, how hath ye removed it from me? turning away, he hath
divided our fields. Therefore thou shalt have none
that cast accord by lot in the congregation of the Lord. Prophesy
ye not, say they to them that prophesy, they shall not prophesy
to them, that they shall not take shame. O thou that art named
in the house of Jacob, Is the Spirit of the Lord straightened?
Are these His doings? Do not my words do good to him
that walketh uprightly? Even of late my people is risen
up as an enemy. Ye pull off the robe with the
garment from them that pass by securely as men averse from war. The women of my people have ye
cast out from their pleasant houses. From their children have
ye taken away my glory for ever. Arise, ye, and depart, for this
is not your rest, because it is polluted. It shall destroy
you, even with a sore destruction. If a man walking in the spirit
and falsehood do lie, saying, I will prophesy unto thee of
wine and of strong drink, he shall even be the prophet of
this people. I will surely assemble, O Jacob, all of thee. I will
surely gather the remnant of Israel. I will put them together
as the sheep of Bozrah, as the flock in the midst of their fold.
They shall make great noise by reason of the multitude of men.
The breaker is come up before them they have broken up and
have passed through the gate and have gone out by it and Their
king shall pass before them and the Lord on the head of them
Micah chapter 3 And I said, Here, I pray you, O heads of Jacob,
and ye princes of the house of Israel, is it not for you to
know judgment, who hate the good and love the evil, who pluck
off their skin from off them, and their flesh from off their
bones, who also eat the flesh of my people and flay their skin
from off them, and they break their bones and chop them in
pieces as for the pot, and as flesh within the cauldron? Then
shall they cry unto the Lord, but he will not hear them, he
will even hide his face from them at that time, as they have
behaved themselves ill in their doings. Thus saith the Lord concerning
the prophets that make my people err, that bite with their teeth
and cry, Peace, and he that putteth not into their mouths, they even
prepare war against him. Therefore night shall be unto
you, that ye shall not have a vision, and it shall be dark unto you,
that ye shall not divine, and the sun shall go down over the
prophets, and the day shall be dark over them. Then shall the
seers be ashamed, and the diviners confounded, yea, they shall all
cover their lips, for there is no answer of God. But truly,
I am full of power by the Spirit of the Lord, and of judgment,
and of might, to declare unto Jacob his transgression, and
to Israel his sin. Hear this, I pray you, ye heads
of the house of Jacob and princes of the house of Israel, that
abhor judgment and pervert all equity. They build up Zion with
blood, and Jerusalem with iniquity. The heads thereof judge for reward,
and the priests thereof teach for hire, and the prophets thereof
divine for money. Yet will they lean upon the Lord
and say, Is not the Lord among us? None evil can come upon us. Therefore shall Zion for your
sake be ploughed as a field, and Jerusalem shall become heaps,
and the mountain of the house as the high places of the forest. But in the last days it shall
come to pass 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. 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 of Zion. and the word of the Lord
from Jerusalem. And he shall judge among many
people, and rebuke strong nations afar off. And they shall beat
their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning-hooks. No nation shall not lift up a
sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more. But they shall sit every man
under his vine and under his fig tree, and none shall make
them afraid. for the mouth of the Lord of
hosts hath spoken it for all people will walk every one in
the name of his God and we will walk in the name of the Lord
our God forever and ever In that day, saith the Lord, will I assemble
her that halteth, and I will gather her that is driven out,
and her that I have afflicted, and I will make her that halted
a remnant, and her that was cast far off, a strong nation. And the Lord shall reign over
them in Mount Zion from henceforth even forever. And thou, O tower
of the flock, the stronghold of the daughter of Zion, unto
thee shall it come, even the first dominion. The kingdom shall
come to the daughter of Jerusalem. Now, why dost thou cry out aloud? Is there no king in thee? Is
thy counsellor perished? For pangs have taken thee as
a woman in travail. Be in pain, and labour to bring
forth, O daughter of Zion, like a woman in travail. For now shalt
thou go forth out of the city, and thou shalt dwell in the field,
and thou shalt go even to Babylon. There shalt thou be delivered,
there the Lord shall redeem thee from the hand of thine enemies.
Now also many nations are gathered against thee, that say, Let her
be defiled, and let our eye look upon Zion. But they know not
the thoughts of the Lord, neither understand they his counsel.
For he shall gather them as the sheaves unto the floor. Arise
and thresh, O daughter of Zion, for I will make thine horn iron,
and I will make thy hooves brass, and thou shalt beat in pieces
many people, and I will consecrate their gain unto the Lord, and
their substance unto the Lord of the whole earth. Micah Chapter
5 Now gather thyself in troops,
O daughter of troops. He hath laid siege against us.
They shall smite the judge of Israel with a rod upon the cheek.
But thou, Bethlehem Ephrathah, though thou be little among the
thousands of Judah, get out of thee shall he come forth unto
me, that is to be ruler in Israel, whose goings forth have been
from old, from everlasting. Therefore will he give them up,
until the time that she which travaileth hath brought forth.
