“Today I am giving you a choice of two ways. And I ask heaven and earth to be witnesses of your choice. You can choose life or death. The first choice will bring a blessing. The other choice will bring a curse. So choose life! Then you and your children will live.
So I am warning you now. Heaven and earth are my witnesses! If you do such an evil thing, you will quickly be destroyed! You are crossing the Jordan River now to take that land. But if you make any idols, you will not live there very long. No, you will be destroyed completely!
The Lord All-Powerful said, “Children honor their fathers. Servants honor their masters. I am your Father, so why don’t you honor me? I am your master, so why don’t you respect me? You priests don’t respect my name. “But you say, ‘What have we done that shows we don’t respect your name?’
People of Israel, listen to this message! This is what the Lord said about you, Israel. This message is about all the families that I brought from the land of Egypt.
So, mountains of Israel, listen to the word of the Lord GOD! This is what the Lord GOD says to the mountains, hills, streams, valleys, empty ruins, and abandoned cities that have been looted and laughed at by the other nations around them.
Hear this, people of the earth: I am going to bring disaster to the people of Judah because of all the evil they planned, and because they ignored my messages. They refused to obey my law.
The Lord said, “Look at these children. They don’t obey me. They make plans, but they don’t ask me to help them. They make agreements with other nations, but my Spirit does not want those agreements. These people are adding more and more sins to the ones they have already done.
They will come back crying, but I will lead them and comfort them. I will lead them by streams of water. I will lead them on an easy road, where they will not stumble. I will lead them in that way because I am Israel’s father. And Ephraim is my firstborn son.
You saw what happened in the desert. You saw how the Lord your God carried you like a man carries his child. He brought you safely all the way to this place.’
All you nations, come near and listen! Listen, all you people. The earth and everyone on it should listen to these things. Everything in this world should hear this.
“People of Israel, you are unfaithful to me, but come back to me. Come back and I will forgive you for being unfaithful. “Just say, ‘Yes, we will come back, because you are the Lord our God.
The people there refuse to obey me. I have a story with a message for them. Tell them, ‘This is what the Lord GOD says: “‘Put the pot on the fire. Put on the pot and pour in the water.
During the time that Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah were kings of Judah, the word of the Lord came to Micah. Micah was from Moresheth. He saw these visions about Samaria and Jerusalem.