Guide
What Is the Book of Micah?
8th–7th Century BCE
Micah, a prophet from Judah during the eighth–seventh century BCE, warns about the destruction of both Jerusalem and the Northern Kingdom for their idolatry, social crimes, and corrupt royal and religious leadership. Like his contemporary Isaiah, Micah provides a picture of a utopian future when Israel would live securely under a king descended from David and all peoples would recognize the God of Israel and live in peace. The book concludes with the message that God forgives sins and will maintain his covenant with Israel.
Related Primary Sources
Primary Source
Warnings to the Northern Kingdom and to Jerusalem
Micah 1, 3 (selections)
The word of the Lord that came to Micah the Morashtite, who prophesied concerning Samaria and Jerusalem in the reigns of Kings Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah of Judah.
Listen, all you…
Primary Source
A Vision of an Ideal Future
Micah 4:1–5
In the days to come,
The Mount of the Lord’s House shall stand
Firm above the mountains;
And it shall tower above the hills.
The peoples shall gaze on it with joy,
And the many nations shall go and…
Primary Source
God’s Lawsuit against Israel
Micah 6:1–8
Hear what the Lord is saying:
Come, present [My] case before the mountains,
And let the hills hear you pleading.
Hear, you mountains, the case of the Lord—
You firm foundations of the earth!
For…
Primary Source
God’s Forgiveness
Micah 7:18–20
Who is a God like You,
Forgiving iniquity
And remitting transgression;
Who has not maintained His wrath forever
Against the remnant of His own people,
Because He loves graciousness!
He will take…