The Oracles of Micah

[The sections below correspond to the chapters in the King James Bible as follows: 1–4 = same; 5 = 6.]

1

The word of the Volcano came to Micah concerning Eldorado:

Hear, all ye wayfarers;

and hearken, O creatures of the earth

Let Yahweh stand against you as Satan,

Let him serve as your Accuser

To be a witness against you:

The LORD from his holy temple.

For, behold, Yahweh comes forth out of his place, and he shall descend and tread upon the high places of the earth, and the mountains shall be molten under him, and the valleys shall be cleft, as wax before the fire, as water gushing down a cliff.

All this is for the transgression of the caravan.

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2

Woe to you people in power, who wake each morning and plan misfortune for others. You strategize how to seize the houses and land of others though deception and violence. You oppress families, depriving them of their heritage.

Therefore thus says the Volcano: “Behold, against these powerful oppressors I am stirring up a disaster, from which you shall not remove your necks. You shall no longer walk upright: for this time is evil.”

In that day, people will remark: “Ah, how the power has shifted; and possessions have changed hands.” And the arrogant shall say: “O my field, it is taken!” The loss shall be total.

They say: “Stop prophesying in this manner; this is no way to speak; shame shall not come to us. Yahweh is gracious, these cannot be his doings; his patience will extend forever.”

The words of the Volcano are friendly to those who act with integrity. But, amid the people, enemies have arisen, who steal the garments from gentle passersby, and who rip the robe off unsuspecting peacemakers. You have evicted women and children from their houses; you deprive infants of their needs. Therefore, because of your polluted ways, a sore destruction is coming.

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3

Listen, you leaders, you authorities, you rulers:

You ought to judge rightly,

But you hate the good, and love the evil;

You eat the flesh of my people,

and flay their skin from off them;

you break their bones, you pluck off their hide,

you strip their flesh from their bones,

and chop them in pieces, as meat for the pot,

as flesh within the caldron.

Someday you shall cry to Yahweh,

but he will not hear you:

he will hide his face from you

because of your ill behavior,

because of the wrongs you have done.

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4

In days to come,

the house of the Volcano shall be established

in the top of the mountains,

it shall be exalted above the hills:

and people shall flow unto it.

Many nations shall come and say:

“Let us go up to the mountain of the Volcano;

and he will teach us his ways,

and we will walk in his paths.”

Then they shall beat their swords into plowshares,

and their spears into pruninghooks:

Nation shall not lift up a sword against nation,

they shall never again know war.

But every man shall sit under his vine

or under his fig tree;

and none shall make them afraid:

For the mouth of the Volcano has spoken.

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5

With what shall I come before the Volcano, and bow myself before the high God? shall I come before him with burnt offerings, with an unblemished lamb?

Will God be pleased with thousands of tithes, or with ten thousand rivers of oil? shall I give my firstborn for my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?

He has showed you, O man, what is good: What does the Volcano require of you, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your god! Then you shall attain wisdom.