Micah the Morasthite

Holy Prophet Micah the Morasthite, the sixth of the twelve minor prophets, was of the tribe of Judah and from the city of Moresheth, south of Jerusalem, and is therefore called the Morasthite. He began his prophetic ministry around 778 before Christ and carried it on for almost fifty years, in the time of the kings of Judah Jotham, Ahaz and the pious and righteous Hezekiah (721-691 before Christ). He was a contemporary of the prophet Isaiah. His rebukes and predictions concerned both the kingdom of Judah and that of Israel. He foresaw the disasters that threatened Israel at its fall and Judea at the invasion of the Assyrian king Sennacherib. To him belongs the prophecy of the birth of the Saviour of the world: "And you, Bethlehem, house of Ephratha, are you least among the thousands of Judah? Out of you shall come forth to Me a Ruler in Israel, whose goings forth are from the beginning, from the days of eternity" (Micah 5:2). From the words of the prophet Jeremiah (Jeremiah 26:18-19) it is clear that the Jews feared to kill the prophet Micah. His relics were found in the fourth century after Christ, at Varafsatia, by a revelation given to Bishop Zevinus of Eleutheropolis. He is commemorated on 27 August, in the new style.