MICAH

THE MESSAGE WHICH CAME FROM JEHOVAH TO MICAH THE MORASHTITE IN THE DAYS OF HEZEKIAH

183. A COUNTRYMAN'S CONDEMNATION OF THE CRIMES OF THE CITY

Hear this, peoples all, and give heed,

O earth, and its inhabitants,

For before you Jehovah will testify,
The Lord from his holy temple..

See, he comes down from his place,
He treads upon the heights of the earth;
The mountains are melting beneath him,
Like wax in the presence of fire;
And the valleys break apart,
Like water poured over a precipice.

For the guilt of Jacob is all this,

And for the sin of the house of Judah.
What is Jacob's guilt?

Is it not Samaria?

What is Judah's sin?

Is it not Jerusalem?

Se Jehovah has made Samaria a ruin,
A place where a vineyard is planted.
Poured down her stones into the valley,
And laid her foundations bare.

For this I will wail and lament,
I will go barefoot and naked,
I will raise a wailing like jackals,

And mourn like the ostriches.

For Samaria's wound is incurable,

The peril comes even to Judah,

It reaches the gate of my people,
Even unto Jerusalem!

Tell it not in Gath!

In Giloh exult not!

In Bochim weep bitterly!
In Beth-aphrah roll in the dust!
For ruin is descending from Jehovah
On the gates of Jerusalem.

Hark! Jehovah calls to the city!

Hear, O tribe and council of the city,

Whose rich men are given to deeds of violence,

And whose citizens speak only falsehood:

'Can I forget the riches in the house of the wicked, And the accursed scant measure?

Or condone the wicked balances,
And the bag of short weights?

'I indeed have begun to crush you,
To destroy you because of your sins.
You shall eat, but not be satisfied,
You shall store away, but not save,
You shall sow, but shall reap nothing,
Press out olives, but not anoint yourself,
And make new wine, but drink none of it!

'For you follow the statutes of Omri,
The policy of the house of Ahab.

You have lived in accord with their counsels,
I must give you up, therefore, to ruin,

Your inhabitants to derision.'

184. FALSE AND TRUE RELIGION

Woe to those who plan mischief,

And plot evil upon their beds!

When morning dawns they carry it out,
For it is in their power to do so!

They covet fields and seize them,
Houses, and carry them off;

So they crush both household and householder,
A man and his inheritance.

Therefore Jehovah declares:
'See, I am planning disaster,

Which you cannot remove from your necks,
So that you can walk erect,

For this is a time of calamity!'

'Do not keep harping on such things,' they urge, 'No disgrace can come to the house of Jacob. Is Jehovah impatient, or are these his doings? Are not his words kindly to his people Israel?'

But you have become my people's foe;
You attack those who are peaceful,

You strip the cloak from peaceful travellers,
Unwilling to resist!

You drive the women of my people

Out of their pleasant homes;

You take away my glory

From their young children forever.

By saying, "Rise and be gone,
For this is no place to rest."

Hear, you leaders of Jacob,
And rulers of the nation Israel.
Ought you not to know justice,
You who hate good and love evil?

They devour the flesh of my people,

And strip their skin from off them,

They lay bare their bones and break them,
Like meat for the pot or the caldron !

Then they will cry to Jehovah,
But no answer will he give them;
He will hide his face from them,
Because they commit such crimes.

Jehovah declares concerning the prophets
Who lead my people astray,

Who, when well fed, proclaim peace,

But a holy war on one who fills not their mouths:

'Night shall fall upon you with no vision,
And darkness with no divination.

The sun shall set upon these prophets,
For them the light of day shall be darkened.'

Then shall the seers be ashamed,
The diviners be covered with disgrace.
They all shall refrain from speech,
Because God gives them no answer.

But verily I am full of power,
And am given justice and strength,
To declare to Jacob his guilt,
To tell to Israel his sin.

Hear this, you leaders of Jacob,
And rulers of the nation Israel,
You to whom justice is loathsome,
You perverters of all that is right!

You who build Zion by bloodshed
And fill Jerusalem with crime!
Her leaders judge for a bribe,
Her priests give decisions for hire,

With what shall I come before Jehovah,

And bow before the God on high?

Shall I come before him with burnt-offerings,
And with calves but one year old?

Will Jehovah be pleased with thousands of rams,

And with ten thousand rivers of oil?

Shall I give him my first-born to atone for my guilt, The fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?

It has been shown you, O man,
What Jehovah desires of you:
To do justice, and to love mercy,

To walk humbly with your God.

185. UNIVERSAL PEACE BASED ON JUSTICE

It shall come to pass in future days,

That the site of Jehovah's house

Will be established on the mountain tops,

Exalted above the hills.

People shall come streaming to it,
Many nations shall come and say:

'Let us go up to Jehovah's mount,
To the house of the God of Jacob,
That he may instruct us in his ways,
That we may walk in his paths.