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MICAH
CHAPTER
1
1
The worde of the Lorde came vnto Micheas the Morasthite, in the dayes of Iotham,
Ahas, & Hezekiah, kinges of Iuda, which he sawe concerning
Samaria
and Hierusalem.
2 Heare all ye people, marke this well O earth and all that therein is: yea let
the Lorde God him selfe be witnesse against you, [euen] the Lorde from his holy
temple.
3 For beholde, the Lorde shall come out of his holy place, and come downe and
treade vpon the hie thinges of ye earth.
4 The mountaines shal melt vnder him, and the valleyes shall cleaue a sunder,
lyke as wax [melteth] before the fire, and as the waters runne downeward.
5 And all this shalbe for the wickednes of Iacob, and the sinnes of the house of
Israel
: but what is the wickednesse of Iacob? is not
Samaria
? which are the hie places of Iuda? is not Hierusalem?
6 Therefore I wyll make
Samaria
an heape of the fielde [meete] for the planting of a vineyarde: her stones wyll
I tumble downe into the valley, and discouer her foundations.
7 All her images shalbe broken downe, and all her garmentes shalbe brent in the
fire, yea: al her idols wyl I destroy: for they are gathered out of the hyre of
an harlot, and into an harlots hyre shall they be turned againe.
8 Wherefore I wyll mourne and make lamentation, bare and naked wyl I go: I wyll
mourne lyke the Dragons, and take sorowe as the Ostriches.
9 For their wounde is past remedie, it is come into Iuda, and hath touched the
gate of my people at Hierusalem alredie.
10 Declare it not at
Gath
, neither weepe ye: for the house of Aphra roule thy selfe in the dust.
11 Thou that dwellest at Saphir gette thee hence naked with shame: she that
dwelleth at Zaanan, shall not come foorth in the mourning of Bethezel: [the
enemie] shal receaue of you for his standing.
12 For the inhabitautes of Maroth wayled for good, but the plague shall come
from the Lorde, euen vnto the gates of Hierusalem.
13 O thou inhabitaunt of Lachis, binde the charette to the swiftest beast, she
is the beginning of the sinne of the daughter of Sion: for the transgressions of
Israel
were founde in thee.
14 Therfore shalt thou bring presentes to Moresheth Gath: ye houses of Achzib [shalbe]
as a lye to the kinges of
Israel
.
15 And as for thee O thou that dwellest at Maresa, I shall bring a possessioner
vpon thee, he shal come to Adullam, the glory of
Israel
.
16 Make thee baulde, and shaue thee because of thy tender children: make thee
cleane baulde as an Egle, for they shalbe caried away captiue from thee.
CHAPTER
2
1 Wo vnto them that imagine iniquitie, and worke wickednesse vpon their beddes:
when the morning is light they practise it, because their hande hath power.
2 And they couet fieldes, and take them by violence, and houses, and take them
away: so they oppresse a man and his house, [euen] man and his heritage.
3 Therefore thus saith the Lorde: Beholde, against this housholde haue I deuised
a plague, whereout ye shall not plucke your neckes: ye shall no more go so
proudly, for it wyl be a perilous time.
4 In that day shal this parable be vsed, and a mourning shalbe made ouer you on
this maner: We be vtterly desolate, the portion of my people is translated: how
wyll he parte vnto vs the lande that he hath taken from vs?
5 Therefore there shalbe no man to deuide thee thy portion in the congregation
of the Lorde.
6 Ye shal not prophecie [say they] to them that prophecie: they shal not
prophecie to them, neither shall they take shame.
7 O thou that art named the house of Iacob, is the spirite of the Lorde
shortened? are these his workes? are not my words good vnto him that walketh
vprightly?
8 But he that was yesterday my people, is rysen vp on the other side [as]
against an enemie: they spoyle the beawtifull garment from them that passe by
peaceably, as though they returned from the warre.
9 The women of my people haue ye shut out from their pleasaunt houses, and taken
away myne excellent giftes from their children.
10 Up, get you hence, for here shall ye haue no rest: because [the lande] is
defiled, it shall destroy [you] which vtter destruction.
11 If a man walke in the spirite, and would lye falsely [saying] I wyl prophecie
to thee of wine and strong drinke: that were a prophete for this people.
