THE PROPHET
MICAH
O U T L I N E
CHAPTER 1
1 The word of Jehovah that came to Micah the Morasthite in the days of Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah, which he saw concerning Samaria and Jerusalem. 2 Hear, ye peoples, all of you; hearken, O earth, and all that is therein: and let the Lord Jehovah be witness against you, the Lord from his holy temple! 3 For behold, Jehovah cometh forth out of his place, and will come down, and tread upon the high places of the earth. 4 And the mountains shall be melted under him, and the valleys shall be cleft, as wax before the fire, as waters poured down a steep place. 5 For the transgression of Jacob is all this, and for the sins of the house of Israel. Whence is the transgression of Jacob? is it not from Samaria? And whence are the high places of Judah? are they not from Jerusalem? 6 Therefore will I make Samaria as a heap of the field, as plantings of a vineyard; and I will pour down the stones thereof into the valley, and I will lay bare the foundations thereof. 7 And all her graven images shall be beaten to pieces, and all her harlot-gifts shall be burned with fire, and all her idols will I make a desolation; for of the hire of a harlot hath she gathered them, and to a harlot’s hire shall they return. 8 For this will I lament, and I will howl; I will go stripped and naked: I will make a wailing like the jackals, and mourning like the ostriches. 9 For her wounds are incurable; for it is come even unto Judah, it reacheth unto the gate of my people, even to Jerusalem. 10 Tell it not in Gath, weep not at all; at Beth-le-aphrah roll thyself in the dust. 11 Pass away, inhabitress of Shaphir, in nakedness and shame. The inhabitress of Zaanan is not come forth for the lamentation of Beth-ezel: he will take from you its shelter. 12 For the inhabitress of Maroth waited anxiously for good; but evil hath come down from Jehovah unto the gate of Jerusalem. 13 Bind the chariot to the swift steed, O inhabitress of Lachish: she was the beginning of sin to the daughter of Zion; for in thee were found the transgressions of Israel. 14 Therefore shalt thou give parting-gifts to Moresheth-Gath: the houses of Achzib shall be a lie to the kings of Israel. 15 I will yet bring unto thee an heir, O inhabitress of Mareshah; the glory of Israel shall come even unto Adullam. 16 Make thee bald, and poll thee for the children of thy delights; enlarge thy baldness as the eagle, for they are gone into captivity from thee.
CHAPTER 2
1 Woe to them that devise iniquity and work evil upon their beds! When the morning is light they practise it, because it is in the power of their hand. 2 And they covet fields, and take them by violence; and houses, and take them away; and they oppress a man and his house, even a man and his heritage. 3 Therefore thus saith Jehovah: Behold, against this family do I devise an evil, from which ye shall not remove your necks; neither shall ye walk haughtily: for it is an evil time. 4 In that day shall they take up a proverb concerning you, and lament with a doleful lamentation, and say, We are utterly spoiled: he hath changed the portion of my people: how hath he removed it from me! He hath distributed our fields to the rebellious. 5 Therefore thou shalt have none that shall cast the measuring line upon a lot, in the congregation of Jehovah. 6 Prophesy ye not, they prophesy. If they do not prophesy to these, the ignominy will not depart. 7 O thou that art named the house of Jacob, Is Jehovah impatient? are these his doings? Do not my words do good to him that walketh uprightly? 8 But of late my people is risen up as an enemy: ye strip off the mantle with the garment from them that pass by securely, that are averse from war. 9 The women of my people do ye cast out from their pleasant houses; from their young children do ye take away my magnificence for ever. 10 Arise ye, and depart; for this is not the resting-place, because of defilement that bringeth destruction, even a grievous destruction. 11 If a man walking in wind and falsehood do lie, saying, I will prophesy unto thee of wine and of strong drink, he shall be the prophet of this people. 12 I will surely assemble, O Jacob, the whole of thee; I will surely gather the remnant of Israel; I will put them together as sheep of Bozrah, as a flock in the midst of their pasture: they shall make great noise by reason of the multitude of men. 13 One that breaketh through is gone up before them: they have broken forth, and have passed on to the gate, and are gone out by it; and their king passeth on before them, and Jehovah at the head of them.
