Micah 1-4; Psalms 130 - Prayer Tents

1The Lord gave this message to Micah of Moresheth during the years when Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah were kings of Judah. The visions he saw concerned both Samaria and Jerusalem.H1697H3068H4318H4183H3117H3147H271H3169H4428H3063H2372H8111H3389

Grief over Samaria and Jerusalem

2Attention! Let all the people of the world listen! Let the earth and everything in it hear. The Sovereign Lord is making accusations against you; the Lord speaks from his holy Temple.H8085H5971H7181H776H4393H136H3069H5707H136H6944H1964 3Look! The Lord is coming! He leaves his throne in heaven and tramples the heights of the earth.H3068H3318H4725H3381H1869H1116H776 4The mountains melt beneath his feet and flow into the valleys like wax in a fire, like water pouring down a hill.H2022H4549H6010H1234H1749H6440H784H4325H5064H4174 5And why is this happening? Because of the rebellion of Israel—yes, the sins of the whole nation. Who is to blame for Israel’s rebellion? Samaria, its capital city! Where is the center of idolatry in Judah? In Jerusalem, its capital!H6588H3290H2403H1004H3478H6588H3290H8111H1116H3063H3389 6“So I, the Lord, will make the city of Samaria a heap of ruins. Her streets will be plowed up for planting vineyards. I will roll the stones of her walls into the valley below, exposing her foundations.H7760H8111H5856H7704H4302H3754H5064H68H1516H1540H3247 7All her carved images will be smashed. All her sacred treasures will be burned. These things were bought with the money earned by her prostitution, and they will now be carried away to pay prostitutes elsewhere.”H6456H3807H868H8313H784H6091H7760H8077H6908H868H2181H7725H868H2181 8Therefore, I will mourn and lament. I will walk around barefoot and naked. I will howl like a jackal and moan like an owl.H5594H3213H3212H7758H7758H6174H6213H4553H8577H60H1323H3284 9For my people’s wound is too deep to heal. It has reached into Judah, even to the gates of Jerusalem.H4347H605H935H3063H5060H8179H5971H3389 10Don’t tell our enemies in Gath; don’t weep at all. You people in Beth-leaphrah, roll in the dust to show your despair.H5046H1661H1058H1058H1036H6428H6428H6083 11You people in Shaphir, go as captives into exile—naked and ashamed. The people of Zaanan dare not come outside their walls. The people of Beth-ezel mourn, for their house has no support.H5674H3427H8208H1322H6181H3427H6630H3318H4553H1018H3947H5979 12The people of Maroth anxiously wait for relief, but only bitterness awaits them as the Lord’s judgment reaches even to the gates of Jerusalem.H3427H4796H2342H2896H7451H3381H3068H8179H3389 13Harness your chariot horses and flee, you people of Lachish. You were the first city in Judah to follow Israel in her rebellion, and you led Jerusalem into sin.H3427H3923H7573H4818H7409H7225H2403H1323H6726H6588H3478H4672 14Send farewell gifts to Moresheth-gath; there is no hope of saving it. The town of Aczib has deceived the kings of Israel.H5414H7964H4182H1004H392H391H4428H3478 15O people of Mareshah, I will bring a conqueror to capture your town. And the leaders of Israel will go to Adullam.H935H3423H3427H4762H935H5725H3519H3478 16Oh, people of Judah, shave your heads in sorrow, for the children you love will be snatched away. Make yourselves as bald as a vulture, for your little ones will be exiled to distant lands.H7139H1494H8588H1121H7337H7144H5404H1540

Judgment against Wealthy Oppressors

2What sorrow awaits you who lie awake at night, thinking up evil plans. You rise at dawn and hurry to carry them out, simply because you have the power to do so.H1945H2803H205H6466H7451H4904H1242H216H6213H3426H410H3027 2When you want a piece of land, you find a way to seize it. When you want someone’s house, you take it by fraud and violence. You cheat a man of his property, stealing his family’s inheritance.H2530H7704H1497H1004H5375H6231H1397H1004H376H5159 3But this is what the Lord says. “I will reward your evil with evil; you won’t be able to pull your neck out of the noose. You will no longer walk around proudly, for it will be a terrible time.”H559H3068H4940H2803H7451H4185H6677H3212H7317H6256H7451 4In that day your enemies will make fun of you by singing this song of despair about you. “We are finished, completely ruined! God has confiscated our land, taking it from us. He has given our fields to those who betrayed us.”H3117H5375H4912H5091H5093H5092H559H7703H7703H4171H2506H5971H4185H7725H2505H7704 5Others will set your boundaries then, and the Lord’s people will have no say in how the land is divided.H7993H2256H1486H6951H3068

