Micah

1

The word of the Lord comes to Micah in the reigns of Jotham, Ahaz and Hezekiah of Judah. The Lord will tread down the high places. The mountains will melt under Him, and the valleys will split like wax before the fire, like waters poured down a steep place. Samaria will be left desolate in judgment, because of its idolatrous harlotry. Micah will wail and howl like animals, going naked. The surrounding nations will know of Israel’s shame. Make yourself bald.


2

Woe to those that devise iniquity. They covet property, and seize it by violence. The Lord will take away the heritage of these people. God’s people reject the word of His prophets. False prophets prophesy days of wine and drink. A remnant of Israel shall be restored, however, gathered like sheep at the hands of one who breaks open (‘the Breaker’ in the KJV).


3

The heads of Jacob commit sadistic acts of violence against their own people. These heads will cry to the Lord, but the Lord will not hear them. Darkness will descend on false prophets. Micah declares confidently that he is a true prophet. Zion shall be plowed like a field, Jerusalem shall become heaps of ruins, and the mountain of the temple like the bare hills of the forest.


4

In the latter days, Zion will be at the centre of a renewed earth. The Lord shall judge between many nations. Swords shall be made into ploughshares, spears into pruning hooks. Nation shall not lift up sword against nation. Everyone in the restored Zion shall walk in the name of the Lord. The lame, the outcast and the afflicted will be part of a strong nation. Cry like a woman in pangs, for you will be taken to Babylon, but from there, you will be restored. The nations who exult in Zion’s humiliation will be threshed.


5

One who is to be a ruler shall come forth from Bethlehem. He shall stand and feed his flock in the strength of the Lord. He will deliver Jacob from Assyria. The remnant is large and triumphs over its enemies. The Lord will cut off sorceries, soothsayers and idols.


6

Hear, O you mountains, the Lord’s complaint. The Lord reminds the people of his favour towards them, and complains of their ingratitude. The people are imagined replying, and complaining of the Lord’s demanding nature: will the Lord be pleased with a thousand rams, and the sacrifice of a firstborn as a sin offering? However, Micah retorts that the Lord has revealed to them what He wants: justice, mercy and humility. Hear the Rod! The use of deceitful weights and measures is rebuked. You will be made a desolation.


7

The Lord compares himself to a gatherer of fruit who can find no ripe cluster of grapes. All have been corrupted. Family and other social relationships will crumble. However, enemies should not rejoice: ‘when I fall, I will arise; when I sit in darkness, the Lord will be a light to me.’ A female enemy will be trampled like mud in the streets. The Lord will shepherd His people with His staff. Other nations shall be brought low, and lick the dust like a serpent. Who is a God like You, pardoning iniquity and passing over the transgression of the remnant of His heritage?