¹I am Micah from Moresheth. And this is the message about Samaria and Jerusalem that the Lord gave to me when Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah were the kings of Judah.[#2 K 15.32-38; 2 Ch 27.1-7; 2 K 16.1-20; 2 Ch 28.1-27; 2 K 18.1—20.21; 2 Ch 29.1—32.33.; #1.1 A town in southern Judah not far from Gath. In verse 14 it is called Moresheth-Gath.; #1.1 Samaria was the capital of the northern kingdom (Israel), and Jerusalem was the capital of the southern kingdom (Judah).; #1.1 Jotham, the son of Uzziah, ruled Judah 740–736 b.c. ; Ahaz, the son of Jotham, ruled 736–716 b.c. ; Hezekiah, the son of Ahaz, ruled 716–687 b.c.]

Judgment on Samaria

²Listen, all of you!

Earth and everything on it,

pay close attention.

The Lord God accuses you

from his holy temple.

³And he will come down

to crush underfoot

every pagan altar.

⁴Mountains will melt

beneath his feet

like wax beside a fire.

Valleys will vanish like water

rushing down a ravine.

⁵This will happen because of

the terrible sins of Israel,

the descendants of Jacob.

Samaria has led Israel to sin,

and pagan altars at Jerusalem

have made Judah sin.

⁶So the Lord will leave Samaria

in ruins—

merely an empty field

where vineyards are planted.

He will scatter its stones

and destroy its foundations.

⁷Samaria's idols will be smashed,

and the wages

of temple prostitutes

will be destroyed by fire.

Silver and gold from those idols

will then be used by foreigners

as payment for prostitutes.

Judah Is Doomed

⁸Because of this tragedy,[#1.8 Either the destruction of Samaria (verses 6,7) or the coming destruction of Judah and Jerusalem.]

I go barefoot and naked.

My crying and weeping

sound like howling wolves

or ostriches.

⁹The nation is fatally wounded.

Judah is doomed.

Jerusalem will fall.

¹⁰Don't tell it in Gath!

Don't even cry.

Instead, roll in the dust

at Beth-Leaphrah.

¹¹Depart naked and ashamed,

you people of Shaphir.

The town of Bethezel mourns

because no one from Zaanan

went out to help.

¹²Everyone in Maroth[#1.12 Mentioned only here in the Old Testament; in Hebrew “Maroth” means “bitter.”]

hoped for the best,

but the Lord sent disaster

down on Jerusalem.

¹³Get the war chariots ready,

you people of Lachish.

You led Jerusalem into sin,

just as Israel did.

¹⁴Now you will have to give

a going-away gift

to Moresheth.

Israel's kings will discover

that they cannot trust

the town of Achzib.

¹⁵People of Mareshah,[#1.15 Sounds something like the Hebrew word for “conqueror” and was only a few kilometers northeast of Lachish.]

the Lord will send someone

to capture your town.

Then Israel's glorious king

will be forced to hide

in Adullam Cave.

¹⁶Judah, shave your head

as bald as a vulture

and start mourning.

Your precious children

will be dragged off

to a foreign country.