Micah 1:1-2

Introduction

1:1 This is the prophetic message that the Lord gave to ¹  Micah of Moresheth. He delivered this message ²  during the reigns of ³  Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah. The prophecies pertain to ⁴  Samaria ⁵  and Jerusalem. ⁶ 

The Judge is Coming

1:2 Listen, all you nations! ⁷ 

Pay attention, all inhabitants of earth! ⁸ 

The sovereign Lord will testify ⁹  against you;

the Lord will accuse you ¹⁰  from his majestic palace. ¹¹ 

Micah 2:7

2:7 Does the family ¹²  of Jacob say, ¹³ 

‘The Lord’s patience ¹⁴  can’t be exhausted –

he would never do such things’? ¹⁵ 

To be sure, my commands bring a reward

for those who obey them, ¹⁶ 

Micah 3:4

3:4 Someday these sinners will cry to the Lord for help, ¹⁷ 

but he will not answer them.

He will hide his face from them at that time,

because they have done such wicked deeds.”

Micah 3:8

3:8 But I ¹⁸  am full of the courage that the Lord’s Spirit gives,

and have a strong commitment to justice. ¹⁹ 

This enables me to confront Jacob with its rebellion,

and Israel with its sin. ²⁰ 

Micah 4:1

Better Days Ahead for Jerusalem

4:1 In the future ²¹  the Lord’s Temple Mount will be the most important mountain of all; ²² 

it will be more prominent than other hills. ²³ 

People will stream to it.

Micah 4:4-5

4:4 Each will sit under his own grapevine

or under his own fig tree without any fear. ²⁴ 

The Lord who commands armies has decreed it. ²⁵ 

4:5 Though all the nations follow their respective gods, ²⁶ 

we will follow ²⁷  the Lord our God forever.

Micah 4:7

4:7 I will transform the lame into the nucleus of a new nation, ²⁸ 

and those far off ²⁹  into a mighty nation.

The Lord will reign over them on Mount Zion,

from that day forward and forevermore.” ³⁰ 

Micah 6:1-2

The Lord Demands Justice, not Ritual

6:1 Listen to what the Lord says:

“Get up! Defend yourself ³¹  before the mountains! ³² 

Present your case before the hills!” ³³ 

6:2 Hear the Lord’s accusation, you mountains,

you enduring foundations of the earth!

For the Lord has a case against his people;

he has a dispute with Israel! ³⁴ 

Micah 6:7

6:7 Will the Lord accept a thousand rams,

or ten thousand streams of olive oil?

Should I give him my firstborn child as payment for my rebellion,

my offspring – my own flesh and blood – for my sin? ³⁵ 

Micah 7:8-10

Jerusalem Will Be Vindicated

7:8 My enemies, ³⁶  do not gloat ³⁷  over me!

Though I have fallen, I will get up.

Though I sit in darkness, the Lord will be my light. ³⁸ 

7:9 I must endure ³⁹  the Lord’s anger,

for I have sinned against him.

But then ⁴⁰  he will defend my cause, ⁴¹ 

and accomplish justice on my behalf.

He will lead me out into the light;

I will experience firsthand ⁴²  his deliverance. ⁴³ 

7:10 When my enemies see this, they will be covered with shame.

They say ⁴⁴  to me, “Where is the Lord your God?”

I will gloat over them. ⁴⁵ 

Then they will be trampled down ⁴⁶ 

like mud in the streets.

Micah 7:17

7:17 They will lick the dust like a snake,

like serpents crawling on the ground. ⁴⁷ 

They will come trembling from their strongholds

to the Lord our God; ⁴⁸ 

they will be terrified ⁴⁹  of you. ⁵⁰ 

[1:1]  ¹ tn Heb “The word of the Lord which came to.”

[1:1]  ² tn The words “he delivered this message” are not in the Hebrew text, but are supplied in the translation for clarification.

[1:1]  ³ tn Heb “in the days of” (so KJV, NASB, NRSV).

[1:1]  ⁴ tn Heb “which he saw concerning.”

[1:1]  ⁵ map For location see Map2 B1; Map4 D3; Map5 E2; Map6 A4; Map7 C1.

[1:1]  ⁶ map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[1:2]  ⁷ tn Heb “O peoples, all of them.”

[1:2]  ⁸ tn Heb “O earth and all its fullness”; KJV “and all that therein is.”

[1:2]  ⁹ tn Heb “May the sovereign Lord testify against you.” The verb וִיהִי (vihiy) is jussive, which normally conveys a volitional sense of an urgent request or prayer (“may he testify!”). However, GKC 325-26 §109.k notes that here the jussive form is used without any volitional sense for the ordinary imperfect, as a rhythmic shortening at the beginning of a sentence, thus removed as far as possible from the principal accent (cf. Gen 49:17; Deut 28:8; 1 Sam 10:5; 2 Sam 5:24; Hos 6:1; 11:4; Amos 5:14; Zeph 2:13; Zech 9:5; Pss 72:16-17; 104:31; Job 18:12; 20:23, 26, 28; 27:8; 33:21; 34:37; Ruth 3:4). Thus, the translation here renders the jussive as an ordinary imperfect. Some translations render it in a traditional jussive sense: (1) urgent request: “And let my Lord God be your accuser” (NJPS); or (2) dependent purpose/result: “that the Sovereign Lord may witness against you” (NIV).

[1:2]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “the Lord from his majestic palace.” Since the verb is omitted it is unclear whether the implied term be supplied from the preceding line (“he will testify against you”) or the following line (“he is leaving”). So the line may be rendered “the Lord will accuse you from his majestic temple” or “the Lord will come forth from his majestic temple.” Most translations render it literally, but some remove the ambiguity: “the Lord God accuses you from his holy temple” (CEV); “He speaks from his holy temple” (TEV).

