1A message from the Lord came to Micah. He was from the town of Moresheth. The message came while Jotham, Ahaz and Hezekiah were kings of Judah. This is the vision Micah saw concerning Samaria and Jerusalem. Here is what he said.

2Listen to me, all you nations!

Earth and everyone who lives in it, pay attention!

The Lord and King will be a witness against you.

The Lord will speak from his holy temple in heaven.

The Lord Will Judge Samaria and Jerusalem

3The Lord is about to come down

from his home in heaven.

He rules over even the highest places on earth.

4The mountains will melt under him

like wax near a fire.

The valleys will be broken apart

by water rushing down a slope.

5All this will happen because

Jacob’s people have done what is wrong.

The people of Israel

have committed many sins.

Who is to blame

for the wrong things Jacob has done?

Samaria!

Who is to blame for the high places

where Judah’s people worship other gods?

Jerusalem!

6So the Lord says,

“I will turn Samaria into a pile of trash.

It will become a place for planting vineyards.

I will dump its stones down into the valley.

And I will destroy it

down to its very foundations.

7All the statues of Samaria’s gods

will be broken to pieces.

All the gifts its people gave to temple prostitutes

will be burned with fire.

I will destroy all the statues of its gods.

Samaria collected gifts that were paid to temple prostitutes.

So the Assyrians will use the gifts

to pay their own temple prostitutes.”

Micah Weeps Over His People

8I will weep and mourn because Samaria will be destroyed.

I’ll walk around barefoot and naked.

I’ll bark like a wild dog.

I’ll hoot like an owl.

9Samaria’s plague can’t be healed.

The plague has spread to Judah.

It has spread right up to the gate of my people.

It has spread to Jerusalem itself.

10Don’t tell the people of Gath about it.

Don’t let them see you weep.

People in Beth Ophrah, roll in the dust.

11You who live in the town of Shaphir,

leave naked and in shame.

Those who live in Zaanan

won’t come out to help you.

The people in Beth Ezel will mourn.

They won’t be able to help keep you safe any longer.

12Those who live in Maroth will groan with pain

as they wait for help.

That’s because the Lord will bring trouble on them.

It will reach the very gate of Jerusalem.

13You who live in Lachish,

get your fast horses ready to pull their chariots.

You trust in military power.

Lachish was where sin began

for the people of Zion.

The wrong things Israel did

were also done by you.

14People of Judah, you might as well say goodbye

to Moresheth near Gath.

The town of Akzib won’t give any help

to the kings of Israel.

15An enemy will attack

you who live in Mareshah.

Israel’s nobles will have to run away

and hide in the cave of Adullam.

16The children you enjoy so much

will be taken away as prisoners.

So shave your heads and mourn.

Make them as bare as the head of a vulture.