Prophet Micah the Prophet

Micah was a prophet of Judah in the eighth century before Christ, a native of the village of Moresheth-Gath in the lowlands south of Jerusalem, a contemporary of Isaiah of Jerusalem and Hosea and Amos of the northern kingdom. He prophesied during the reigns of Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah of Judah — a period that saw the destruction of the northern kingdom by Assyria and the besieging of Jerusalem by Sennacherib.

The seven chapters of his book turn the prophetic word against the corruption of both kingdoms — the false prophets who prophesy for hire, the judges who decide cases for bribes, the great men who covet fields and seize them. His most famous oracle, repeated by the chief priests and scribes to the Magi at the court of Herod, is the foretelling of the birthplace of the Messiah: "But thou, Bethlehem Ephratah, though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall He come forth unto Me that is to be ruler in Israel; whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting." His sixth chapter contains the famous summary of true religion: "What doth the Lord require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?"

He is buried at Moresheth, where his shrine was rediscovered in the fourth century. His feast is kept on August 14, the eve of the Dormition of the Theotokos.