I will show thee, O man, what is good, and what the LORD requireth of thee: Namely, to do right, to have pleasure in loving-kindness, to be lowly, and to walk with thy God.

And thou Bethlehem Ephrata, art little among the thousands of Judah: Out of thee shall come one, unto me, which shall be the governour in Israel: whose outgoing hath been from the beginning, and from everlasting.

But in the latter days it will come to pass, that the hill of the LORD's house shall be set up higher than any mountains or hills: Yea, the people shall flow unto it,

these shall subdue the land of Assyria with the sword, and the land of Nimrod with their naked weapons. Thus shall he deliver us from the Assyrian, when he cometh within our land, and setteth his foot within our borders.

Hath the LORD a pleasure in many thousand rams, or innumerable streams of oil? Or shall I give my firstborn for mine offenses, and the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?"

Hear all ye people, mark this well, O earth, and all that therein is: Yea, the LORD God himself be witness among you, even the Lord from his holy temple.

Therefore, whereas all people have walked every man in the name of his own god, we will walk in the name of our God for ever and ever.

Where is there such a God as thou? That pardonest wickedness, and forgivest the offenses of the remnant of thine heritage? He keepeth not his wrath for ever. And why? His delight is to have compassion.

"What acceptable thing shall I offer unto the LORD? Shall I bow my knee to the high God? Shall I come before him with burnt offerings, and with calves of a year old?

Now the time shall come, that when they call unto the LORD, he shall not hear them, but hide his face from them, because that through their own Imaginations they have dealt so wickedly.

And shall give sentence among the multitude of the Heathen and reform the people of far countries: so that of their swords they shall make plowshares, and scythes of their spears. One people shall not lift up a sword against another, yea they shall no more learn to fight.

For why? Behold, the LORD shall go out of his place, and come down, and tread upon the high things of the earth.

And as concerning the prophets that deceive my people, thus the LORD sayeth against them: When they have any thing to bite upon, then they preach that all shall be well. But if a man put not some thing in to their mouths, they preach of war against him.

And the remnant of Jacob shall be among the multitude of people, as the dew of the LORD, and as the drops upon the grass, that tarrieth for no man, and waiteth of nobody.

The mountains shall consume under him, and the valleys shall cleave asunder: like as wax consumeth at the fire, and as the waters run downward.

Therefore your vision shall be turned to night, and your prophesying to darkness. The Sun shall go down over those prophets, and the day shall be dark unto them.

At the same time, sayeth the LORD, will I gather up the lame and the outcasts, and such as I have chastened;

And all this shall be for the wickedness of Jacob, and the sins of the house of Israel. But what is the wickedness of Jacob? Is not Samaria? Which are the high places of Judah? Is not Jerusalem?

All her Images shall be broken down and all her winnings shall be burnt in the fire: yea, all her Idols will I destroy. For why? They are gathered out of the hire of a whore, and into a whore's hire shall they be turned again.

The LORD's voice crieth unto the city, and the man that shall be saved considereth thy name, O LORD. Hear and that thy name may be righteousness. Hear, O ye tribes: who would else give you such warning?

Therefore I shall make Samaria a heap of stones in the field, to lay about the vineyard: her stones shall I cast into the valley, and uncover her foundations.

I will bear the punishment of the LORD - For why? I have offended him - till he sit in judgment upon my cause, and see that I have right. He will bring me forth to the light, and I shall see his righteousness.

Wherefore I will mourn and make lamentation, bare and naked will I go: I must mourn like the dragons, and take sorrow as the ostriches:

Weep not, lest they at Gath perceive it. Thou at Bethleaphrah, welter thyself in the dust and ashes.

Yea, the residue of Jacob shall be among the gentiles and the multitude of people, as the lion among the beasts of the wood, and as the Lion's whelps among a flock of sheep: which, when he goeth through, treadeth down, teareth in pieces, and there is no man that can help.

Therefore thus sayeth the LORD: Behold, against this household have I devised a plague, whereout ye shall not pluck your necks. Ye shall no more go so proudly, for it will be a perilous time.

For their wound is past remedy. And why? It is come into Judah, and hath touched the port of my people at Jerusalem already.

Thou that dwellest at Shaphir, get thee hence with shame. The proud shall boost no more for very sorrow. And why? Her neighbour shall take from her what she hath.

The great noise of the chariots shall fear them that dwell at Lachish, which is an occasion of the sin of the daughter of Zion, for in thee came up the wickedness of Israel.

The rebellious city hopeth that it shall not be so evil: but for all that, the plague shall come from the LORD, even in to the port of Jerusalem.

Therefore shalt thou give presents to Moreshethgath; the houses of Achzib shall be as a lie to the kings of Israel.

And as for thee, O thou that dwellest at Mareshah, I shall bring a possession upon thee, and the plague of Israel shall reach unto Adullam.