Then the remnant of his brethren shall return unto the children
of Israel. 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 abide, for now
shall he be great unto the ends of the earth. And this man shall
be the peace, when the Assyrian shall come into our land, and
when he shall tread in our palaces, then shall we raise against him
seven shepherds and eight principal men, and they shall waste the
land of Assyria with the sword and the land of Nimrod in the
entrances thereof. Thus shall he deliver us from
the Assyrian when he cometh into our land, and when he treadeth
within our borders. And the remnant of Jacob shall
be in the midst of many people as a dew from the Lord, as the
showers upon the grass, that tarrieth not for man, nor waiteth
for the sons of men. And the remnant of Jacob shall
be among the Gentiles in the midst of many people, as a lion
among the beasts of the forest, and as a young lion among the
flocks of sheep, who, if he go through, both treadeth down and
teareth in pieces, and none can deliver. Thy hand shall be lifted
up upon thine adversaries, and all thine enemies shall be cut
off. And it shall come to pass in that day, saith the Lord,
that I will cut off thy horses out of the midst of thee, and
I will destroy thy chariots, and I will cut off the cities
of thy land, and throw down all thy strongholds. And I will cut
off witchcrafts out of thine hand, and thou shalt have no
more soothsayers. The graven images also will I
cut off, and thy standing images out of the midst of thee, and
thou shalt no more worship the work of thine hands. And I will
pluck up thy groves out of the midst of thee, so will I destroy
thy cities. And I will execute vengeance
in anger and fury upon the heathen, such as they have not heard. Micah chapter 6 Hear ye now what
the LORD saith. Arise, contend thou before the
mountains, and let the hills hear thy voice. Hear ye, O mountains,
the LORD's controversy, and his strong foundations of the earth,
for the LORD hath a controversy with his people, and he will
plead with Israel. O my people, what have I done
unto thee? and wherein have I wearied thee?
testify against me. For I brought thee up out of
the land of Egypt, and redeemed thee out of the house of servants,
and I sent before thee Moses, Aaron, and Miriam. O my people,
remember now what Balak, king of Moab, consulted, and what
Balaam, the son of Beor, answered him from Shittim unto Gilgal,
that he may know the righteousness of the Lord. Wherewith shall
I come before the Lord, and bow myself before the High God? Shall
I come before him with burnt offerings, with calves of a year
old? Will the Lord be pleased with
thousands of rams, or 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 soul? He hath showed thee, O man, what
is good. And what doth the Lord require
of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly
with thy God? The Lord's voice crieth unto
the city, and the man of wisdom shall see thy name. Hear ye the
rod, and who hath appointed it? Are there yet the treasures of
wickedness in the house of the wicked, and the scant measure
that is abominable? Shall I count them pure with
the wicked balances and with the bag of deceitful weights?
For the rich men thereof are full of violence, and the inhabitants
thereof have spoken lies, and their tongue is deceitful in
their mouth. Therefore also will I make thee
sick in smiting thee, in making thee desolate because of thy
sins. Thou shalt eat, but not be satisfied, and thy casting
down shall be in the midst of thee, and thou shalt take hold,
but shalt not deliver. And that which thou deliverest
will I give up to the sword. Thou shalt sow, but thou shalt
not reap. Thou shalt tread the olives,
but thou shalt not anoint thee with oil, And sweet wine, but
shalt not drink wine. For the statutes of Omri are
kept, and all the works of the house of Ahab, and he walk in
their councils, that I should make thee a desolation, and the
inhabitants thereof an hissing. Therefore ye shall bear the reproach
of my people. Micah Chapter 7 Woe is me! for I am as when they have gathered
the summer-fruits, as the grape-gleanings of the vintage. There is no cluster
to eat. My soul desired the first ripe
fruit. The good man is perished out
of the earth, and there is none upright among men. They all lie
in wait for blood. They hunt every man his brother
with a net. That they may do evil with both
hands earnestly, the prince asketh, and the judge asketh for a reward,
and the great man he uttereth his mischievous desire. So they
wrap it up. The best of them is as a briar,
the most upright is sharper than a thorn hedge. The day of thy
watchman and thy visitation cometh. Now shall be their perplexity.
Trust ye not in a friend, put ye not confidence in a guide,
keep the doors of thy mouth from her that lieth in thy bosom.
For the son dishonoureth the father, the daughter riseth up
against her mother, the daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law. A
man's enemies are the men of his own house. Therefore, I will
look unto the Lord. I will wait for the God of my
salvation. My God will hear me. Rejoice
not against me, O mine enemy. When I fall, I shall arise. When
I sit in darkness, the Lord shall be a light unto me. I will bear
the indignation of the Lord, because I have sinned against
him, until he plead my cause and execute judgment for me.
He will bring me forth to the light, and I shall behold his
righteousness. Then she that is mine enemy shall
see it, and shame shall cover her which said unto me, Where
is the Lord thy God? Mine eyes shall behold her, now
shall she be trodden down as the mire of the streets. In the
day that thy walls are to be built, in that day shall the
decree be far removed. In that day also he shall come
even to thee 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. Notwithstanding, the land shall
be desolate because of them that dwell therein, for the fruit
of their doings. Feed thy people with thy rod,
the flock of thine heritage, which dwells solitarily in the
wood, in the midst of Carmel. Let them feed in Bashan and Gilead
as in the days of old. According to the days of thy
coming out of the land of Egypt will I show unto him marvellous
things. The nations shall see, and be
confounded at all their might. They shall lay their hand upon
their mouth, their ears shall be deaf, they shall lick the
dust like a serpent, 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 thee. Who is a god like unto
thee, that pardoneth iniquity, and passeth by the transgression
of the remnant of his heritage? He retaineth not his anger for
ever, because he delighteth in mercy. He will turn again, he
will have compassion upon us, he will subdue our iniquities,
and thou wilt cast all their sins into the depths of the sea. Thou wilt perform the truth to
Jacob, and mercy to Abraham, which thou hast sworn unto our
fathers from the days of old.