12 I wyll surely gather thee wholly O Iacob, I wyll surely gather the remnaunt
of
Israel
, I wyll put them together as the sheepe of Bozra, as the flocke in the middest
of their folde, they shall make great noyse by reason of the [multitude] of men.
13 The breaker shall come vp before them, they shall breake out, and passe by
the gate, and go out by it: and their king shall go before them, and the Lorde
shalbe vpon their heades.
CHAPTER
3
1 And I saide, heare I pray you O heads of Iacob, & ye princes of the house
of
Israel
, shoulde not ye know iudgement?
2 [But] they hate the good, and loue the euill, they plucke of their skinnes
from them, and their fleshe from their bones.
3 And they eate also the fleshe of my people, & flay of their skinne from
them: and they breake their bones, and chop them in peeces as for the pot, and
as fleshe within the cauldron.
4 Then shall they crye vnto the Lorde, but he wyll not heare them: he wyll euen
hide his face from them at that time, because they haue done wickedly in their
workes.
5 Thus saith the Lorde concerning the prophetes that deceaue my people and bite
them with their teeth, and crye peace: but if a man put not into their mouthes,
they prepare warre against him.
6 Therfore night [shalbe] vnto you for a vision, and darkenesse [shalbe] vnto
you for a diuination: and the sunne shall go downe ouer the prophetes, and the
day shalbe darke ouer them.
7 Then shall the sears be ashamed, and the soothsayers confounded: yea, they
shal al couer their lippes, for they haue none aunswere of God.
8 Yet notwithstanding, I am full of power by the spirite of the Lorde, and of
iudgement, and of strength, to declare vnto Iacob his transgression, and to
Israel
his sinne.
9 Heare this I pray you ye heades of the house of Iacob, and princes of the
house of
Israel
: they abhorre iudgement, and peruert all equitie.
10 They builde vp Sion with blood, and Hierusalem with iniquitie.
11 (The heades therof iudge for rewards, and the priestes thereof teache for
hyre, and the prophetes thereof prophecie for money: yet wyll they leane vpon
the Lord, and say, Is not the Lord among vs? no euill can come vpon vs.)
12 Therefore shall Sion for your sake be plowed [as] a fielde, & Hierusalem
shalbe an heape, and the mountaine of the house as the hie places of the forest.
CHAPTER
4
1 But in the latter dayes it wyll come to passe that the hill of the Lordes
house shalbe prepared in the toppe of the mountaines, and shalbe set vp hygher
then any mountaynes or hilles, and people shall prease vnto it.
2 Yea, the multitude of the Gentiles shall haste them thither, saying: Come, let
vs go vp the to hill of the Lorde, and to the house of the God of Iacob, and he
shall teache vs his wayes, and we wyll walke in his pathes: for the lawe shall
come out of Sion, and the word of God from Hierusalem.
3 And he shall iudge many people, and rebuke mightie nations of farre countreys:
so that of their swordes they shal make ploughshares, and sythes of their
speares: one people shall not lift vp a sworde against another, yea they shall
no more learne to fight.
4 But euery man shall sit vnder his vineyarde, and vnder his figtree, and no man
shall make them afraide: for the mouth of the Lorde of hoastes hath spoken it.
5 Therfore all people wyll walke euery man in the name of his God: and we wyll
walke in the name of our lord God for euer and euer.
6 At the same time saith the Lorde, wyl I gather vp the lame and the outcast,
and such as I haue chastened,
7 And wyll geue a remnaunt vnto the lame, and make of the outcast a mightie
people: and the Lorde him selfe shalbe their king vpon the mount Sion, from this
time foorth for euermore.
8 And vnto thee O thou towre of the flocke, thou strong holde of the daughter
Sion, vnto thee shall it come, euen the lordeship and kingdome to the daughter
Hierusalem.
9 Why then doest thou crye and lament? is there no king in thee? are thy
counsellers perished, that thou art so payned as a woman in her trauaile?
10 And now O thou daughter Sion, sorowe and lament as a woman in her trauaile:
for nowe must thou get thee out of the citie, & dwelt vpon the plaine fielde:
yea vnto
Babylon
shalt thou go, [but] there shalt thou be deliuered, and there the Lord shall
redeeme thee from the hande of thyne enemies.