True and False Prophets

6“Don’t say such things,” the people respond. “Don’t prophesy like that. Such disasters will never come our way!”H5197H5197H5197H5253H3639 7Should you talk that way, O family of Israel? Will the Lord’s Spirit have patience with such behavior? If you would do what is right, you would find my words comforting.H559H1004H3290H7307H3068H7114H4611H1697H3190H1980H3477 8Yet to this very hour my people rise against me like an enemy! You steal the shirts right off the backs of those who trusted you, making them as ragged as men returning from battle.H865H5971H6965H341H6584H145H4136H8008H5674H983H7725H4421 9You have evicted women from their pleasant homes and forever stripped their children of all that God would give them.H802H5971H1644H8588H1004H5768H3947H1926H5769 10Up! Begone! This is no longer your land and home, for you have filled it with sin and ruined it completely.H6965H3212H4496H2930H2254H4834H2256 11Suppose a prophet full of lies would say to you, “I’ll preach to you the joys of wine and alcohol!” That’s just the kind of prophet you would like!H3863H376H1980H7307H8267H3576H5197H3196H7941H5197H5971

Hope for Restoration

12“Someday, O Israel, I will gather you; I will gather the remnant who are left. I will bring you together again like sheep in a pen, like a flock in its pasture. Yes, your land will again be filled with noisy crowds!H622H622H3290H6908H6908H7611H3478H7760H3162H6629H1223H1224H5739H8432H1699H1949H120 13Your leader will break out and lead you out of exile, out through the gates of the enemy cities, back to your own land. Your king will lead you; the Lord himself will guide you.”H6555H5927H6440H6555H5674H8179H3318H4428H5674H6440H3068H7218

Judgment against Israel’s Leaders

3I said, “Listen, you leaders of Israel! You are supposed to know right from wrong,H559H8085H7218H3290H7101H1004H3478H3045H4941 2but you are the very ones who hate good and love evil. You skin my people alive and tear the flesh from their bones.H8130H2896H157H7451H1497H5785H7607H6106 3Yes, you eat my people’s flesh, strip off their skin, and break their bones. You chop them up like meat for the cooking pot.H398H7607H5971H6584H5785H6476H6106H6566H5518H1320H8432H7037 4Then you beg the Lord for help in times of trouble! Do you really expect him to answer? After all the evil you have done, he won’t even look at you!”H2199H3068H6030H5641H6440H6256H7489H4611 5This is what the Lord says. “You false prophets are leading my people astray! You promise peace for those who give you food, but you declare war on those who refuse to feed you.H559H3068H5030H5971H8582H5391H8127H7121H7965H5414H6310H6942H4421 6Now the night will close around you, cutting off all your visions. Darkness will cover you, putting an end to your predictions. The sun will set for you prophets, and your day will come to an end.H3915H2377H2821H2821H7080H8121H935H5030H3117H6937 7Then you seers will be put to shame, and you fortune-tellers will be disgraced. And you will cover your faces because there is no answer from God.”H2374H954H7080H2659H5844H8222H4617H430 8But as for me, I am filled with power—with the Spirit of the Lord. I am filled with justice and strength to boldly declare Israel’s sin and rebellion.H199H4390H3581H7307H3068H4941H1369H5046H3290H6588H3478H2403 9Listen to me, you leaders of Israel! You hate justice and twist all that is right.H8085H7218H1004H3290H7101H1004H3478H8581H4941H6140H3477 10You are building Jerusalem on a foundation of murder and corruption.H1129H6726H1818H3389H5766 11You rulers make decisions based on bribes; you priests teach God’s laws only for a price; you prophets won’t prophesy unless you are paid. Yet all of you claim to depend on the Lord. “No harm can come to us,” you say, “for the Lord is here among us.”H7218H8199H7810H3548H3384H4242H5030H7080H3701H8172H3068H559H3068H7130H7451H935 12Because of you, Mount Zion will be plowed like an open field; Jerusalem will be reduced to ruins! A thicket will grow on the heights where the Temple now stands.H6726H1558H2790H7704H3389H5856H2022H1004H1116H3293