Make thee bald, and shave thee, because of thy tender children: Make thee clean bald as an Eagle, for they shall be carried away captive from thee.

And unto thee, O thou tower of Eder, thou stronghold of the daughter Zion, unto thee shall it come: even the first lordship and kingdom of the daughter Jerusalem.

Should I not be displeased, for the unrighteous good in the houses of the wicked and because the measure is diminished?

She that is mine enemy shall look upon it, and be confounded, which now sayeth, "Where is thy LORD God?" Mine eyes shall behold her, when she shall be trodden down, as the clay in the streets.

The time shall come also, sayeth the LORD, that I will take thine horses from thee, and destroy thy chariots.

Thine hand shall be lift up upon thine enemies, and all thine adversaries shall perish.

Thou shalt sow, but not reap; thou shalt press out olives, but oil shalt thou not have to anoint thyself withal; thou shalt tread out sweet must, but shall drink no wine.

The time will come, that thy gaps shall be made up, and the law shall go abroad:

Therefore I will take in hand to punish thee, and to make thee desolate because of thy sins.

and will give issue unto the lame, and make of the outcasts a great people: and the LORD himself shall be their king upon the mount Zion, from this time forth for evermore.

Nevertheless there shall be no man to divide thee thy portion in the congregation of the LORD.

Why then art thou now so heavy? Is there no king in thee? Are thy counselors away that thou art so pained, as a woman in her travail?

In that day shall this term be used, and a mourning shall be made over you on this manner, "We be utterly desolate, the portion of my people is translated. When will he part unto us the land, that he hath taken from us?"

I will break down the cities of thy land, and overthrow all thy strongholds.

Or should I justify the false balances and the bag of deceitful weights,

among those that be full of riches unrighteously gotten: where the citizens deal with falsity, speak lies, and have deceitful tongues in their mouths?

Then shall the vision seers be ashamed, and the soothsayers confounded: yea they shall be fain, all the pack of them, to stop their mouths: for they have not God's word.

As for me, I am full of strength, and of the spirit of the LORD; full of judgment and boldness, to show the house of Jacob their wickedness, and the house of Israel their sin.

and at that time shall they come unto thee, from Assyria unto the strong cities, and from the strong cities unto the river: from the one sea to the other, from the one mountain to the other.

"Tush, hold your tongue," say they. "It shall not fall on this people, we shall not come so to confusion,"

And now, O thou daughter Zion, be sorry: let it grieve thee as a wife labouring with child. For now must thou get thee out of the city, and dwell upon the plain field: Yea, unto Babylon shalt thou go, there shalt thou be delivered, and there the LORD shall loose thee from the hand of thine enemies.

All witchcrafts will I root out of thine hand, there shall no more soothsayings be within thee.

This is the word of the LORD, that came to Micah the Morasthite, in the days of Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah: which was showed him upon Samaria and Jerusalem.

Notwithstanding, the land must be wasted, because of them that dwell therein, and for the fruits of their own Imaginations.

Therefore feed thy people with thy rod; the flock of thine heritage which dwell desolate in the wood: that they may be fed upon the mount of Carmel, Bashan and Gilead as afore time.

O hear this, ye rulers of the house of Jacob, and ye judges of the house of Israel: ye that abhor the thing that is lawful, and wrest aside the thing that is straight;

Now also are there many people gathered together against thee, saying that Zion is cursed: "We shall see our lust upon her."

Marvelous things will I show them, like as when they came out of Egypt.

O ye judges, ye give sentence for gifts; O ye priests, ye teach for lucre; O ye prophets, ye prophesy for money. Yet will they be taken as those that hold upon God, and say, "Is not the LORD among us? Tush, there can no misfortune happen us."

But I will gather thee indeed, O Jacob, and drive the remnant of Israel all together. I shall carry them one with another, as a flock in the fold, and as the cattle in their stalls, that they may be disquieted of other men.

sayeth the house of Jacob. Is the spirit of the LORD so clean away? Or is he so minded? Truth it is, my words are friendly unto them that live right:

but my people doth the contrary, therefore must I take part against them. For they take away both coat and cloak from the simple. Ye have turned yourselves to fight;

Thine Idols and thine Images will I destroy out of thee so that thou shalt no more bow thyself unto the works of thine own hands.

Therefore shall Zion, for your sakes, be plowed like a field: Jerusalem shall become a heap of stones, and the hill of the temple shall be turned to a high wood.

Thy groves will I pluck up by the roots, and break down thy cities.

Thus will I be avenged also, upon all the Heathen that will not hear.

Thou salt eat, and not have enough: yea, thou shalt bring thyself down. Thou shalt flee, but not escape: and those that thou wouldest save, will I deliver to the sword.

O hear the punishment of the LORD, ye mountains, and ye mighty foundations of the earth: for the LORD will reprove his people, and reason with Israel.