[1:2]  ¹¹ tn Or “his holy temple” (KJV, NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV, NLT). This refers to the Lord’s dwelling in heaven, however, rather than the temple in Jerusalem (note the following verse, which describes a theophany).

[2:7]  ¹³ tn Heb “house” (so many English versions); CEV “descendants.’

[2:7]  ¹⁴ tc The MT has אָמוּר (’amur), an otherwise unattested passive participle, which is better emended to אָמוֹר (’amor), an infinitive absolute functioning as a finite verb (see BDB 55 s.v. אָמַר).

[2:7]  ¹⁵ tn The Hebrew word רוּחַ (ruach) often means “Spirit” when used of the Lord, but here it seems to have an abstract sense, “patience.” See BDB 925 s.v. 3.d.

[2:7]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “Has the patience of the Lord run short? Or are these his deeds?” The rhetorical questions expect the answer, “No, of course not.” The people contest the prophet’s claims that the Lord’s judgment is falling on the nation.

[2:7]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “Do not my words accomplish good for the one who walks uprightly?” The rhetorical question expects the answer, “Of course they do!” The Lord begins his response to the claim of the house of Jacob that they are immune to judgment (see v. 7a). He points out that the godly are indeed rewarded, but then he goes on to show that those in the house of Jacob are not godly and can expect divine judgment, not blessing (vv. 8-11). Some emend “my words” to “his words.” In this case, v. 7b is a continuation of the immediately preceding quotation. The people, thinking they are godly, confidently ask, “Do not his [God’s] words accomplish good for the one who walks uprightly?”

[3:4]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “then they will cry out to the Lord.” The words “Someday these sinners” have been supplied in the translation for clarification.

[3:8]  ²⁵ sn The prophet Micah speaks here and contrasts himself with the mercenaries just denounced by the Lord in the preceding verses.

[3:8]  ²⁶ 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.

[3:8]  ²⁷ 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.

[4:1]  ³¹ tn Heb “at the end of days.”

[4:1]  ³² tn Heb “will be established as the head of the mountains.”

[4:1]  ³³ tn Heb “it will be lifted up above the hills.”

[4:4]  ³⁷ tn Heb “and there will be no one making [him] afraid.”

[4:4]  ³⁸ tn Heb “for the mouth of the Lord of Hosts has spoken.”

[4:5]  ⁴³ tn Heb “walk each in the name of his god.” The term “name” here has the idea of “authority.” To “walk in the name” of a god is to recognize the god’s authority as binding over one’s life.

[4:5]  ⁴⁴ tn Heb “walk in the name of.”

[4:7]  ⁴⁹ tn Heb “make the lame into a remnant.”

[4:7]  ⁵⁰ tn The precise meaning of this difficult form is uncertain. The present translation assumes the form is a Niphal participle of an otherwise unattested denominative verb הָלָא (hala’, “to be far off”; see BDB 229 s.v.), but attractive emendations include הַנַּחֲלָה (hannakhalah, “the sick one[s]”) from חָלָה (khalah) and הַנִּלְאָה (hannil’ah, “the weary one[s]”) from לָאָה (la’ah).

[4:7]  ⁵¹ tn Heb “from now until forever.”

[6:1]  ⁵⁵ tn Or “plead your case” (NASB, NIV, NRSV); NAB “present your plea”; NLT “state your case.”

[6:1]  ⁵⁶ sn As in some ancient Near Eastern treaties, the mountains are personified as legal witnesses that will settle the dispute between God and Israel.

[6:1]  ⁵⁷ tn Heb “let the hills hear your voice.”

[6:2]  ⁶¹ tn This verse briefly interrupts the Lord’s statement (see vv. 1, 3) as the prophet summons the mountains as witnesses. Because of this v. 2 has been placed in parentheses in the translation.

[6:7]  ⁶⁷ tn Heb “the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul.” The Hebrew term נֶפֶשׁ (nefesh) is often translated “soul,” but the word usually refers to the whole person; here “the sin of my soul” = “my sin.”

[7:8]  ⁷³ tn The singular form is understood as collective.

[7:8]  ⁷⁴ tn Or “rejoice” (KJV, NAB, NASB, NRSV); NCV “don’t laugh at me.”

[7:8]  ⁷⁵ sn Darkness represents judgment; light (also in v. 9) symbolizes deliverance. The Lord is the source of the latter.

[7:9]  ⁷⁹ tn Heb “lift, bear.”

[7:9]  ⁸⁰ tn Heb “until.”

[7:9]  ⁸¹ tn Or “plead my case” (NASB and NIV both similar); NRSV “until he takes my side.”

[7:9]  ⁸² tn Heb “see.”

[7:9]  ⁸³ tn Or “justice, vindication.”

[7:10]  ⁸⁵ tn Heb “who say.” A new sentence was begun here in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[7:10]  ⁸⁶ tn Heb “My eyes will look on them.”

[7:10]  ⁸⁷ tn Heb “a trampled-down place.”

[7:17]  ⁹¹ tn Heb “like crawling things on the ground.” The parallelism suggests snakes are in view.

[7:17]  ⁹² tn Thetranslationassumesthatthe phrase אֶל־יְהוָה אֱלֹהֵינוּ (’el-yÿhvah ’elohenu, “to the Lord our God”) goes with what precedes. Another option is to take the phrase with the following verb, in which case one could translate, “to the Lord our God they will turn in dread.”

[7:17]  ⁹³ tn Heb “they will be in dread and afraid.”

[7:17]  ⁹⁴ tn The Lord is addressed directly using the second person.