This book contains the account of Micah foretelling about God punishing Israel and Judah because of their evil leaders, and about restoring them by the leader coming from Bethlehem. We call this book

Micah

1

1I am Micah. I am from the town of Moresheth in Judah. Yahweh gave me these messages in visions about Samaria and Jerusalem during the time when Jotham, and then Ahaz, and then Hezekiah, were the kings of Judah.

Yahweh will punish Samaria

2You people everywhere on the earth, pay attention to this [DOU]!

Yahweh our God is accusing you from his holy temple in heaven.

3He will come down from heaven

and walk on the tops of the highest mountains.

4It will be as though the mountains will melt under his feet

like [SIM] wax melts in front of a fire,

and like [SIM] water disappears

when it rushes/flows down into a valley.

5Those things will happen because of the terrible sins [DOU] that the people [MTY] of Israel, the descendants of Jacob, have committed.

But it was [RHQ] the people of Samaria city who persuaded all the people of Israel to sin,

and it was [RHQ] because the people of Jerusalem set up altars to worship their gods

that the other people of Judah were persuaded to worship idols on their hilltops.

6So Yahweh will cause Samaria to become a heap of rubble/ruins;

it will be only a field for planting vineyards.

He will cause the stones of its buildings to roll down into the valley,

and the foundations of the buildings will be uncovered.

7All the idols in Samaria will be smashed,

and the gifts given to prostitutes at the temples of their idols will be destroyed in a fire.

And because people paid prostitutes there,

their enemies will take away those idols and sell them to get money to pay to prostitutes in other countries.

Micah mourned for Judah also

8Because Samaria will be destroyed, I will weep and wail.

I will walk around ◄barefoot/without any sandals on my feet► and naked.

I will howl like a jackal/wolf

and screech like an owl,

9because Samaria will be completely destroyed [MET];

nothing can save that city.

But the same thing will happen to Judah!

It is as though the enemy army has already reached the city gates of Jerusalem,

the main city where my people live.

10Do not tell that to our enemies in Gath city in Philistia!

Do not cry, lest the people there find out what is happening!!

Instead, just roll in the dirt in Beth-Leaphrah because the name of that town means ’house of dust.’

11You people who live in Shaphir town, whose name means ’beautiful,’

naked and ashamed, you will be taken to another country.

You people in Beth-Ezel town should mourn,

because no one from Zaanan town, whose name means ’one who goes out,’ will go out to help you.

12The name of Maroth town sounds like ’bitterness;’

everyone there is anxiously waiting for good things to happen to them,

but good things will not happen to them;

instead, terrible things are about to happen to them,

and it will soon happen at the gates of Jerusalem.

13You people of Lachish city, whose name sounds like ’team,’

hitch your horses to pull the chariots in which you can ride to flee from your enemies.

The Israeli people rebelled against Yahweh,

and you ◄imitated them/did the same evil things that they did►,

and that caused the people of Jerusalem [IDM] to start sinning, too.

14You people of Judah, send a farewell gift to the people of Moresheth town,

because their enemies will soon destroy it.

The name of the town Aczib means ’deception,’

and the kings of Israel will soon find out that the people of that town will deceive them.

15The name of your town of Mareshah means ’conqueror,’

and Yahweh will soon send someone to conquer your town.

It will be necessary for the great/glorious leaders of Israel to go and hide in the cave at Adullam city.

16You people of Judah, shave your heads while you will be mourning,

because your children whom you love will soon be ◄exiled/forced to leave you and go to another country►.

2

Yahweh will punish those who oppress the poor

1Terrible things will happen to you who lie awake at night,

planning to do wicked things.

You get up at dawn, and you do those things,

as soon as you are able to do them.

2You want fields that belong to other people,

so you seize them;

you also take their houses.

You cheat people to get their homes,

taking away the property that belongs to their families.

3Therefore, this is what Yahweh says:

“I will cause you people to experience disasters,

and you will not be able to escape [MTY] from them.

You will no longer walk around proudly,

because when those things happen, it will be a time of much trouble for you.

