Micah 1

1 ¹ The word of our Father that came to Micah of Moresheth in the days of Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah — what he saw concerning Samaria and Jerusalem. ² Hear, all you peoples; listen, earth, and all that fills it — let the Sovereign Father be a witness against you, the Sovereign Father from his holy temple. ³ For look — our Father is coming out from his place; he will come down and tread on the high places of the earth. ⁴ The mountains will melt beneath him, and the valleys will split apart, like wax before the fire, like waters poured down a steep slope. ⁵ All this is for the transgression of Jacob and for the sins of the house of Israel. What is the transgression of Jacob? Is it not Samaria? And what is the high place of Judah? Is it not Jerusalem? ⁶ So I will make Samaria a heap of ruins in the open field, a place for planting vineyards. I will pour her stones down into the valley and lay bare her foundations. ⁷ All her carved images will be shattered, all her wages burned in the fire; all her idols I will lay waste. For from a prostitute's wages she gathered them, and to a prostitute's wages they will return.

⁸ Because of this I will lament and wail; I will go stripped and naked. I will howl like jackals and moan like ostriches. ⁹ For her wound is incurable; it has come all the way to Judah. It has reached the gate of my people, all the way to Jerusalem. ¹⁰ Do not tell it in Gath; do not weep at all. In Beth-le-aphrah roll yourselves in the dust. ^a a v10 The town names in this passage are woven into the prophet's words as puns — Beth-le-aphrah sounds like the Hebrew for "house of dust," so its people are told to roll in the dust. ¹¹ Pass on your way, you who live in Shaphir, in nakedness and shame. Those who live in Zaanan do not come out; the wailing of Beth-ezel leaves you with no place to stand. ¹² For those who live in Maroth wait anxiously for good, because disaster has come down from our Father to the gate of Jerusalem. ¹³ Harness the horses to the chariot, you who live in Lachish. She was the beginning of sin to the daughter of Zion, for in you the transgressions of Israel were found. ¹⁴ Therefore you will give parting gifts to Moresheth-gath; the houses of Achzib will be a deception to the kings of Israel. ¹⁵ Once more I will bring a conqueror against you, you who live in Mareshah; the glory of Israel will come to Adullam. ¹⁶ Shave your head and cut off your hair for the children you love; make yourself as bald as the eagle, for they will go from you into exile. ^b b v16 The bird pictured is likely the griffon vulture, known for its bare, featherless head — the image is of complete, visible baldness.