11 Now also are there many people gathered together against thee, saying: Sion
shalbe condempned, and our eye shall loke vpon Sion.
12 But they know not the thoughtes of the Lord, they vnderstand not his counsel:
for he shall gather them together as the sheaues in the barne.
13 Therefore get thee vp, O thou daughter Sion, and thresshe out the corne: for
I wyll make thy horne iron, and thy hooues brasse, that thou mayst breake in
peeces many people: their goodes shalt thou consecrate vnto the Lorde, and their
substaunce vnto the ruler of the whole worlde.
CHAPTER
5
1 Now shalt thou be robbed thy selfe O thou robbers daughter: they shall laye
siege against vs, & smyte the iudge of
Israel
with a rodde vpon the cheeke.
2 And thou Bethlehem Ephrata art little among the thousandes of Iuda, out of
thee shal he come foorth vnto me which shalbe the gouernour in
Israel
, whose out going hath ben from the beginning, and from euerlasting.
3 Therefore wyll he geue them vp for a season, vntill the time that she which
shall beare haue borne: then shall the remnaunt of his brethren be conuerted
vnto the children of
Israel
.
4 He shall stande faste, and geue foode in the strength of the Lorde, and in the
maiestie of the name of the Lorde his God: and when they be conuerted, he shalbe
magnified vnto the farthest partes of the worlde.
5 And he shall be our peace: when the Assirians shall come into our lande, when
he shal treade in our palaces, then shall we raise against him seuen
sheepheardes, and eyght principall men.
6 These shall subdue the lande of Assur with the sworde, and the lande of Nimrod
with their naked weapons: Thus shall he deliuer vs from the Assirian when he
commeth within our lande, and setteth his foote within our borders.
7 And the remnaunt of Iacob shalbe among the multitude of people as the deawe of
the Lord, and as the droppes vpon the
grasse
, that taryeth for no man and wayteth on no body.
8 Yea the residue of Iacob shalbe among the gentiles and the multitude of
people, as the lion among the beastes of the wood, and as the lions whelpe among
the flockes of sheepe: which whe he goeth through, treadeth downe, teareth in
peeces, and there is no man that can deliuer.
9 Thyne hand shalbe lyft vp vpon thyne enemies, and all thyne aduersaries shall
perishe.
10 And it shall come to passe in that day saith the Lorde, that I wyll take
thyne horses from thee, and destroy thy charrettes.
11 I wyll breake downe the cities of thy lande, and ouerthrowe all thy strong
holdes.
12 All witchcraftes wyll I roote out of thyne hande, there shall no mo
soothsayinges be within thee.
13 Thyne idols and thyne images wyll I destroy out of thee, so that thou shalt
no more bowe thy selfe vnto the workes of thyne owne handes.
14 Thy groues wyll I plucke vp by the rootes, and breake downe thy cities.
15 And I wyll execute a vengeaunce in my wrath & indignation vpon the
heathen, such as they haue not heard.
CHAPTER
6
1 Hearken ye nowe what the Lorde sayth: Arise thou, and contend with the
mountaynes, and let the hilles heare thy voyce.
2 Heare O ye mountaines the Lordes quarel, and ye mightie foundations of the
earth: for the Lorde hath a quarell against his people, and wyll pleade with
Israel
.
3 O my people what haue I done vnto thee? or wherein haue I greeued thee? geue
me aunswere.
4 For I brought thee out of the lande of
Egypt
, & deliuered thee out of the house of bondage, and I made Moyses, Aaron,
and Miriam to leade thee.
5 Remember O my people, what Balach the king of
Moab
had deuised against thee, and what aunswere that Balaam the sonne of Beor gaue
him, from Sethin vnto Galgal, that ye may knowe the righteousnesse of the Lorde.
6 Wherewith shall I come before the Lorde, and bowe my selfe to the hye God?
Shall I come before him with burnt offeringes, and with calues of a yere olde?
7 Hath the Lorde a pleasure in many thousandes of Rammes, or innumerabic
streames of oyle? shall I geue my first borne for myne offences, and the fruite
of my body for the sinne of my soule?
8 He hath shewed thee O man what is good, and what the Lorde requireth of thee:
[namely] to do iustly, to loue mercie, and to humble thy selfe to walke with thy
God.