4At that time, your enemies will make fun of you;

they will ridicule you by singing this sad song about you:

‘We are completely ruined;

Yahweh is taking our land/fields from us,

and he will give it to those who will capture us.’ ”

5So when it is the time for the land to be given back to you people who belong to Yahweh,

there will be no one [MTY] who will be able to ◄cast lots/throw marked stones► to determine which land belongs to whom.

False prophets

6The people who heard me say that replied to me,

“Do not prophesy such things!

Do not say that Yahweh is going to humiliate us by causing us to experience disasters!”

7But you people [MTY] of Israel should not [RHQ] talk like that!

The Spirit of Yahweh will certainly not [RHQ] be patient with people who say such things!

People who continually do things that are righteous will certainly [RHQ] like/appreciate what I say.

8But Yahweh says,

“Recently my people have been acting toward me like an enemy.

When soldiers return from fighting against their enemies,

you rich people refuse to return the coats of those poor soldiers who have borrowed money from you

and given you their coats to guarantee that they will pay back the money that they borrowed from you.

It is as though you are waiting to forcefully take their coats off their backs!

9You have forced women to leave their nice homes,

and you have stolen from their children forever the ◄blessings/good things► that I wanted to give them.

10So get up and leave here!

This is not a place where you can rest and be safe/protected,

because you have ◄defiled it/caused it to be a place that I hate►;

it will be completely destroyed.

11You people want a prophet who will lie to you,

saying ‘I will preach that you should drink plenty of wine and other alcoholic drinks!’

That is the kind of prophet who would please you.”

Yahweh promised to restore them

12“But some day, you descendants of Jacob, you Israeli people who have survived, I will bring you back from ◄exile/other countries►,

I will gather you together

like [SIM] a shepherd gathers his sheep from the pasture into a pen [DOU];

there will be many of you in your land/country.

13Your leader will enable them to leave the countries where they have been exiled;

he will lead them out of the gates of their enemies’ cities,

back to your own country.

Your king will lead them;

it is I, Yahweh, who will be their king!”

3

Micah rebuked the Israeli leaders

1Then I said, “You Israeli [MTY] leaders, listen to what I say!

You should certainly [RHQ] know what things are right to do

and what things are wrong,

2but you hate what is good

and you love what is evil.

You act like butchers:

it is as though you strip the skin off my people

and tear the flesh from their bones.

3It is as though you chop them into pieces like [SIM] meat to be cooked in a pot.

4Then, when you have troubles, you plead to Yahweh to help you,

but he will not answer you.

At that time, he will turn away from you

because of the evil things that you have done.”

5This is what Yahweh says

about your false prophets who are deceiving the people:

“If someone gives them food,

those prophets say that things will go well for him.

But they declare war against anyone who does not give them food.

6So now it is as though [MET] night will descend on you prophets;

you will not receive any more visions.

It is as though [MET] the sun will set for you;

the time when you are greatly honored will end.

7Then you ◄seers/people who predict what will happen in the future► [DOU] will be disgraced;

you will cover your faces because you will be ashamed,

because when you ask me what will happen, there will be no answer from me.”

8But as for me, I am full of God’s power,

power from the Spirit of Yahweh.

I am courageous and strong

to declare to the Israeli people [MTY, DOU]

that they have sinned and rebelled against Yahweh.

9You leaders of the people [MTY] of Israel, listen to this!

You hate it when people do what is just;

and when people say what is true,

you distort it, saying it is false.

10It is as though you are building houses in Jerusalem on foundations

that consist of murdering people and doing what is corrupt.

11Your leaders make favorable decisions only if they receive bribes.

Your priests teach people only if those people pay them well.

Your false prophets require people to pay them to tell people what will happen to them in the future.

Those prophets say, “Yahweh is telling us what we should say,

and we say that we will not experience any disasters.”

12Because of what you leaders do,

Zion Hill will be plowed like a field;

it will become a heap of ruins/rubble;

the top of the hill, where the temple is now, will be covered with bushes.

