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Micah 1

Micah announces God’s judgment against Samaria and Judah, then mourns the devastation that will reach their towns and children.

Micah of Morasheth announces YHWH’s word concerning Samaria and Jerusalem during the reigns of Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah. All peoples and the earth are summoned to hear God’s witness against his people. Samaria faces ruin for its sins and idols, and disaster reaches Judah, even Jerusalem’s gate. Micah breaks into mourning, naming towns caught in the coming devastation. The chapter closes with a call to mourn children taken into captivity.

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1The LORD’s word that came to Micah of Morasheth in the days of Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah, which he saw concerning Samaria and Jerusalem.
2Hear, you peoples, all of you! Listen, O earth, and all that is therein. Let the Lord GOD be witness against you, the Lord from his holy temple.
3For behold, the LORD comes out of his place, and will come down and tread on the high places of the earth.
4The mountains melt under him, and the valleys split apart like wax before the fire, like waters that are poured down a steep place.
5“All this is for the disobedience of Jacob, and for the sins of the house of Israel. What is the disobedience of Jacob? Isn’t it Samaria? And what are the high places of Judah? Aren’t they Jerusalem?
6Therefore I will make Samaria like a rubble heap of the field, like places for planting vineyards; and I will pour down its stones into the valley, and I will uncover its foundations.
7All her idols will be beaten to pieces, all her temple gifts will be burned with fire, and I will destroy all her images; for of the hire of a prostitute has she gathered them, and to the hire of a prostitute shall they return.”
8For this I will lament and wail. I will go stripped and naked. I will howl like the jackals and mourn like the ostriches.
9For her wounds are incurable; for it has come even to Judah. It reaches to the gate of my people, even to Jerusalem.
10Don’t tell it in Gath. Don’t weep at all. At Beth Ophrah I have rolled myself in the dust.
11Pass on, inhabitant of Shaphir, in nakedness and shame. The inhabitant of Zaanan won’t come out. The wailing of Beth Ezel will take from you his protection.
12For the inhabitant of Maroth waits anxiously for good, because evil has come down from the LORD to the gate of Jerusalem.
13Harness the chariot to the swift steed, inhabitant of Lachish. She was the beginning of sin to the daughter of Zion; for the transgressions of Israel were found in you.
14Therefore you will give a parting gift to Moresheth Gath. The houses of Achzib will be a deceitful thing to the kings of Israel.
15I will yet bring a conqueror to you, inhabitants of Mareshah. The glory of Israel will come to Adullam.
16Shave your heads, and cut off your hair for the children of your delight. Enlarge your baldness like the vulture, for they have gone into captivity from you!
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Key verses
Micah 1:2The summons makes the whole earth an audience as God bears witness against his people from his holy temple.
Micah 1:3God’s descent presents the coming judgment as his own action, with the earth’s heights beneath his feet.
Micah 1:4Melting mountains and splitting valleys portray the force of God’s presence before the charges against his people are named.
Where this chapter reaches

Isaiah and Jeremiah share Micah’s warnings of judgment against Jerusalem and his grief over the devastation and captivity of God’s people. Amos and Hosea share his charges against Israel’s idolatry and his announcement that its centers of worship will face destruction.

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How does Micah’s lament shape your reading of the judgment he announces?

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What changes when the chapter moves from melting mountains to children taken into captivity?

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Questions people ask about Micah 1

What does Micah 1 mean by Samaria’s wounds being incurable?

The wound is an image for the judgment falling on Samaria. Verse 9 describes a disaster that cannot be healed and has reached Judah, even Jerusalem’s gate. In context, the language concerns the ruin of a people and its spread, rather than a statement about medical illness.

Why does Micah 1 list so many towns?

The towns bring the announced judgment down to named communities in Judah. Several lines use Hebrew wordplay between place names and the fate described, which can be hard to hear in English. Together, these addresses trace shame, lost protection, and conquest across the land, ending with mourning for captive children.

Why does Micah mourn if God’s judgment is just?

Micah names Israel’s disobedience and the destruction of its idols, then laments the suffering that follows. His mourning begins in verse 8 as the disaster reaches Judah and Jerusalem. The chapter holds God’s judgment and the prophet’s grief together; it offers no suggestion that announcing judgment requires delight in the loss.

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Micah · 7 chapters
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Cross-reference data from OpenBible.info (CC BY). Scripture from the World English Bible (public domain). Arc diagram after Chris Harrison and Christoph Römhild (2007).