1Yahweh’s word that came to Micah of Morasheth in the days of Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah, which he saw concerning Samaria and Jerusalem.
2Hear, you peoples, all of you!
Listen, O earth, and all that is therein.
Let the Lord Yahweh be witness against you,
the Lord from his holy temple.
3For behold, Yahweh comes out of his place,
and will come down and tread on the high places of the earth.
4The mountains melt under him,
and the valleys split apart like wax before the fire,
like waters that are poured down a steep place.
5“All this is for the disobedience of Jacob,
and for the sins of the house of Israel.
What is the disobedience of Jacob?
Isn’t it Samaria?
And what are the high places of Judah?
Aren’t they Jerusalem?
6Therefore I will make Samaria like a rubble heap of the field,
like places for planting vineyards;
and I will pour down its stones into the valley,
and I will uncover its foundations.
7All her idols will be beaten to pieces,
all her temple gifts will be burned with fire,
and I will destroy all her images;
for of the hire of a prostitute has she gathered them,
and to the hire of a prostitute shall they return.”
8For this I will lament and wail.
I will go stripped and naked.
I will howl like the jackals
and mourn like the ostriches.
9For her wounds are incurable;
for it has come even to Judah.
It reaches to the gate of my people,
even to Jerusalem.
10Don’t tell it in Gath.
Don’t weep at all.
At Beth Ophrah I have rolled myself in the dust.
11Pass on, inhabitant of Shaphir, in nakedness and shame.
The inhabitant of Zaanan won’t come out.
The wailing of Beth Ezel will take from you his protection.
12For the inhabitant of Maroth waits anxiously for good,
because evil has come down from Yahweh to the gate of Jerusalem.
13Harness the chariot to the swift steed, inhabitant of Lachish.
She was the beginning of sin to the daughter of Zion;
for the transgressions of Israel were found in you.
14Therefore you will give a parting gift to Moresheth Gath.
The houses of Achzib will be a deceitful thing to the kings of Israel.
15I will yet bring a conqueror to you, inhabitants of Mareshah.
The glory of Israel will come to Adullam.
16Shave your heads,
and cut off your hair for the children of your delight.
Enlarge your baldness like the vulture,
for they have gone into captivity from you!
Jacob was the son of Isaac and Rebekah, born immediately after Esau, and Abraham was his grandfather. He achieved the right of the firstborn by trickery, in offering his older brother, Esau, food in exchange for the birthright, who cared little for this position. He also received the blessing of firstborn from his father Jacob before his death by cunning, and with the assistance of his mother Rebekah.
After his deception of Esau, receiving the blessing from his father, Jacob escaped to his uncle Laban, who in turn deceived Jacob into working for fourteen years for the marriage of Jacob to Leah, and then his beloved Rachel. Laban also sought to deceive Jacob of wages, but God intervened to ensure he would prosper. In a time of trial, when he feared the wrath of Esau, upon returning to the land of Canaan, Jacob had an encounter with God, and his name was changed to Israel, the one who wrestles with God. Even though his early life was characterized by deception, God worked through the situation to ensure that Jacob would be the one in the line of the patriarchs, to create a great nation and ultimately fulfill His purposes in the earth, especially through the future Messiah. The Messiah would guarantee the promise of the land to Abram and a person who would rule over Abraham's descendants, but also He would bring blessings to all the people of the earth (Gen 12:1-3).
In spite of Jacob's early failure by deception, God worked through him, and finally, Jacob became a different type of man after his struggle with God. As one has said,
"Despite Jacob’s faults, God chose him to be the leader of a great nation that still bears his name today. But for this, it is unlikely that we would know much about Jacob, who appears to be in the middle of events while the key players are those around him. There is no great wisdom or bravery in Jacob to speak of, and we are tempted to see him as little more than God’s passive instrument. If we are tempted to think that, because we aren’t in the spotlight performing great acts for God, we are unimportant to Him, then we should consider the life of Jacob and know that, in spite of our failings, God can and will still use us in His plan."
For more on Jacob, see "Who was Jacob in the Bible?", https://www.gotquestions.org/life-Jacob.html