Micah 1:16

1:16 Shave your heads bald as you mourn for the children you love; ¹ 

shave your foreheads as bald ²  as an eagle, ³ 

for they are taken from you into exile.

Micah 4:7-8

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

and those far off ⁵  into a mighty nation.

The Lord will reign over them on Mount Zion,

from that day forward and forevermore.” ⁶ 

4:8 As for you, watchtower for the flock, ⁷ 

fortress of Daughter Zion ⁸  –

your former dominion will be restored, ⁹ 

the sovereignty that belongs to Daughter Jerusalem.

Micah 5:13

5:13 I will remove your idols and sacred pillars from your midst;

you will no longer worship what your own hands made.

Micah 7:8

Jerusalem Will Be Vindicated

7:8 My enemies, ¹⁰  do not gloat ¹¹  over me!

Though I have fallen, I will get up.

Though I sit in darkness, the Lord will be my light. ¹² 

[1:16]  ¹ tn Heb “over the sons of your delight.”

[1:16]  ² tn Heb “make wide your baldness.”

[1:16]  ³ tn Or “a vulture” (cf. NIV, TEV); CEV “a buzzard.” The Hebrew term נֶשֶׁר (nesher) refers to the griffon vulture or eagle.

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

[4:7]  ⁵ 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]  ⁶ tn Heb “from now until forever.”

[4:8]  ⁷ tn Heb “Migdal-eder.” Some English versions transliterate this phrase, apparently because they view it as a place name (cf. NAB).

[4:8]  ⁸ sn The city of David, located within Jerusalem, is addressed as Daughter Zion. As the home of the Davidic king, who was Israel’s shepherd (Ps 78:70-72), the royal citadel could be viewed metaphorically as the watchtower of the flock.

[4:8]  ⁹ tn Heb “to you it will come, the former dominion will arrive.”

[7:8]  ¹⁰ tn The singular form is understood as collective.

[7:8]  ¹¹ tn Or “rejoice” (KJV, NAB, NASB, NRSV); NCV “don’t laugh at me.”

[7:8]  ¹² sn Darkness represents judgment; light (also in v. 9) symbolizes deliverance. The Lord is the source of the latter.