MIḴAH 1

1 The word of 𐤉𐤄𐤅𐤄 that came to Miḵah of Moresheth in the days of Yotham, Aḥaz, Ḥizqiyah, sovereigns of Yahuḏah, which he saw concerning Shomeron and Yerushalayim.

2 Hear, all you peoples! Listen, O earth, and all who are in it! And let the Aḏon 𐤉𐤄𐤅𐤄 be a witness against you – 𐤉𐤄𐤅𐤄 from His qodesh Hĕyḵal.

3 For look, 𐤉𐤄𐤅𐤄 is coming out of His place, and He shall come down and shall tread on the high places of the earth.

4 And the mountains shall melt under Him, and the valleys be cleft as wax before the fire, as waters poured down a steep place.

5 All this is for the transgression of Ya’aqoḇ and for the sins of the house of Yisra’ĕl. What is the transgression of Ya’aqoḇ? Is it not Shomeron? And what are the high places of Yahuḏah? Are they not Yerushalayim?

6 “And I shall make Shomeron a heap in the field, places for planting a vineyard. And I shall pour down her stones into the valley, and uncover her foundations.

7 “And all her carved images shall be beaten in pieces, and all her gifts be burned with the fire. And all her idols I shall lay waste, for she gathered it from the hire of a whore, and they shall return to the hire of a whore.”

8 Because of this I lament and howl. I go stripped and naked. I make a lamentation like jackals, and mourning like ostriches.

9 For her wounds are incurable. For it has come to Yahuḏah, it has come to the gate of My people, to Yerushalayim.

10 Do not declare it in Gath, weep not at all in Bĕyth Aphrah, roll yourself in the dust.

11 Pass by in nakedness and shame, you inhabitant of Shaphir. The inhabitant of Tsa’anan has not gone out. The lamentation of Bĕyth ha’Ĕtsel takes from you its standing place.

12 Though the inhabitants of Maroth waited for good, yet evil came down from 𐤉𐤄𐤅𐤄 to the gate of Yerushalayim.

13 O inhabitant of Laḵish, harness the chariot to the horse – she was the beginning of sin to the daughter of Tsiyon – for the transgressions of Yisra’ĕl were found in you.

14 Therefore you shall give parting gifts to Moresheth Gath, the houses of Aḵziḇ becoming a deception to the sovereigns of Yisra’el.

15 Again I shall bring a dispossessor to you, O inhabitant of Marĕshah. The esteem of Yisra’ĕl shall come to Aḏullam.

16 Make yourself bald and cut off your hair for the children of your delight. Enlarge your baldness like a vulture, for they shall be exiled from you.