Thou shalt keep thy trust with Jacob, and thy mercy for Abraham, like as thou hast sworn unto our fathers long ago.

Therefore get thee up, O thou daughter Zion, and thresh out the corn. For I will make thy horn iron. and thy claws brass, that thou mayest grind many people: their goods shalt thou appropriate unto the LORD, and their substance unto the ruler of the whole world.

Ye that build up Zion with blood, and Jerusalem with doing wrong.

Hear, O ye heads of the house of Jacob, and ye leaders of the house of Israel: Should not ye know, what were lawful and right?

They shall lick the dust like a serpent, as the worms of the earth, that tremble in their holes. They shall be afraid of the LORD our God, and they shall fear thee.

But they know not the thoughts of the LORD; they understand not his counsel, that shall gather them together as the sheaves in the barn.

the women of my people have ye shot out from their good houses, and taken away my excellent gifts from their children.

Woe unto them that imagine to do harm, and devise ungraciousness upon their beds, to perform it in the clear day: for their power is against God.

Up, get you hence, for here shall ye have no rest. Because of their Idolatry they are corrupt, and shall miserably perish.

He shall stand fast, and give food in the strength of the LORD, and in the victory of the name of the LORD his God: and when they be converted, he shall be magnified unto the farthest parts of the world.

If I were a fleshly fellow, and a preacher of lies, and told them that they might sit bibbing and bolling, and be drunken: O that were a Prophet for this people!

This shall the Heathen see, and be ashamed for all their power: so that they shall lay their hand upon their mouth, and stop their ears.

Ye keep the ordinances of Omri, and all the customs of the house of Ahab: Ye follow their pleasures, therefore will I make thee waste, and cause thy inhabiters to be abhorred, O my people: and thus shalt thou bear thine own shame.

Nevertheless, I will look up unto the LORD; I will patiently abide God my saviour: my God shall hear me.

But every man shall sit under his vineyard and under his fig tree, and no man to fray him away: for the mouth of the LORD of Hosts hath spoken it.

Whoso breaketh the gap, he shall go before. They shall break up the port, and go in and out at it. Their king shall go before them, and the LORD shall be upon the head of them.

for the son shall put his father to dishonour, the daughter shall rise against her mother, the daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law: and a man's foes shall be even they of his own household.

In the meanwhile he plagueth them for a season, until the time that she which shall bear have born: then shall the remnant of his brethren be converted unto the children of Israel.

Woe is me! I am become as one that goeth a gleaning in the harvest. There are no more grapes to eat, yet would I fain, with all my heart, have of the best fruit.

When they covet to have land, they take it by violence; they rob men of their houses. Thus they oppress a man for his house, and every man for his heritage.

Because I brought thee from the land of Egypt, and delivered thee out of the house of bondage? Because I made Moses, Aaron, and Miriam to lead thee?

Then shall there be peace, so that the Assyrian may come into our land, and tread in our houses. We shall bring up seven shepherds and eight princes upon them:

Remember, O my people, what Balak the king of Moab had imagined against thee, and what answer that Balaam the son of Beor gave him, from Shittim unto Gilgal, that ye may know the loving-kindness of the LORD.

But ye hate the good, and love the evil: ye pluck off men's skins, and the flesh from their bones;

ye eat the flesh of my people, and flay of their skin; ye break their bones, ye chop them in pieces as it were into a cauldron, and as flesh into a pot.

After that shalt thou be robbed thyself, O thou robber's daughter: they shall lay siege against us, and smite the judge of Israel with a rod upon the cheek.

There is not a godly man upon earth, there is not one righteous among men. They labour all to shed blood, and every man hunteth his brother to death:

Let no man believe his friend, nor put his confidence in a prince. Keep the door of thy mouth, from her that lieth in thy bosom:

O my people, what have I done unto thee? Or wherein have I hurt thee? Give me answer!

The best of them is but as a thistle, and the most righteous of them is but as a brier in the hedge. But when the day of thy preachers cometh, that thou shalt be visited: then shall they be wasted away.

yet they say they do well when they do evil. As the prince will, so sayeth the judge: that he may do him a pleasure again. The great man speaketh what his heart desireth; and the hearers allow him.

Hearken now what the LORD sayeth: Up, reprove the mountains, and let the hills hear thy voice.

and the multitude of the Gentiles shall haste them thither, saying, "Come, let us go up to the hill of the LORD, and to the house of the God of Jacob: that he may teach us his way, and that we may walk in his paths." For the law shall come out of Zion, and the word of God from Jerusalem;

He shall turn again, and be merciful to us: he shall put down our wickednesses, and cast all our sins into the bottom of the sea.

O thou enemy of mine, rejoice not at my fall, for I shall get up again: and though I sit in darkness, yet the LORD is my light.