Micah 1:9

1:9 For Samaria’s ¹  disease ²  is incurable.

It has infected ³  Judah;

it has spread to ⁴  the leadership ⁵  of my people

and has even contaminated Jerusalem! ⁶ 

Micah 1:15

1:15 Residents of Mareshah, ⁷  a conqueror will attack you, ⁸ 

the leaders of Israel shall flee to Adullam. ⁹ 

Micah 5:3-4

5:3 So the Lord ¹⁰  will hand the people of Israel ¹¹  over to their enemies ¹² 

until the time when the woman in labor ¹³  gives birth. ¹⁴ 

Then the rest of the king’s ¹⁵  countrymen will return

to be reunited with the people of Israel. ¹⁶ 

5:4 He will assume his post ¹⁷  and shepherd the people ¹⁸  by the Lord’s strength,

by the sovereign authority of the Lord his God. ¹⁹ 

They will live securely, ²⁰  for at that time he will be honored ²¹ 

even in the distant regions of ²²  the earth.

Micah 7:9

7:9 I must endure ²³  the Lord’s anger,

for I have sinned against him.

But then ²⁴  he will defend my cause, ²⁵ 

and accomplish justice on my behalf.

He will lead me out into the light;

I will experience firsthand ²⁶  his deliverance. ²⁷ 

Micah 4:3

4:3 He will arbitrate ²⁸  between many peoples

and settle disputes between many ²⁹  distant nations. ³⁰ 

They will beat their swords into plowshares, ³¹ 

and their spears into pruning hooks. ³² 

Nations will not use weapons ³³  against other nations,

and they will no longer train for war.

Micah 4:10

4:10 Twist and strain, ³⁴  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 ³⁵  you

from the power ³⁶  of your enemies.

Micah 6:5

6:5 My people, recall how King Balak of Moab planned to harm you, ³⁷ 

how Balaam son of Beor responded to him.

Recall how you journeyed from Shittim to Gilgal,

so you might acknowledge that the Lord has treated you fairly.” ³⁸ 

[1:9]  ¹ tn Heb “her”; the referent (Samaria) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[1:9]  ² tc The MT reads the plural “wounds”; the singular is read by the LXX, Syriac, and Vg.

[1:9]  ³ tn Heb “come to.”

[1:9]  ⁴ tn Or “reached.”

[1:9]  ⁵ tn Heb “the gate.” Kings and civic leaders typically conducted important business at the city gate (see 1 Kgs 22:10 for an example), and the term is understood here to refer by metonymy to the leadership who would be present at the gate.

[1:9]  ⁶ tn Heb “to Jerusalem.” The expression “it has contaminated” do not appear in the Hebrew text, but have been supplied to fill out the parallelism with the preceding line.

[1:15]  ⁷ sn The place name Mareshah sounds like the Hebrew word for “conqueror.”

[1:15]  ⁸ tn Heb “Again a conqueror I will bring to you, residents of Mareshah.” The first person verb is problematic, for the Lord would have to be the subject (cf. NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV, NLT). But the prophet appears to be delivering this lament and the Lord is referred to in the third person in v. 12. Consequently many emend the verb to a third person form (יָבוֹא, yavo’) and understand the “conqueror” as subject.

[1:15]  ⁹ tn Heb “to Adullam the glory of Israel will go.” This probably means that the nation’s leadership will run for their lives and, like David of old, hide from their enemy in the caves of Adullam. Cf. NIV’s “He who is the glory of Israel will come to Adullam,” which sounds as if an individual is in view, and could be understood as a messianic reference.

[5:3]  ¹³ tn Heb “he”; the referent (the Lord) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[5:3]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “them”; the referent (the people of Israel) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[5:3]  ¹⁵ tn The words “to their enemies” are supplied in the translation for clarification.

[5:3]  ¹⁶ sn The woman in labor. Personified, suffering Jerusalem is the referent. See 4:9-10.

[5:3]  ¹⁷ sn Gives birth. The point of the figurative language is that Jerusalem finally finds relief from her suffering. See 4:10.

[5:3]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “his”; the referent (the king) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[5:3]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “to the sons of Israel.” The words “be reunited with” are supplied in the translation for clarity.

[5:4]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “stand up”; NAB “stand firm”; NASB “will arise.”

[5:4]  ²⁰ tn The words “the people” are supplied in the translation for clarification.

[5:4]  ²¹ tn Heb “by the majesty of the name of the Lord his God.”

[5:4]  ²² tn The words “in peace” are supplied in the translation for clarification. Perhaps וְיָשָׁבוּ (vÿyashavu, “and they will live”) should be emended to וְשָׁבוּ (vÿshavu, “and they will return”).

[5:4]  ²³ tn Heb “be great.”

[5:4]  ²⁴ tn Or “to the ends of.”

[7:9]  ²⁵ tn Heb “lift, bear.”

[7:9]  ²⁶ tn Heb “until.”

[7:9]  ²⁷ tn Or “plead my case” (NASB and NIV both similar); NRSV “until he takes my side.”

[7:9]  ²⁸ tn Heb “see.”

[7:9]  ²⁹ tn Or “justice, vindication.”

[4:3]  ³¹ tn Or “judge.”

[4:3]  ³² tn Or “mighty” (NASB); KJV, NAB, NIV, NRSV “strong”; TEV “among the great powers.”

[4:3]  ³³ tn Heb “[for many nations] to a distance.”

[4:3]  ³⁴ sn Instead of referring to the large plow as a whole, the plowshare is simply the metal tip which actually breaks the earth and cuts the furrow.

[4:3]  ³⁵ sn This implement was used to prune the vines, i.e., to cut off extra leaves and young shoots (M. Klingbeil, NIDOTTE 1:1117-18). It was a short knife with a curved hook at the end sharpened on the inside like a sickle.

[4:3]  ³⁶ tn Heb “take up the sword.”

[4:10]  ³⁷ tn Or perhaps “scream”; NRSV, TEV, NLT “groan.”

[4:10]  ³⁸ tn Or “redeem” (KJV, NASB, NIV, NRSV, NLT).

[4:10]  ³⁹ tn Heb “hand.” The Hebrew idiom is a metonymy for power or control.

[6:5]  ⁴³ tn Heb “remember what Balak…planned.”

[6:5]  ⁴⁴ tn Heb “From Shittim to Gilgal, in order to know the just acts of the Lord.” Something appears to be missing at the beginning of the line. The present translation supplies the words, “Recall how you went.” This apparently refers to how Israel crossed the Jordan River (see Josh 3:1; 4:19-24).