9 The Lordes voyce cryeth vnto the citie, and the man that shalbe saued
considereth thy name: hearken what is your rodde, & heare him that warneth
you.
10 Are not yet the treasures of wickednesse in the house of the wicked, and the
scant measure which is abhominable?
11 Should I iustifie the false balaunces, and the bagge of deceitfull weightes?
12 For the riche men thereof are full of crueltie, and the inhabitantes thereof
haue spoken lyes, and haue deceitfull tongues in their mouthes.
13 Therefore I wyll take in hande to punishe thee, and to make thee desolate,
because of thy sinnes.
14 Thou shalt eate, and not haue inough: yea, thou shalt bring thy selfe downe
in the middes of thee, thou shalt flee, but not escape, and those that thou
wouldest saue, wyll I deliuer to the sworde.
15 Thou shalt sowe, but not reape, thou shalt presse out Oliues, but oyle shalt
thou not haue to annoynt thy selfe withall: thou shalt tread out sweete must,
but shalt drincke no wine.
16 Ye kepe the ordinaunces of Amri, and all the customes of the house of Ahab,
ye walke in their counsels: therfore wyl I make thee waste, and cause thy
inhabiters to be hissed at, and ye shall beare the reproche of my people.
CHAPTER
7
1 Wo is me, I am become as one that goeth a gleanyng in the haruest: there are
no mo grapes to eate, yet would I faine with al my hearte haue of the best
fruite.
2 There is not a godly vpon earth, there is not one righteous among men: they al
lye in wayte for blood, and euery man hunteth his brother to death.
3 Yet they say they do wel, when they do euyll: the prince asketh, and the iudge
[iudgeth] for a rewarde, therfore the great man speaketh out of the corruption
of his soule, and so they wrappe it vp.
4 The best of them is as bryer, and the most righteous of them is [sharper] then
a thorne hedge: the day of thy watchmen, [and] of thy visitation commeth: then
shalbe their confusion.
5 Let no man beleeue his friende, nor put his confidence in his brother: kepe
the doore of thy mouth from her that lyeth in thy bosome.
6 For the sonne dishonoreth his father, the daughter riseth against her mother,
the daughter in law against her mother in lawe: and a mans foes are euen they of
his owne housholde.
7 Neuerthelesse, I wil looke vp vnto the Lorde, I will patiently abyde God my
sauiour: my God shall heare me.
8 O thou enemie of myne reioyce not at my fall, for I shall rise againe: &
though I sit in darkenesse, yet the Lorde is my light.
9 I will beare the wrath of the Lord, for I haue offended hym till he sit in
iudgement vpon my cause, and see that I haue right: then will he bring me foorth
to the light, and I shall see his righteousnesse.
10 She that is myne enemie, shall loke vpon it and be confounded, which nowe
sayth, Where is the Lorde thy God? myne eyes shall beholde her when she shalbe
troden downe as the myre in the streetes.
11 This is the day that thy walles shalbe buylt, this day shall dryue farre away
the decree.
12 And at that time shall they come vnto thee from Assur, from the strong
cities, and from the strong holdes, euen vnto the riuer: from the one sea to the
other, and from mountayne to mountayne.
13 Notwithstanding, the land must be wasted, because of them that dwell therin,
and for the fruites of their owne imaginations.
14 Therfore feede thy people with thy rod, the flocke of thyne heritage whiche
dwel desolate in the wood, that they may be fed vpon the mount of
Carmel
, Basan, and
Gilead
, as aforetime.
15 Maruelous thinges wil I shewe thee, like as when thou camest out of the lande
of
Egypt
.
16 This shall the heathen see, and be ashamed for all their power: so that they
shall lay their hande vpon their mouth, and stoppe their eares.
17 They shal licke the dust like a serpente, and as the wormes of the earth that
tremble in their holes: they shalbe afrayde of the Lorde our God, and they shall
feare thee.
18 Who is such a God as thou, that pardonest wickednesse, and forgeuest the
offences of the remnaunt of thyne heritage? He kepeth not his wrath for euer:
for his delite is to haue compassion.
19 He shall turne againe, and be merciful to vs, he shall put downe our
wickednesses, and cast all our sinnes into the bottome of the sea?
20 Thou wilt perfourme to Iacob thy trueth, and thy mercie to Abraham, like as
thou hast sworne vnto our fathers in olde time.
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