1 The word of Ahv'ah {Heb. Yahvah} that came to Miʹcah of Moʹresh·eth, in the days of Joʹtham, Aʹhaz, and Hez·e·kyʹah, kings of Judah, and that he received in a vision concerning Sa·marʹi·a and Yerushalom:
2 “Hear, all you peoples!
Pay attention, O earth and what fills you,
And let the Master Ahv'ah {Heb. Yahvah} serve as a witness against you
—Ahv'ah {Heb. Yahvah} from his holy temple.
3 For look! Ahv'ah {Heb. Yahvah} is going out from his place;
He will come down and tread on earth’s high places.
4 The mountains will melt under him,
And the valleys will split apart
Like wax before the fire,
Like waters poured down a steep slope.
5 All of this is because of the revolt of Yacob,
Because of the sins of the house of Isra'Al.
What is the revolt of Yacob?
Is it not Sa·marʹi·a?
And what are the high places of Judah?
Are they not Yerushalom?
6 I will make Sa·marʹi·a a heap of ruins of the field,
A place for planting vineyards;
I will hurl her stones down into the valley,
And I will lay bare her foundations.
7 All her graven images will be crushed to pieces,
And all the gifts for which she hired herself out will be burned in the fire.
I will devastate all her idols.
For she collected them from the wages of prostitution,
And they will again become the wages of prostitutes.”
8 Because of this I will wail and howl;
I will walk barefoot and naked.
My wailing will be like that of jackals,
And my mourning like that of ostriches.
9 For her wound cannot be healed;
It has come as far as Judah.
The plague has spread to the gate of my people, to Yerushalom.
10 “Do not announce it in Gath;
You must not weep at all.
In Beth-aphʹrah roll in the dust.
11 Cross over in nakedness and shame, O inhabitants of Shaʹphir.
The inhabitants of Zaʹa·nan have not come out.
There will be wailing in Beth-eʹzel, and it will take its support away from you.
12 For the inhabitants of Maʹroth have waited for good,
But what is bad has come down from Ahv'ah {Heb. Yahvah} to the gate of Yerushalom.
13 Harness the chariot to the team of horses, O inhabitants of Laʹchish.
You were the beginning of sin to the daughter of Zion,
For in you were found the revolts of Isra'Al.
14 So you will give parting gifts to Moʹresh·eth-gath.
The houses of Achʹzib were something deceitful to the kings of Isra'Al.
15 The conqueror I will yet bring in to you, O inhabitants of Ma·reʹshah.
As far as A·dulʹlam the glory of Isra'Al will come.
16 Make yourselves bald and shear off your hair for your cherished children.
Make yourselves as bald as an eagle,
For they have been taken away from you into exile.”