Micah 1:6-7

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 


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.”

sn The precious metal used by Samaria’s pagan worship centers to make idols are here compared to a prostitute’s wages because Samaria had been unfaithful to the Lord and prostituted herself to pagan gods, such as Baal.

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.