CHAPTER 3
1 And I said, Hear, I pray you, ye heads of Jacob, and princes of the house of Israel: Is it not for you to know judgment? 2 Ye who hate the good, and love evil; who pluck off their skin from them, and their flesh from off their bones; 3 and who eat the flesh of my people, and flay their skin from off them, and break their bones, and chop them in pieces as for the pot, and as flesh within the cauldron. 4 Then shall they cry unto Jehovah, but he will not answer them; and he will hide his face from them at that time, according as they have wrought evil in their doings. 5 Thus saith Jehovah concerning the prophets that cause my people to err, that bite with their teeth, and cry, Peace! but whoso putteth not into their mouths they prepare war against him: 6 therefore ye shall have night without a vision; and it shall be dark unto you, without divination; and the sun shall go down upon the prophets, and the day shall be black over them. 7 And the seers shall be ashamed, and the diviners confounded; and they shall all cover their lips, for there will be no answer of God. 8 But truly I am filled with power by the Spirit of Jehovah, and with judgment and with might, to declare unto Jacob his transgression, and to Israel his sin. 9 Hear this, I pray you, ye heads of the house of Jacob, and princes of the house of Israel, that abhor judgment, and pervert all equity, 10 that build up Zion with blood, and Jerusalem with unrighteousness. 11 The heads thereof judge for reward, and the priests thereof teach for hire, and the prophets thereof divine for money; yet do they lean upon Jehovah, and say, Is not Jehovah in the midst of us? no evil shall come upon us. 12 Therefore shall Zion for your sake be ploughed as a field, and Jerusalem shall become heaps, and the mountain of the house as the high places of a forest.
CHAPTER 4
1 But it shall come to pass in the end of days that the mountain of Jehovah’s house shall be established on the top of the mountains, and shall be lifted up above the hills; and the peoples shall flow unto it. 2 And many nations shall go and say, Come, and let us go up to the mountain of Jehovah, and to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths. For out of Zion shall go forth the law, and Jehovah’s word from Jerusalem. 3 And he shall judge among many peoples, and reprove strong nations, even afar off; and they shall forge their swords into ploughshares, and their spears into pruning-knives: nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more. 4 And they shall sit every one under his vine, and under his fig-tree; and there shall be none to make them afraid: for the mouth of Jehovah of hosts hath spoken it. 5 For all the peoples will walk every one in the name of his god; but we will walk in the name of Jehovah, our God for ever and ever. 6 In that day, saith Jehovah, will I assemble her that halteth, and I will gather her that is driven out, and her that I have afflicted; 7 and I will make her that halted a remnant, and her that was cast far off a strong nation; and Jehovah shall reign over them in mount Zion, from henceforth even for ever. 8 And thou, O tower of the flock, hill of the daughter of Zion, unto thee shall it come, yea, the first dominion shall come, — the kingdom to the daughter of Jerusalem. 9 Now why dost thou cry out aloud? Is there no king in thee? is thy counsellor perished, that pangs have seized thee as a woman in travail? 10 Be in pain, and labour to bring forth, O daughter of Zion, like a woman in travail; for now shalt thou go forth out of the city, and thou shalt dwell in the field, and thou shalt go even to Babylon: there shalt thou be delivered; there Jehovah will redeem thee from the hand of thine enemies. 11 And now many nations are assembled against thee, that say, Let her be profaned, and let our eye look upon Zion. 12 But they know not the thoughts of Jehovah, neither understand they his counsel; for he hath gathered them together as the sheaves into the threshing-floor. 13 Arise and thresh, daughter of Zion, for I will make thy horn iron, and I will make thy hoofs brass; and thou shalt beat in pieces many peoples; and I will devote their gain to Jehovah, and their substance to the Lord of the whole earth.
