Micah 3:1

God Will Judge Judah’s Sinful Leaders

3:1 I said,

“Listen, you leaders ¹  of Jacob,

you rulers of the nation ²  of Israel!

You ought to know what is just, ³ 

Micah 3:8-9

3:8 But I ⁴  am full of the courage that the Lord’s Spirit gives,

and have a strong commitment to justice. ⁵ 

This enables me to confront Jacob with its rebellion,

and Israel with its sin. ⁶ 

3:9 Listen to this, you leaders of the family ⁷  of Jacob,

you rulers of the nation ⁸  of Israel!

You ⁹  hate justice

and pervert all that is right.

Micah 7:9

7:9 I must endure ¹⁰  the Lord’s anger,

for I have sinned against him.

But then ¹¹  he will defend my cause, ¹² 

and accomplish justice on my behalf.

He will lead me out into the light;

I will experience firsthand ¹³  his deliverance. ¹⁴ 

Micah 6:8

6:8 He has told you, O man, what is good,

and what the Lord really wants from you: ¹⁵ 

He wants you to ¹⁶  promote ¹⁷  justice, to be faithful, ¹⁸ 

and to live obediently before ¹⁹  your God.

¹ tn Heb “heads.”

² tn Heb “house.”

³ tn Heb “Should you not know justice?” The rhetorical question expects the answer, “Of course you should!”

⁴ sn The prophet Micah speaks here and contrasts himself with the mercenaries just denounced by the Lord in the preceding verses.

⁵ tn Heb “am full of power, the Spirit of the Lord, and justice and strength.” The appositional phrase “the Spirit of the Lord” explains the source of the prophet’s power. The phrase “justice and strength” is understood here as a hendiadys, referring to the prophet’s strong sense of justice.

⁶ tn Heb “to declare to Jacob his rebellion and to Israel his sin.” The words “this enables me” are supplied in the translation for clarification.

⁷ tn Heb “house.”

⁸ tn Heb “house.”

⁹ tn Heb “who.” A new sentence was begun here in the translation for stylistic reasons (also at the beginning of v. 10).

¹⁰ tn Heb “lift, bear.”

¹¹ tn Heb “until.”

¹² tn Or “plead my case” (NASB and NIV both similar); NRSV “until he takes my side.”

¹³ tn Heb “see.”

¹⁴ tn Or “justice, vindication.”

¹³ sn What the Lord really wants from you. Now the prophet switches roles and answers the hypothetical worshiper’s question. He makes it clear that the Lord desires proper attitudes more than ritual and sacrifice.

¹⁴ tn Heb “except.” This statement is actually linked with what precedes, “What does he want from you except….”

¹⁵ tn Heb “to do,” in the sense of “promote.”

¹⁶ tn Heb “to love faithfulness.”

¹⁷ tn Heb “to walk humbly [or perhaps, “carefully”] with.”