4

Yahweh’s future rule

1Yahweh says that some day his temple will be on top of a mountain,

and that mountain will be the most important [MET] one on the earth;

it will be as though it is higher than all the hills,

and huge groups of people from all over the world will come there to worship.

2People from many nations will say to each other,

“Let’s go to the mountain where Yahweh is,

to the temple where we can worship the God whom Jacob worshiped.

There God will teach us how he wants us to conduct our lives,

and we will do what he wants us to do.”

Zion Hill is the place where he will teach people;

and people will go out from Jerusalem to tell others his messages.

3Yahweh will settle disputes between many people,

and he will also settle disputes between powerful nations that are far away.

Then people will hammer their swords to cause them to become plow blades,

and hammer their spears to cause them to become pruning knives.

Armies of nations will no longer fight against armies of other nations,

and they will no longer train men how to fight in wars.

4Everyone will sit peacefully under his own grapevines,

and under his own fig trees;

no one will cause them to be afraid.

That is what will surely happen because the Commander of the armies of angels has said it.

5Many [HYP] of the people of other nations will worship [IDM] their own gods,

but we will worship Yahweh our God always, forever.

The Israeli people will return from exile

6Yahweh says, “There will soon be a time when I will gather the people whom I have punished,

who have been ◄exiled/forced to go to other countries►,

all those whom I have caused to suffer much.

7My people who did not die while they were exiled will become a strong nation again.

Then I, Yahweh, will be their king,

and I will rule from Jerusalem forever.

8As for you people of Jerusalem [MET],

you who guard all of my people like [MET] a shepherd guards his sheep from a tower,

you who live on Zion Hill, will have great power again.

You people who live in Jerusalem will again rule like you did previously.

9So why [RHQ] are you wailing now?

Is it because you have no king?

Have all your wise people died?

You are groaning loudly like [SIM] a woman who is giving birth to a baby.

10Well, you people of Jerusalem should writhe and groan like [SIM] a woman who is having birth pains,

because now you must leave this city,

and while you are traveling, you will set up tents in open fields at night;

you will go to live in Babylon.

But while you are there,

I, Yahweh, will rescue you;

I will free you from the power/control [MTY] of your enemies.

11Now the armies of many nations have gathered to attack you.

They are saying, ‘Jerusalem must be destroyed!

We want to see this city when it becomes ruins!’

12But they do not know what I, Yahweh, think,

and they do not understand what I plan:

I will gather them and punish them

like [SIM] farmers thresh grain on the ground.

13So, you people of Jerusalem, rise up and punish [MET] the nations who oppose you.

I will cause you to be very strong,

as if [MET] you had horns made of iron,

as if [MET] you had hoofs made of bronze;

and you will crush many nations.

And then you will take from your enemies the valuable things that they have taken from other countries,

and you will dedicate those things to me, the one who is the Lord of all the people on the earth.”

5

1“But now, you people of Jerusalem, gather your troops together,

because even though you have a wall around your city to protect it,

enemy soldiers are surrounding the city.

And soon they will strike your leader on his face, with a rod.”

A ruler will come from Bethlehem

2But you people of [APO] Bethlehem in Ephrathah district need to know that

even though your town is a very small one among all the towns in Judah,

someone who will rule Israel will be born in your town.

He will be someone whose family has existed a very long time ago [DOU].

3But now you people of Israel will be conquered by your enemies;

but it will be for only a short time,

like [MET] the short time that women have great pain while their babies are being born.

After that, your fellow-countrymen who were ◄exiled/forced to go to other countries► will return to their own country.

4And that man who will be ruling there in Jerusalem will stand and lead his people well,

because Yahweh, his God, will cause him to be strong and greatly honored.

Then the people whom he rules will live in Jerusalem safely;

he will be greatly honored by people all over the earth,

so no one will dare to attack Jerusalem.

5And he will cause things to go well for his people.

Yahweh will rescue some and get rid of others

When the army of Assyria attacks our country

and breaks though our fortresses,

we will appoint ◄seven or eight/several► leaders to lead our army to fight against them.