CHAPTER 5
1 Now gather thyself in troops, O daughter of troops; he hath laid siege against us: they shall smite the judge of Israel with a rod upon the cheek. v.1 this verse shows the troops of the Assyrians (Gog and His confederates) gathering themselves against Israel… a continuation of the thought in ch.4.
2 (And thou, Bethlehem Ephratah, little to be among the thousands of Judah, out of thee shall he come forth unto me who is to be Ruler in Israel: whose goings forth are from of old, from the days of eternity.) v.2 is a parenthesis showing Christ’s first coming and rejection by His people. This is brought in to show that the Lord Jesus – the same One Whom they rejected long ago – will be their Deliverer in that coming day.
3 Therefore will he give them up, until the time when she which travaileth shall have brought forth: and the residue of his brethren shall return unto the children of Israel. v.3 a summary of Israel’s history between the two comings of Christ. “will he give them up” – the Jews’ consequent setting aside in the ways of God after their rejection of Christ (Rom. 11:16-27). The verse then hops over the present period of God’s work among the Gentiles during the last 2000 years (Acts 15:14), and looks on to the Lord’s future dealings with Israel when He will take up with them again, restoring and blessing them and their land.
4 And he shall stand and feed his flock in the strength of Jehovah, in the majesty of the name of Jehovah his God. And they shall abide; for now shall he be great even unto the ends of the earth. vv.4-5 show that the Lord will stand with them as their great Protector when the Assyrian [2nd attack] comes into the land oflsrael.
5 And this man shall be Peace. When the Assyrian shall come into our land, and when he shall tread in our palaces, then shall we raise against him seven shepherds, and eight princes of men. 6 And they shall waste the land of Asshur with the sword, and the land of Nimrod in the entrances thereof; and he shall deliver us from the Assyrian, when he cometh into our land, and when he treadeth within our borders. 7 And the remnant of Jacob shall be in the midst of many peoples as dew from Jehovah, as showers upon the grass, that tarrieth not for man, neither waiteth for the sons of men. 8 And the remnant of Jacob shall be among the nations, in the midst of many peoples, as a lion among the beasts of the forest, as a young lion among the flocks of sheep: who, if he go through, treadeth down, and teareth in pieces, and there is none to deliver. 9 Thy hand shall be lifted up upon thine adversaries, and all thine enemies shall be cut off. 10 And it shall come to pass in that day, saith Jehovah, that I will cut off thy horses out of the midst of thee, and I will destroy thy chariots. 11 And I will cut off the cities of thy land, and overthrow all thy strongholds. 12 And I will cut off sorceries out of thy hand; and thou shalt have no soothsayers. 13 Thy graven images also will I cut off, and thy statues out of the midst of thee; and thou shalt no more bow down to the work of thy hands. 14 And I will pluck up thine Asherahs out of the midst of thee, and I will destroy thy cities. 15 And I will execute vengeance in anger and in fury upon the nations, such as they have not heard of.
