Jude 1:25

1:25 to the only God our Savior through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, power, and authority, before all time, and now, and for all eternity. Amen.

Nehemiah 5:15

5:15 But the former governors who preceded me had burdened the people and had taken food and wine from them, in addition to ¹  forty shekels of silver. Their associates were also domineering over the people. But I did not behave in this way, due to my fear of God.

Micah 2:1-2

Land Robbers Will Lose their Land

2:1 Those who devise sinful plans are as good as dead, ² 

those who dream about doing evil as they lie in bed. ³ 

As soon as morning dawns they carry out their plans, ⁴ 

because they have the power to do so.

2:2 They confiscate the fields they desire,

and seize the houses they want. ⁵ 

They defraud people of their homes, ⁶ 

and deprive people of the land they have inherited. ⁷ 

Micah 3:5

3:5 This is what the Lord says: “The prophets who mislead my people

are as good as dead. ⁸ 

If someone gives them enough to eat,

they offer an oracle of peace. ⁹ 

But if someone does not give them food,

they are ready to declare war on him. ¹⁰ 

Micah 3:1

God Will Judge Judah’s Sinful Leaders

3:1 I said,

“Listen, you leaders ¹¹  of Jacob,

you rulers of the nation ¹²  of Israel!

You ought to know what is just, ¹³ 

Micah 5:2-3

A King Will Come and a Remnant Will Prosper

5:2 (5:1) As for you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, ¹⁴ 

seemingly insignificant ¹⁵  among the clans of Judah –

from you a king will emerge who will rule over Israel on my behalf, ¹⁶ 

one whose origins ¹⁷  are in the distant past. ¹⁸ 

5:3 So the Lord ¹⁹  will hand the people of Israel ²⁰  over to their enemies ²¹ 

until the time when the woman in labor ²²  gives birth. ²³ 

Then the rest of the king’s ²⁴  countrymen will return

to be reunited with the people of Israel. ²⁵ 

[5:15]  ¹ tc The Hebrew term אַחַר (’akhar) is difficult here. It normally means “after,” but that makes no sense here. Some scholars emend it to אַחַד (’akhad) and supply the word “day,” which yields the sense “daily.” Cf. TEV “40 silver coins a day for food and wine.”

[2:1]  ² tn Heb “Woe to those who plan sin.” The Hebrew term הוֹי (hoy, “woe”; “ah”) was a cry used in mourning the dead.

[2:1]  ³ tn Heb “those who do evil upon their beds.”

[2:1]  ⁴ tn Heb “at the light of morning they do it.”

[2:2]  ⁵ tn Heb “they desire fields and rob [them], and houses and take [them] away.”

[2:2]  ⁶ tn Heb “and they oppress a man and his home.”

[2:2]  ⁷ tn Heb “and a man and his inheritance.” The verb עָשַׁק (’ashaq, “to oppress”; “to wrong”) does double duty in the parallel structure and is understood by ellipsis in the second line.

[3:5]  ⁸ tn Heb “concerning the prophets, those who mislead my people.” The first person pronominal suffix is awkward in a quotation formula that introduces the words of the Lord. For this reason some prefer to begin the quotation after “the Lord says” (cf. NIV), but this leaves “concerning the prophets” hanging very awkwardly at the beginning of the quotation. It is preferable to add הוֹי (hoy, “woe, ah”) at the beginning of the quotation, right after the graphically similar יְהוָה (yÿhvah; see D. R. Hillers, Micah [Hermeneia], 44). The phrase הוֹי עַל (hoy ’al, “woe upon”) occurs in Jer 50:27 and Ezek 13:3 (with “the prophets” following the preposition in the latter instance).

[3:5]  ⁹ tn Heb “those who bite with their teeth and cry out, ‘peace.’” The phrase “bite with the teeth” is taken here as idiomatic for eating. Apparently these prophets were driven by mercenary motives. If they were paid well, they gave positive oracles to their clients, but if someone could not afford to pay them, they were hostile and delivered oracles of doom.

[3:5]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “but [as for the one] who does not place [food] in their mouths, they prepare for war against him.”

[3:1]  ¹¹ tn Heb “heads.”

[3:1]  ¹² tn Heb “house.”

[3:1]  ¹³ tn Heb “Should you not know justice?” The rhetorical question expects the answer, “Of course you should!”

[5:2]  ¹⁴ sn Ephrathah is either an alternate name for Bethlehem or the name of the district in which Bethlehem was located. See Ruth 4:11.

[5:2]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “being small.” Some omit לִהְיוֹת (lihyot, “being”) because it fits awkwardly and appears again in the next line.

[5:2]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “from you for me one will go out to be a ruler over Israel.”

[5:2]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “his goings out.” The term may refer to the ruler’s origins (cf. NAB, NIV, NRSV, NLT) or to his activities.

[5:2]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “from the past, from the days of antiquity.” Elsewhere both phrases refer to the early periods in the history of the world or of the nation of Israel. For מִקֶּדֶם (miqqedem, “from the past”) see Neh 12:46; Pss 74:12; 77:11; Isa 45:21; 46:10. For מִימֵי עוֹלָם (mimey ’olam, “from the days of antiquity”) see Isa 63:9, 11; Amos 9:11; Mic 7:14; Mal 3:4. In Neh 12:46 and Amos 9:11 the Davidic era is in view.

[5:3]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “he”; the referent (the Lord) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[5:3]  ²⁰ tn Heb “them”; the referent (the people of Israel) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[5:3]  ²¹ tn The words “to their enemies” are supplied in the translation for clarification.

[5:3]  ²² sn The woman in labor. Personified, suffering Jerusalem is the referent. See 4:9-10.

[5:3]  ²³ sn Gives birth. The point of the figurative language is that Jerusalem finally finds relief from her suffering. See 4:10.

[5:3]  ²⁴ tn Heb “his”; the referent (the king) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[5:3]  ²⁵ tn Heb “to the sons of Israel.” The words “be reunited with” are supplied in the translation for clarity.