Micah 1:6-9

1:6 “I will turn Samaria into a heap of ruins in an open field –

vineyards will be planted there!

I will tumble the rubble of her stone walls down into the valley,

and tear down her fortifications to their foundations.

1:7 All her carved idols will be smashed to pieces;

all her metal cult statues will be destroyed by fire.

I will make a waste heap of all her images.

Since she gathered the metal as a prostitute collects her wages,

the idols will become a prostitute’s wages again.” 10 

1:8 For this reason I 11  will mourn and wail;

I will walk around barefoot 12  and without my outer garments. 13 

I will howl 14  like a wild dog, 15 

and screech 16  like an owl. 17 

1:9 For Samaria’s 18  disease 19  is incurable.

It has infected 20  Judah;

it has spread to 21  the leadership 22  of my people

and has even contaminated Jerusalem! 23 


map For location see Map2-B1; Map4-D3; Map5-E2; Map6-A4; Map7-C1.

tn Heb “into a planting place for vineyards.”

tn Heb “pour” (so NASB, NIV); KJV, NRSV “pour down”; NAB “throw down”; NLT “roll.”

tn Heb “her stones.” The term stones is a metonymy for the city walls whose foundations were constructed of stone masonry.

tn Heb “I will uncover her foundations.” The term “foundations” refers to the lower courses of the stones of the city’s outer fortification walls.

tn Heb “and all her prostitute’s wages will be burned with fire.”

tn Heb “I will make desolate” (so NASB).

tn Or “for” (KJV, NASB, NRSV).

tn No object is specified in the Hebrew text; the words “the metal” are supplied from the context.

10 tn Heb “for from a prostitute’s wages she gathered, and to a prostitute’s wages they will return.” When the metal was first collected it was comparable to the coins a prostitute would receive for her services. The metal was then formed into idols, but now the Lord’s fiery judgment would reduce the metal images to their original condition.

11 tn The prophet is probably the speaker here.

12 tn Or “stripped.” The precise meaning of this Hebrew word is unclear. It may refer to walking barefoot (see 2 Sam 15:30) or to partially stripping oneself (see Job 12:17-19).

13 tn Heb “naked.” This probably does not refer to complete nudity, but to stripping off one’s outer garments as an outward sign of the destitution felt by the mourner.

14 tn Heb “I will make lamentation.”

15 tn Or “a jackal”; CEV “howling wolves.”

16 tn Heb “[make] a mourning.”

17 tn Or perhaps “ostrich” (cf. ASV, NAB, NASB, NRSV, NLT).

18 tn Heb “her”; the referent (Samaria) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

19 tc The MT reads the plural “wounds”; the singular is read by the LXX, Syriac, and Vg.

20 tn Heb “come to.”

21 tn Or “reached.”

22 tn Heb “the gate.” Kings and civic leaders typically conducted important business at the city gate (see 1 Kgs 22:10 for an example), and the term is understood here to refer by metonymy to the leadership who would be present at the gate.

23 tn Heb “to Jerusalem.” The expression “it has contaminated” do not appear in the Hebrew text, but have been supplied to fill out the parallelism with the preceding line.