Micah

16Then the leaders and all the people spoke to the priests and the prophets. "This man should not be put to death. He spoke to us in the name of the LORD our God."

Then said the princes and all the people unto the priests and to the prophets; This man is not worthy to die: for he hath spoken to us in the name of the LORD our God.

17Then some of the older leaders of the land stood up. They spoke to the whole crowd of people.

Then rose up certain of the elders of the land, and spake to all the assembly of the people, saying,

NoteElders were older men that people trusted. They gave advice and helped settle arguments.

18"Micah from Moresheth spoke for God when Hezekiah was king of Judah. He told all the people of Judah what the LORD of Hosts said. The LORD of Hosts is God, who leads armies. Micah said, 'Zion will be plowed up like a farm field. Jerusalem will become piles of broken stones. The temple hill will grow wild like a forest.'"

Micah the Morasthite prophesied in the days of Hezekiah king of Judah, and spake to all the people of Judah, saying, Thus saith the LORD of hosts; Zion shall be plowed like a field, and Jerusalem shall become heaps, and the mountain of the house as the high places of a forest.

NoteMicah was a prophet who lived about a hundred years before Jeremiah. Moresheth was his small hometown. Hezekiah was a king of Judah back then. Zion is another name for Jerusalem and for the hill the temple stood on. To plow is to cut up dirt for planting. So Micah said the city would be flattened like an empty farm field.

19"Did King Hezekiah and the people of Judah kill Micah? No. Hezekiah honored the LORD and begged him to be kind. And the LORD changed his mind about the trouble he had promised. But we are about to bring great harm on ourselves."

Did Hezekiah king of Judah and all Judah put him at all to death? did he not fear the LORD, and besought the LORD, and the LORD repented him of the evil which he had pronounced against them? Thus might we procure great evil against our souls.

1This is the message the LORD gave to Micah. Micah came from the town of Moresheth. He was a prophet, someone who tells people what God says. He got this message while Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah were kings of Judah. It was about the cities Samaria and Jerusalem.

The word of the LORD that came to Micah the Morasthite in the days of Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah, which he saw concerning Samaria and Jerusalem.

NoteLORD in big letters stands for God's own special name. Judah was the land in the south where God's people lived. Samaria was the biggest city in the north. The people had split into two kingdoms, north and south. Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah were kings one after another, long ago.

2Listen, all you people everywhere. Listen, earth, and everyone living on you. The Lord GOD will speak against you from his holy temple.

Hear, all ye people; hearken, O earth, and all that therein is: and let the Lord GOD be witness against you, the LORD from his holy temple.

NoteThe temple was the special building where people came to worship God. A witness is someone who stands up and tells what really happened. God is saying he will tell what the people did.

3Look! The LORD is coming out from where he lives. He will come down and walk on the highest places on earth.

For, behold, the LORD cometh forth out of his place, and will come down, and tread upon the high places of the earth.

NoteThe high places here mean the tops of the mountains. God is pictured as so big he can walk on them.

4The mountains will melt under him. The valleys will split open. It will be like wax melting near a fire. It will be like water rushing down a steep hill.

And the mountains shall be molten under him, and the valleys shall be cleft, as wax before the fire, and as the waters that are poured down a steep place.

5All this is happening because Jacob's family did wrong. The people of Israel sinned. What is Jacob's wrong? It is the city Samaria. What are Judah's high places? They are Jerusalem.

For the transgression of Jacob is all this, and for the sins of the house of Israel. What is the transgression of Jacob? is it not Samaria? and what are the high places of Judah? are they not Jerusalem?

NoteJacob was a man who lived long before Micah. All of God's people came from his family. So "Jacob" here means the whole nation. False gods were statues people prayed to instead of God. High places were spots up on hills where people built altars and worshiped.

6So I will turn Samaria into a pile of stones out in a field. It will become a place to plant grapevines. I will dump her stones down into the valley. I will dig up the bottoms of her walls.

Therefore I will make Samaria as an heap of the field, and as plantings of a vineyard: and I will pour down the stones thereof into the valley, and I will discover the foundations thereof.

NoteFarmers piled up the stones they dug out of their fields. Micah says the whole city will look like one of those piles. Then someone can plant grapevines right on top of it.

