Micah 1:7

1:7 All her carved idols will be smashed to pieces;

all her metal cult statues will be destroyed by fire. ¹ 

I will make a waste heap ²  of all her images.

Since ³  she gathered the metal ⁴  as a prostitute collects her wages,

the idols will become a prostitute’s wages again.” ⁵ 

Micah 2:3

2:3 Therefore the Lord says this: “Look, I am devising disaster for this nation! ⁶ 

It will be like a yoke from which you cannot free your neck. ⁷ 

You will no longer ⁸  walk proudly,

for it will be a time of catastrophe.

Micah 4:2

4:2 Many nations will come, saying,

“Come on! Let’s go up to the Lord’s mountain,

to the temple ⁹  of Jacob’s God,

so he can teach us his commands ¹⁰ 

and we can live by his laws.” ¹¹ 

For Zion will be the source of instruction;

the Lord’s teachings will proceed from Jerusalem. ¹² 

Micah 4:10

4:10 Twist and strain, ¹³  Daughter Zion, as if you were in labor!

For you will leave the city

and live in the open field.

You will go to Babylon,

but there you will be rescued.

There the Lord will deliver ¹⁴  you

from the power ¹⁵  of your enemies.

Micah 4:13

4:13 “Get up and thresh, Daughter Zion!

For I will give you iron horns; ¹⁶ 

I will give you bronze hooves,

and you will crush many nations.” ¹⁷ 

You will devote to the Lord the spoils you take from them,

and dedicate their wealth to the sovereign Ruler ¹⁸  of the whole earth. ¹⁹ 

Micah 5:6

5:6 They will rule ²⁰  the land of Assyria with the sword,

the land of Nimrod ²¹  with a drawn sword. ²² 

Our king ²³  will rescue us from the Assyrians

should they attempt to invade our land

and try to set foot in our territory.

Micah 6:8

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

and what the Lord really wants from you: ²⁴ 

He wants you to ²⁵  promote ²⁶  justice, to be faithful, ²⁷ 

and to live obediently before ²⁸  your God.

[1:7]  ¹ tn Heb “and all her prostitute’s wages will be burned with fire.”

[1:7]  ² tn Heb “I will make desolate” (so NASB).

[1:7]  ³ tn Or “for” (KJV, NASB, NRSV).

[1:7]  ⁴ tn No object is specified in the Hebrew text; the words “the metal” are supplied from the context.

[1:7]  ⁵ tn Heb “for from a prostitute’s wages she gathered, and to a prostitute’s wages they will return.” When the metal was first collected it was comparable to the coins a prostitute would receive for her services. The metal was then formed into idols, but now the Lord’s fiery judgment would reduce the metal images to their original condition.

[2:3]  ⁶ tn Heb “clan” or “extended family.”

[2:3]  ⁷ tn Heb “from which you will not remove your neck.” The words “It will be like a yoke” are supplied in the translation for clarification.

[2:3]  ⁸ tn Or “you will not.”

[4:2]  ¹¹ tn Heb “house.”

[4:2]  ¹² tn Heb “ways.”

[4:2]  ¹³ tn Heb “and we can walk in his paths.”

[4:2]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “instruction [or, “law”] will go out from Zion, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.”

[4:10]  ¹⁶ tn Or perhaps “scream”; NRSV, TEV, NLT “groan.”

[4:10]  ¹⁷ tn Or “redeem” (KJV, NASB, NIV, NRSV, NLT).

[4:10]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “hand.” The Hebrew idiom is a metonymy for power or control.

[4:13]  ²¹ tn Heb “I will make your horn iron.”

[4:13]  ²² sn Jerusalem (Daughter Zion at the beginning of the verse; cf. 4:8) is here compared to a powerful ox which crushes the grain on the threshing floor with its hooves.

[4:13]  ²³ tn Or “the Lord” (so many English versions); Heb “the master.”

[4:13]  ²⁴ tn Heb “and their wealth to the master of all the earth.” The verb “devote” does double duty in the parallelism and is supplied in the second line for clarification.

[5:6]  ²⁶ tn Or perhaps “break”; or “defeat.”

[5:6]  ²⁷ sn According to Gen 10:8-12, Nimrod, who was famous as a warrior and hunter, founded Assyria.

[5:6]  ²⁸ tc The MT reads “in her gates,” but the text should be emended to בַּפְּתִיחָה (baptikhah, “with a drawn sword”).

[5:6]  ²⁹ tn Heb “he”; the referent (the coming king) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[6:8]  ³¹ 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.

[6:8]  ³² tn Heb “except.” This statement is actually linked with what precedes, “What does he want from you except….”

[6:8]  ³³ tn Heb “to do,” in the sense of “promote.”

[6:8]  ³⁴ tn Heb “to love faithfulness.”

[6:8]  ³⁵ tn Heb “to walk humbly [or perhaps, “carefully”] with.”