6With their swords our army will defeat the army of Assyria, whose capital was founded by Nimrod long ago.

So our army will rescue us from the Assyrian army

when they invade our country [DOU].

7The ◄descendants of Jacob/Israelis► who survive will be a blessing to the people of other nations,

like [SIM] dew and rain sent by Yahweh do good to the grass.

The Israelis will not trust in humans to help them;

instead, they will rely on Yahweh.

8In the midst of their enemies in many people-groups [DOU],

the descendants of Jacob who remain alive will be like [SIM] a lion among the other wild beasts of the forest,

like [SIM] a young lion who goes among a flock of sheep and pounces on one and ◄mauls it/tears it to pieces►,

and no one will be able to rescue that sheep.

9You Israelis will defeat [MTY] all your enemies

and completely destroy them.

10Yahweh says,

“At that time, I will destroy you Israeli people’s horses that your soldiers use in war

and your chariots.

11I will tear down your city walls

and destroy all your fortified cities.

12I will get rid of all those among you who practice magic

and the ◄fortune-tellers/those who say that they can predict what will happen in the future►.

13I will destroy all your idols and sacred stone pillars,

and then you will no longer bow down and worship things that you yourselves [SYN] have made.

14I will get rid of your poles that represent the goddess Asherah,

and I will also destroy all your idols.

15And because I will be very angry,

I will also punish the people of all the nations who have not obeyed me.”

6

Yahweh accuses his people

1Pay attention to what Yahweh says to you Israeli people:

“Stand up in court and state what you are accusing me about.

And allow the hills and mountains to hear what you will say.

2But then you mountains must also listen carefully [DOU] to what I, Yahweh, am complaining about my people.

I have something to say about what [DOU] my Israeli people are doing that displeases me.

3My people, what have I done to cause trouble for you [RHQ]?

What have I done to cause you to experience difficulties?

Answer me!

4I did great things for your ancestors;

I brought them out of Egypt;

I rescued them from that land where they were slaves.

I sent Moses to lead them,

and his older brother Aaron and his older sister Miriam.

5My people, think about when Balak, the king of Moab, requested Beor’s son Balaam to curse your ancestors,

and think about what Balaam replied.

Think about how your ancestors crossed the Jordan River miraculously while they were traveling from Acacia to Gilgal.

Think about those things in order that you may know that I, Yahweh, do what is right.”

6The Israeli people ask, “What shall we bring to Yahweh who lives in heaven

when we come to him and bow down before him?

Should we bring calves that are a year-old

that will be offerings that will be killed and completely burned on the altar?

7Will Yahweh be pleased if we offer to him 1,000 rams

and 10,000 streams of olive oil?

Should we offer our firstborn children to be sacrifices

to pay for the sins that we have committed [DOU]?”

8No, because he has shown each of us what is good to do;

he has shown [RHQ] us what he requires each of us to do:

He wants us to do what is just/fair and to love and to be merciful to others,

and he wants us to live humbly while we fellowship with him, our God.

The people of Israel are guilty and must be punished

9“I am Yahweh, so if you are wise, you should revere me.

I am calling out to you people of Jerusalem,

‘The armies [MET] that will destroy your city are coming,

so pay careful attention to me, the one who is causing them to punish you with my rod.

10Do you think that [RHQ] I should forget that you wicked people filled your homes with valuable things

that you acquired by cheating others?

Do you think that [RHQ] I should forget that you used false measures when you bought and sold things?

Those are things that I hate.

11Do you think that [RHQ] I should say nothing about people who use scales that do not weigh correctly,

and who use weights that are not accurate?

12The rich people among you always act violently to get money from poor people.

All of the people in Jerusalem are liars,

and they [SYN] always deceive people.

13Therefore, I have already begun to get rid of you,

to ruin you because of the sins that you have committed.

14Soon you will eat food, but you will not have enough to satisfy you;

your stomachs will still feel as though they are empty.

You will try to save up money,

but you will not be able to save anything,

because I will send your enemies to take it from you in wars [MTY].