7All her carved statues will be smashed to pieces. Everything she was paid will be burned in the fire. I will wreck all her idols. She collected them like the pay of a prostitute. That pay will go back to prostitutes again.

And all the graven images thereof shall be beaten to pieces, and all the hires thereof shall be burned with the fire, and all the idols thereof will I lay desolate: for she gathered it of the hire of an harlot, and they shall return to the hire of an harlot.

NoteAn idol is a statue that people pray to like a god. Micah says the city acted like a woman who sold herself for money. It is a picture of leaving God to get gifts from other gods.

8Because of this I will cry out loud and moan. I will walk around with no shoes and no clothes. I will howl like a wild dog. I will make sad sounds like a big bird.

Therefore I will wail and howl, I will go stripped and naked: I will make a wailing like the dragons, and mourning as the owls.

NoteTaking off your shoes and clothes was a way to show deep sadness. Prisoners were also marched away like that by their enemies. The King James says "dragons" and "owls," but the old words mean wild dogs and big desert birds. Both animals make lonely, crying sounds at night.

9Her wound is too deep to heal. The trouble has come all the way to Judah. It has reached the gate of my people, right up to Jerusalem.

For her wound is incurable; for it is come unto Judah; he is come unto the gate of my people, even to Jerusalem.

NoteA city had a high wall with a gate to keep enemies out. When trouble reaches the gate, the enemy is right outside. Micah talks about the city as if it were a hurt person.

10Do not tell about it in the town of Gath. Do not cry there at all. In the town of Beth-leaphrah, roll in the dust to show you are sad.

Declare ye it not at Gath, weep ye not at all: in the house of Aphrah roll thyself in the dust.

NoteGath was a town of the Philistines, who were enemies of God's people. You would not want your enemies to hear your bad news. Rolling in the dust was a way to show you were very sad. The town's name Beth-leaphrah sounds like the word for dust.

11People of Shaphir, go away with no clothes on and in shame. People of Zaanan will not come out of their town. The town of Beth-ezel is crying. It cannot hold you up anymore.

Pass ye away, thou inhabitant of Saphir, having thy shame naked: the inhabitant of Zaanan came not forth in the mourning of Bethezel; he shall receive of you his standing.

NoteMicah is playing with the sounds of town names. Shaphir sounds like the word for "pretty." Zaanan sounds like the words for "go out." Enemies often marched their prisoners away without clothes.

12The people of Maroth waited and hoped for good news. But trouble came down from the LORD to the gate of Jerusalem.

For the inhabitant of Maroth waited carefully for good: but evil came down from the LORD unto the gate of Jerusalem.

NoteThe name Maroth sounds like the word for "bitter." Bitter is a word for something sad or sour.

13People of Lachish, hitch your fast horses to the chariot. A chariot is a cart that horses pull. You were the first to lead Jerusalem into sin. The wrong things Israel did were found in you too.

O thou inhabitant of Lachish, bind the chariot to the swift beast: she is the beginning of the sin to the daughter of Zion: for the transgressions of Israel were found in thee.

NoteThe name Lachish sounds like a word for a team of horses. Lachish was a strong city with big walls and many chariots.

14So you must send goodbye gifts to the town of Moresheth-gath. The town of Achzib will let the kings of Israel down.

Therefore shalt thou give presents to Moreshethgath: the houses of Achzib shall be a lie to the kings of Israel.

NoteGoodbye gifts were given when someone left home for good. A daughter got them when she moved away to marry. The name Achzib sounds like the word for a lie. It also sounds like a stream that dries up when you need it.

15People of Mareshah, I will bring someone to take your town from you. Israel's finest will come to the place called Adullam.

Yet will I bring an heir unto thee, O inhabitant of Mareshah: he shall come unto Adullam the glory of Israel.

NoteThe name Mareshah sounds like a word for an owner who takes over. Adullam was a cave in the hills. Long before, David hid in that cave from his enemies.

16Shave your head bare. Cut off your hair because your dear children are gone. Make your head as bare as a vulture. Your children are being taken far away.

Make thee bald, and poll thee for thy delicate children; enlarge thy baldness as the eagle; for they are gone into captivity from thee.

NoteShaving your head bare showed everyone that you were very sad. The King James says "eagle," but the bird meant is a vulture. A vulture's head has no feathers on it. Being taken far away means enemy soldiers carried the children off to another country.