Micah 1:12

Maroth means ‘bitter’. So Maroth is a town where the people are bitter. Bitter people need hope. They need to hope for something better. So the people in Maroth hope for something good. They hope for help and peace. But there is no help from Jerusalem’s people. Jerusalem is the city whose name means ‘peace’. The *Assyrians will march right up to the great gate of Jerusalem. God will use the *Assyrians to carry out his judgement. By means of them, he will punish the people in *Judah and Israel. These evil things have come from the *LORD. Severe punishment has come from him.

v13 You people in Lachish, get the chariots ready (the vehicles that horses pull in war). Prepare to run away. You taught the people in the ‘Daughter of Zion’ (Jerusalem) to *sin against God. They had the same *sin as you had. In fact, it came from you. *Israel’s people had that same *sin too.