Micah 1:3

1:3 Look, ¹  the Lord is coming out of his dwelling place!

He will descend and march on the earth’s mountaintops! ² 

Micah 1:12

1:12 Indeed, the residents of Maroth ³  hope for something good to happen, ⁴ 

though the Lord has sent disaster against the city of Jerusalem. ⁵ 

Micah 2:5

2:5 Therefore no one will assign you land in the Lord’s community. ⁶ 

Micah 4:6

Restoration Will Follow Crisis

4:6 “In that day,” says the Lord, “I will gather the lame,

and assemble the outcasts whom I injured. ⁷ 

Micah 4:12

4:12 But they do not know what the Lord is planning;

they do not understand his strategy.

He has gathered them like stalks of grain to be threshed ⁸  at the threshing floor.

Micah 5:10

The Lord Will Purify His People

5:10 “In that day,” says the Lord,

“I will destroy ⁹  your horses from your midst,

and smash your chariots.

Micah 6:6

6:6 With what should I ¹⁰  enter the Lord’s presence?

With what ¹¹  should I bow before the sovereign God? ¹² 

Should I enter his presence with burnt offerings,

with year-old calves?

Micah 6:9

6:9 Listen! The Lord is calling ¹³  to the city!

It is wise to respect your authority, O Lord! ¹⁴ 

Listen, O nation, and those assembled in the city! ¹⁵ 

[1:3]  ¹ tn Or “For look.” The expression כִּי־הִנֵּה (ki-hinneh) may function as an explanatory introduction (“For look!”; Isa 26:21; 60:2; 65:17, 18: 66:15; Jer 1:15; 25:29; 30:10; 45:5; 46:27; 50:9; Ezek 30:9; 36:9; Zech 2:10; 3:8), or as an emphatic introduction (“Look!”; Jdgs 3:15; Isa 3:1; Jer 8:17; 30:3; 49:15; Hos 9:6; Joel 3:1 [HT 4:1]; Amos 4:2, 13; 6:11, 14; 9:9; Hab 1:6; Zech 2:9 [HT 2:13]; Zech 3:9; 11:16).

[1:3]  ² tn Or “high places” (KJV, NASB, NIV, NRSV, NLT).

[1:12]  ³ sn The place name Maroth sounds like the Hebrew word for “bitter.”

[1:12]  ⁴ tc The translation assumes an emendation of חָלָה (khalah; from חִיל, khil, “to writhe”) to יִחֲלָה (yikhalah; from יָחַל, yakhal, “to wait”).

[1:12]  ⁵ tn Heb “though disaster has come down from the Lord to the gate of Jerusalem.”

[2:5]  ⁵ tn Heb “therefore you will not have one who strings out a measuring line by lot in the assembly of the Lord.”

[4:6]  ⁷ sn The exiles of the nation are compared to lame and injured sheep.

[4:12]  ⁹ tn The words “to be threshed” are not in the Hebrew text, but have been supplied in the translation to make it clear that the Lord is planning to enable “Daughter Zion” to “thresh” her enemies.

[5:10]  ¹¹ tn Heb “cut off” (also in the following verse).

[6:6]  ¹³ sn With what should I enter the Lord’s presence? The prophet speaks again, playing the role of an inquisitive worshiper who wants to know what God really desires from his followers.

[6:6]  ¹⁴ tn The words “with what” do double duty in the parallelism and are supplied in the second line of the translation for clarification.

[6:6]  ¹⁵ tn Or “the exalted God.”

[6:9]  ¹⁵ tn Or “the voice of the Lord is calling.” The translation understands קוֹל (qol, “voice”) as equivalent to an imperative.

[6:9]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “one who sees your name is wisdom.” It is probably better to emend יִרְאֶה (yir’eh, “he sees”) to יִרְאָה (yir’ah, “fearing”). One may then translate, “fearing your name is wisdom.” The Lord’s “name” here stands by metonymy for his authority.

[6:9]  ¹⁷ tn Heb (apparently) “Listen [to] the staff and the one who appointed it.” Verse 10 then begins with עוֹד (yod, “still” or “again”). The translation assumes an emendation to שִׁמְעוּ מַטֶּה וּמוֹעֵד הָעִיר (shim’u matteh umo’ed ha’ir, “listen, O tribe and the assembly of the city”).