15You will plant seeds,

but you will not harvest anything.

You will press olives,

but others, not you, will use the olive oil.

You will trample on grapes and make wine from the juice,

but others, not you, will drink the wine.

16Those things will happen to you because you obey only the wicked laws of King Omri,

and you do the terrible things that wicked King Ahab and his descendants commanded.

So, I will destroy your country,

and I will cause your people to be despised;

people of other nations will insult you.’”

7

Micah’s misery and his hope

1I am very miserable/frustrated!

I am like [SIM] someone who is hungry, who searches for fruit to pick

after all the fruit had been picked

and who finds no grapes or figs to eat.

2All the godly people have disappeared from this land;

there is not one of them left.

The people who are left are all murderers [MTY];

it is as though everyone is eager to kill his fellow countryman.

3They all use both hands to do what is evil.

Government officials and judges all ask for bribes.

Important people tell others what they want,

and they plot/scheme together about how to get it done.

4Even the best people are as worthless [SIM] as briers;

the people who are considered by others to be [IRO] the most honest are worse than clumps of thornbushes.

But, Yahweh will soon judge them;

now is the time that he will punish people,

a time when they will be very confused because of being defeated.

5So, do not trust anyone!

Do not trust even a friend;

even be careful what you say to your wife whom you love!

6Boys will despise their fathers,

and girls will defy their mothers.

Women will defy their mothers-in-law.

Your enemies will be those who live in your own houses.

7As for me, I wait for Yahweh to help me.

I confidently expect that God, my Savior, will answer me when I pray.

Yahweh will rescue his people

8You who are our enemies,

do not gloat/rejoice about what has happened to us,

because even if we have experienced disasters,

those disasters will end and we will be restored.

Even if it is as though we are sitting in the darkness,

Yahweh will be our light.

9We must be patient while Yahweh punishes us

because we have sinned against him.

But later, it will be as though he will go to court and defend us,

and he will make sure that the judge makes a right decision about us.

It will be as though he will bring us out into the light,

and we will see it when he rescues us.

10Our enemies will also see that, and they will be disgraced

because they ridiculed us, saying

“Why is [RHQ] Yahweh, that God of yours, not helping you?”

But with our own eyes we will see them when they are defeated;

we will see them trampled

like [SIM] mud in the streets.

11You people of Israel, at that time your cities will be rebuilt,

and your territory will become larger.

12People from many countries will come to honor you:

people from Assyria and from near the Euphrates River in the east and from Egypt in the south,

from distant seas,

and from many mountains.

13But the other countries on the earth will become desolate

because of the evil things that their people have done.

Micah’s prayer and Yahweh’s answer

14Yahweh, protect your people like [MET] a shepherd protects his sheep by using his walking stick;

lead your people [MET] whom you have chosen to belong to you.

Even though some of them live by themselves in a forest,

give them the fertile pastureland

in the Bashan and Gilead regions

that they possessed long ago.

15Yahweh says/replies,

“Yes, I will perform miracles for you

like the miracles that I performed when I rescued your ancestors from being slaves in Egypt.”

16People from many nations will see what Yahweh does for you,

and they will be ashamed

because they do not have any power.

They will put their hands over their mouths and their ears because they will be very amazed because of what Yahweh does,

and they will not be able to say anything or hear anything.

17Being very humiliated, they will crawl on the ground [MTY] like [SIM] snakes.

They will come out of their homes trembling,

and stand revering Yahweh our God.

They will be very afraid of him,

and will tremble in front of him.

18Yahweh, there is no [RHQ] God like you;

you forgive the sins [DOU] that were committed by the people who have survived,

the people who belong to you.

You do not remain angry forever;

you are very happy to show us that you faithfully love us. .

19You will again act kindly/compassionately toward us.

You will get rid of the scroll on which you have written the sins that we have committed

as though you were trampling it under your feet

or throwing it into the deep ocean.

20You will show that you faithfully do what you promised for us and faithfully love us,

just like you solemnly promised long ago to our ancestors Abraham and Jacob that you would do.