Micah, Book of

The Book of Micah is the sixth of the twelve Minor Prophets, the work of Micah of Moresheth — a town in the Shephelah of Judah — who prophesied during the reigns of Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah (approximately 735–700 BC), a contemporary of Isaiah. The book addresses Judah and Samaria on the eve of the Assyrian crisis, condemning social injustice, corrupt rulers, false prophets, and religious formalism while alternating with passages of remarkable consolation.

Micah contains some of the most memorable oracles in the prophetic canon. The climactic indictment of 6:8 — He has shown you, O man, what is good; and what does the LORD require of you but to do justice, love kindness, and walk humbly with your God — is one of Scripture's most celebrated ethical summaries. Equally famous is the Bethlehem oracle of 5:2, But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah... from you shall come forth for me one who is to be ruler in Israel, cited at Jesus's birth in Matthew 2:6. Micah 4:1–4 contains the vision of universal peace when nations beat their swords into plowshares — a passage nearly identical to Isaiah 2:2–4.