Study Desk

The ^(C1)word of the LORD which came to ^(C2)Micah of Moresheth in the days of ^(C3)Jotham, ^(C4)Ahaz, and ^(C5)Hezekiah, kings of Judah, and which he saw regarding Samaria and Jerusalem.

Hear, you peoples, all of ^(F1)you; ^(C1)Listen carefully, earth and ^(F2)all it contains, And may the Lord ^(F3)GOD be a ^(C2)witness against you, The Lord from His holy temple.

For behold, the LORD is ^(C1)coming forth from His place. He will come down and ^(C2)tread on the high places of the ^(F1)earth.

^(C1)The mountains will melt under Him And the valleys will be split, Like wax before the fire, Like water poured down a steep place.

All this is due to the ^(F1)wrongdoing of Jacob And the sins of the house of Israel. What is the ^(F1)(C1)wrongdoing of Jacob? Is it not ^(C2)Samaria? What is the ^(C3)high ^(F2)place of Judah? Is it not Jerusalem?

For I will make Samaria a ^(C1)heap of ruins ^(F1)in the open country, ^(C2)Planting places for a vineyard. I will ^(C3)hurl her stones down into the valley, And ^(C4)lay bare her foundations.

All of her ^(C1)idols will be crushed, All of her earnings will be burned with fire, And all of her images I will make desolate; For she collected them from a ^(C2)prostitute's earnings, And to the earnings of a prostitute they will return.

Because of this I must mourn and wail, I must go ^(C1)barefoot and naked; I must do mourning like the ^(C2)jackals, And a mourning like the ostriches.

For her ^(C1)wound is incurable, For ^(C2)it has come to Judah; It has reached the ^(C3)gate of my people, Even to Jerusalem.

^(C1)Do not tell it in Gath, Do not weep at all. At ^(F1)Beth-le-aphrah roll yourself in the dust in mourning.

^(F1)Go on your way, inhabitant of ^(F2)Shaphir, in ^(C1)shameful nakedness. The inhabitant of ^(F3)(C2)Zaanan does not ^(F4)escape. The mourning of ^(F5)Beth-ezel: "He will take from you its ^(F6)support."

For the inhabitant of ^(F1)Maroth ^(F2)(C1)Waits for something good, Because a disaster has come down from the LORD To the ^(C2)gate of Jerusalem.

Harness the chariot to the team of horses, You inhabitant of ^(C1)Lachish— She was the beginning of sin To the daughter of Zion— Because in you were found The ^(C2)rebellious acts of Israel.

Therefore you will give parting ^(C1)gifts In behalf of Moresheth-gath; The houses of ^(C2)Achzib will become a ^(F1)(C3)deception To the kings of Israel.

Moreover, I will bring on you The one who takes possession, You inhabitant of ^(F1)(C1)Mareshah. The glory of Israel will enter ^(C2)Adullam.

Shave yourself ^(C1)bald, yes, cut off your hair, Because of the children of your delight; Extend your baldness like the eagle, For they will ^(C2)go from you into exile.

Woe to those who ^(C1)devise wrongdoing, Who practice evil on their beds! ^(F1)(C2)When morning comes, they do it, Because it is in the ^(C3)power of their hands.

They ^(C1)covet fields, so they ^(C2)seize them; And houses, so they take them. They ^(F1)(C3)exploit a man and his house, A person and his inheritance.

Therefore this is what the LORD says: "Behold, I am ^(C1)planning against this ^(C2)family a catastrophe From which you ^(C3)cannot remove your necks; And you will not walk ^(C4)haughtily, For it will be an ^(C5)evil time.

-"On that day they will ^(C1)take up against you a ^(F1)song of mocking And ^(F2)(C2)utter a song of mourning and say, 'We are completely ^(C3)destroyed! He exchanges the share of my people; How He removes it from me! To the apostate He ^(C4)apportions our fields.'

-"Therefore you will have no one ^(F1)(C1)applying a measuring line For you by lot in the assembly of the LORD.

'^(C1)Do not prophesy,' so they prophesy. But if ^(F1)they do ^(C2)not prophesy about these things, ^(C3)Insults will not be turned back.

-"Is it being said, house of Jacob: 'Is the Spirit of the LORD ^(C1)impatient? Are these His works?' Do My words not ^(C2)do good For the one ^(C3)walking rightly?

-"^(F1)Recently My people have arisen as an ^(C1)enemy— You ^(C2)strip the robe off the garment From ^(C3)unsuspecting passers-by, From those returned from war.

-"You ^(C1)evict the women of My people, Each one from her pleasant house. From her children you take My ^(C2)splendor forever.

-"Arise and go, For this is no place ^(C1)of rest Because of the ^(C2)uncleanness that brings on destruction, A painful destruction.

-"If someone walking after wind and ^(C1)falsehood Had lied and said, 'I will prophesy to you about ^(C2)wine and liquor,' He would become a prophet to ^(C3)this people.

"I will certainly ^(C1)assemble all of you, Jacob, I will certainly gather the ^(C2)remnant of Israel. I will put them together like sheep in the fold; Like a flock in the midst of its pasture They will be noisy with people.

-"The one who breaks through goes up before them; They break through, pass through the gate, and go out by it. So their king passes on before them, And the LORD at their head."

And I said, "^(C1)Hear now, you ^(F1)leaders of Jacob And rulers of the house of Israel: Is it not for you to ^(C2)know justice?

-"You who hate good and love evil, Who ^(C1)tear off their skin from them And their flesh from their bones,

Who ^(C1)eat the flesh of my people, Strip off their skin from them, Smash their bones, And ^(C2)chop them up as for the pot, And as meat in a cauldron!"

Then they will ^(C1)cry out to the LORD, But He will not answer them. Instead, He will ^(C2)hide His face from them at that time Because they have ^(C3)practiced evil deeds.

This is what the LORD says concerning the prophets who ^(C1)lead my people astray: When they have something to bite with their teeth, They ^(C2)cry out, "Peace!" But against him who puts nothing in their mouths They declare holy war.

Therefore it will be ^(C1)night for you—without vision, And darkness for you—without divination. The ^(C2)sun will go down on the prophets, And the day will become dark over them.

The seers will be ^(C1)put to shame, And the ^(C2)diviners will be ashamed. Indeed, they will all ^(C3)cover their ^(F1)lips Because there is ^(C4)no answer from God.

On the other hand, ^(C1)I am filled with power— With the Spirit of the LORD— And with justice and courage To ^(C2)make known to Jacob his rebellious act, And to Israel his sin.

Now hear this, you ^(C1)heads of the house of Jacob And rulers of the house of Israel, Who ^(C2)despise justice And twist everything that is straight,

Who ^(C1)build Zion with bloodshed, And Jerusalem with malice.

Her leaders pronounce ^(C1)judgment for a bribe, Her ^(C2)priests teach for pay, And her prophets divine for money. Yet they lean on the LORD, saying, "^(C3)Is the LORD not in our midst? Catastrophe will not come upon us."

Therefore on account of you, ^(C1)Zion will be plowed like a field, ^(C2)Jerusalem will become a heap of ruins, And the ^(C3)mountain of the ^(F1)temple will become high places of a forest.