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Destruction in Israel and Judah

¹ 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.

² 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.

³ 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.

^4 (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.

⁵ 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?

⁶ 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.

⁷ 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.

⁸ 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.

⁹ 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.

^10 (C1)Do not tell it in Gath,
Do not weep at all.
At ^(F1)Beth-le-aphrah roll yourself in the dust in mourning.

^11 (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."

¹² 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.

¹³ 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.

¹⁴ 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.

¹⁵ 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.

¹⁶ 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.