Micah 1:8

1:8 For this reason I ¹  will mourn and wail;

I will walk around barefoot ²  and without my outer garments. ³ 

I will howl ⁴  like a wild dog, ⁵ 

and screech ⁶  like an owl. ⁷ 

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. ⁸ 

Micah 4:8

4:8 As for you, watchtower for the flock, ⁹ 

fortress of Daughter Zion ¹⁰  –

your former dominion will be restored, ¹¹ 

the sovereignty that belongs to Daughter Jerusalem.

Micah 6:10

6:10 “I will not overlook, ¹²  O sinful house, the dishonest gain you have hoarded away, ¹³ 

or the smaller-than-standard measure I hate so much. ¹⁴ 

[1:8]  ¹ tn The prophet is probably the speaker here.

[1:8]  ² tn Or “stripped.” The precise meaning of this Hebrew word is unclear. It may refer to walking barefoot (see 2 Sam 15:30) or to partially stripping oneself (see Job 12:17-19).

[1:8]  ³ tn Heb “naked.” This probably does not refer to complete nudity, but to stripping off one’s outer garments as an outward sign of the destitution felt by the mourner.

[1:8]  ⁴ tn Heb “I will make lamentation.”

[1:8]  ⁵ tn Or “a jackal”; CEV “howling wolves.”

[1:8]  ⁶ tn Heb “[make] a mourning.”

[1:8]  ⁷ tn Or perhaps “ostrich” (cf. ASV, NAB, NASB, NRSV, NLT).

[4:6]  ⁸ sn The exiles of the nation are compared to lame and injured sheep.

[4:8]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “Migdal-eder.” Some English versions transliterate this phrase, apparently because they view it as a place name (cf. NAB).

[4:8]  ¹⁶ 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]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “to you it will come, the former dominion will arrive.”

[6:10]  ²² tn The meaning of the first Hebrew word in the line is unclear. Possibly it is a combination of the interrogative particle and אִשׁ (’ish), an alternate form of יֵשׁ (yesh, “there is/are”). One could then translate literally, “Are there treasures of sin [in] the house of the sinful?” The translation assumes an emendation to הַאֶשֶּׁה (ha’esheh, from נָשָׁא, nasha’, “to forget”), “Will I forget?” The rhetorical question expects an answer, “No, I will not forget.”

[6:10]  ²³ tn Heb “the treasures of sin”; NASB “treasures of wickedness”; NIV “ill-gotten treasures.”

[6:10]  ²⁴ tn Heb “the accursed scant measure.”