CHAPTER 6
1 Hear ye now what Jehovah saith: Arise, contend before the mountains, and let the hills hear thy voice. 2 Hear, ye mountains, Jehovah’s controversy, and ye, unchanging foundations of the earth; for Jehovah hath a controversy with his people, and he will plead with Israel. 3 O my people, what have I done unto thee? and wherein have I wearied thee? testify against me. 4 For I brought thee up out of the land of Egypt, and redeemed thee out of the house of bondage; and I sent before thee Moses, Aaron, and Miriam. 5 My people, remember now what Balak king of Moab consulted, and what Balaam the son of Beor answered him, from Shittim unto Gilgal, that ye may know the righteousness of Jehovah. 6 Wherewith shall I come before Jehovah, bow myself before the high God? Shall I come before him with burnt-offerings, with calves of a year old? 7 Will Jehovah take pleasure in thousands of rams, in ten thousands of rivers of oil? Shall I give my firstborn for my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul? 8 He hath shewn thee, O man, what is good: and what doth Jehovah require of thee, but to do justly, and to love goodness, and to walk humbly with thy God? 9 Jehovah’s voice crieth unto the city, and wisdom looketh on thy name. Hear ye the rod, and who hath appointed it. 10 Are there yet treasures of wickedness in the house of the wicked, and the scant measure which is abominable? 11 Shall I be pure with the unjust balances, and with the bag of deceitful weights? 12 For her rich men are full of violence, and her inhabitants speak lies, and their tongue is deceitful in their mouth. 13 Therefore also will I make thee sick in smiting thee; I will make thee desolate because of thy sins. 14 Thou shalt eat, and not be satisfied, and thine emptiness shall remain in the midst of thee; and thou shalt take away, and not save; and what thou savest will I give up to the sword. 15 Thou shalt sow, but thou shalt not reap; thou shalt tread the olives, but thou shalt not anoint thee with oil; and new wine, but shalt not drink wine. 16 For the statutes of Omri are kept, and all the works of the house of Ahab; and ye walk in their counsels: that I should make thee a desolation, and the inhabitants thereof a hissing; and ye shall bear the reproach of my people.
CHAPTER 7
1 Woe is me! for I am as when they have gathered the summer-fruits, as the grape-gleanings of the vintage. There is no cluster to eat; there is no early fruit which my soul desired. 2 The godly man hath perished out of the land, and there is none upright among men: they all lie in wait for blood, they hunt every man his brother with a net. 3 Both hands are for evil, to do it well. The prince asketh, and the judge is there for a reward; and the great man uttereth his soul’s greed: and together they combine it. 4 The best of them is as a briar; the most upright, worse than a thorn-fence. The day of thy watchmen, thy visitation is come; now shall be their perplexity. 5 Believe ye not in a companion, put not confidence in a familiar friend: keep the doors of thy mouth from her that lieth in thy bosom. 6 For the son dishonoureth the father, the daughter riseth up against her mother, the daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law: a man’s enemies are the men of his own household. 7 But as for me, I will look unto Jehovah; I will wait for the God of my salvation: my God will hear me. 8 Rejoice not against me, O mine enemy: though I fall, I shall arise; when I sit in darkness, Jehovah shall be a light unto me. 9 I will bear the indignation of Jehovah — for I have sinned against him — until he plead my cause, and execute judgment for me: he will bring me forth to the light; I shall behold his righteousness. 10 And mine enemy shall see it, and shame shall cover her which said unto me, Where is Jehovah thy God? Mine eyes shall behold her; now shall she be trodden down, as the mire of the streets. 11 In the day when thy walls shall be built, on that day shall the established limit recede. 12 In that day they shall come to thee from Assyria and the cities of Egypt, and from Egypt to the river, and from sea to sea, and from mountain to mountain. 13 But the land shall be desolate because of them that dwell therein, for the fruit of their doings. 14 Feed thy people with thy rod, the flock of thine inheritance, dwelling alone in the forest, in the midst of Carmel: let them feed in Bashan and Gilead, as in the days of old. 15 — As in the days of thy coming forth out of the land of Egypt, will I shew them marvellous things. 16 — The nations shall see, and be ashamed for all their might: they shall lay their hand upon their mouth, their ears shall be deaf. 17 They shall lick dust like the serpent; like crawling things of the earth, they shall come trembling forth from their close places. They shall turn with fear to Jehovah our God, and shall be afraid because of thee. 18 Who is a GOD like unto thee, that forgiveth iniquity, and passeth by the transgression of the remnant of his heritage? He retaineth not his anger for ever, because he delighteth in loving-kindness. 19 He will yet again have compassion on us, he will tread under foot our iniquities: and thou wilt cast all their sins into the depths of the sea. 20 Thou wilt perform truth to Jacob, loving-kindness to Abraham, which thou hast sworn unto our fathers, from the days of old.