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.

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.

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 the high places of Judah? Is it not Jerusalem?

For this I lament and howl, I go spoiled and naked, I make a lamentation like dragons, And a mourning like daughters of an ostrich.

Harness the horses to the chariot,
you residents of Lachish.
This was the beginning of sin for Daughter Zion,
because Israel’s acts of rebellion can be traced to you.

For this cause give a parting offering to Moresheth-gath: the daughter of Achzib will be a deceit to the king of Israel.

Therefore, thus said Jehovah: Lo, I am devising against this family evil, From which ye do not remove your necks, Nor walk loftily, for a time of evil it is.

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?"

For this cause you will have no one to make the decision by the measuring line in the meeting of the Lord.

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

Should [this] be said, O house of Jacob? Is the patience of Yahweh shortened? [Are] these his deeds? Are my words not pleasing to him who walks upright?

Rise and go, for this is not the rest, Because of uncleanness it doth corrupt, And corruption is powerful.

If one is going with the wind, And with falsehood hath lied: 'I prophesy to thee of wine, and of strong drink,' He hath been the prophet of this people!

This is what the Lord has said about the prophets by whom my people have been turned from the right way; who, biting with their teeth, say, Peace; and if anyone puts nothing in their mouths they make ready for war against him.

For this cause it will be night for you, without a vision; and it will be dark for you, without knowledge of the future; the sun will go down over the prophets, and the day will be black over them.

But I am full of the courage that the Lord's Spirit gives, and have a strong commitment to justice. This enables me to confront Jacob with its rebellion, and Israel with its sin.

Hear this, I pray you, heads of the house of Jacob, And ye judges of the house of Israel, Who are making judgment abominable, And all uprightness do pervert.

For this reason, Zion will be ploughed like a field because of you, and Jerusalem will become a mass of broken walls, and the mountain of the house like a high place in the woods.

But each man will sit under his grapevine
and under his fig tree
with no one to frighten him.
For the mouth of the Lord of Hosts
has promised this.

On that day—
this is the Lord’s declaration—
I will assemble the lame
and gather the scattered,
those I have injured.

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.

Jerusalem, why are you now shouting so loudly? Has your king disappeared? Has your wise leader been destroyed? Is this why pain grips you as if you were a woman in labor?

For this cause he will give them up till the time when she who is with child has given birth: then the rest of his brothers will come back to the children of Israel.

And this one hath been peace, Asshur! when he doth come into our land, And when he doth tread in our palaces, We have raised against him seven shepherds, And eight anointed of man.

The shepherds will devastate the land of Assyria with the sword, along with the entrances to the land of Nimrod. "This is how he will vanquish Assyria when he invades our land, trampling within our borders:

The best of them is like a brier;
the most upright is worse than a hedge of thorns.
The day of your watchmen,
the day of your punishment, is coming;
at this time their panic is here.

When my enemies see this, they will be covered with shame. They say to me, "Where is the Lord your God?" I will gloat over them. Then they will be trampled down like mud in the streets.

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.