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 7:12

A Closing Prayer

7:12 In that day people ⁷  will come to you ⁸ 

from Assyria as far as ⁹  Egypt,

from Egypt as far as the Euphrates River, ¹⁰ 

from the seacoasts ¹¹  and the mountains. ¹² 

Micah 1:15

1:15 Residents of Mareshah, ¹³  a conqueror will attack you, ¹⁴ 

the leaders of Israel shall flee to Adullam. ¹⁵ 

Micah 4:7-8

4:7 I will transform the lame into the nucleus of a new nation, ¹⁶ 

and those far off ¹⁷  into a mighty nation.

The Lord will reign over them on Mount Zion,

from that day forward and forevermore.” ¹⁸ 

4:8 As for you, watchtower for the flock, ¹⁹ 

fortress of Daughter Zion ²⁰  –

your former dominion will be restored, ²¹ 

the sovereignty that belongs to Daughter Jerusalem.

Micah 5:3-4

5:3 So the Lord ²²  will hand the people of Israel ²³  over to their enemies ²⁴ 

until the time when the woman in labor ²⁵  gives birth. ²⁶ 

Then the rest of the king’s ²⁷  countrymen will return

to be reunited with the people of Israel. ²⁸ 

5:4 He will assume his post ²⁹  and shepherd the people ³⁰  by the Lord’s strength,

by the sovereign authority of the Lord his God. ³¹ 

They will live securely, ³²  for at that time he will be honored ³³ 

even in the distant regions of ³⁴  the earth.

Micah 7:9

7:9 I must endure ³⁵  the Lord’s anger,

for I have sinned against him.

But then ³⁶  he will defend my cause, ³⁷ 

and accomplish justice on my behalf.

He will lead me out into the light;

I will experience firsthand ³⁸  his deliverance. ³⁹ 

Micah 1:7

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

all her metal cult statues will be destroyed by fire. ⁴⁰ 

I will make a waste heap ⁴¹  of all her images.

Since ⁴²  she gathered the metal ⁴³  as a prostitute collects her wages,

the idols will become a prostitute’s wages again.” ⁴⁴ 

Micah 4:3

4:3 He will arbitrate ⁴⁵  between many peoples

and settle disputes between many ⁴⁶  distant nations. ⁴⁷ 

They will beat their swords into plowshares, ⁴⁸ 

and their spears into pruning hooks. ⁴⁹ 

Nations will not use weapons ⁵⁰  against other nations,

and they will no longer train for war.

Micah 4:10

4:10 Twist and strain, ⁵¹  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 ⁵²  you

from the power ⁵³  of your enemies.

Micah 6:5

6:5 My people, recall how King Balak of Moab planned to harm you, ⁵⁴ 

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.” ⁵⁵ 

[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.

[7:12]  ⁷ tn Heb “they.” The referent has been specified as “people,” referring either to the nations (coming to God with their tribute) or to the exiles of Israel (returning to the Lord).

[7:12]  ⁸ tn The masculine pronominal suffix suggests the Lord is addressed. Some emend to a feminine form and take Jerusalem as the addressee.

[7:12]  ⁹ tc The MT reads וְעָרֵי (vÿ’arey, “and the cities [of Egypt]”), but the parallel line indicates this is a corruption of וְעַד (vÿ’ad, “even to”).

[7:12]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “the River,” referring to the Euphrates River. This has been specified in the translation for clarity (so also NASB, NIV).

[7:12]  ¹¹ tn Heb “and sea from sea.” Many prefer to emend this to מִיָּם עַד יָם (miyyam ’ad yam, “from sea to sea”).

[7:12]  ¹² tn Heb “and mountain of the mountain.” Many prefer to emend this to וּמֵהַר עַד הַר (umehar ’ad har, “and mountain to mountain”).

[1:15]  ¹³ sn The place name Mareshah sounds like the Hebrew word for “conqueror.”

[1:15]  ¹⁴ 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]  ¹⁵ 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.

[4:7]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “make the lame into a remnant.”

[4:7]  ²⁰ 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]  ²¹ tn Heb “from now until forever.”

[4:8]  ²⁵ tn Heb “Migdal-eder.” Some English versions transliterate this phrase, apparently because they view it as a place name (cf. NAB).

[4:8]  ²⁶ 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]  ²⁷ tn Heb “to you it will come, the former dominion will arrive.”

[5:3]  ³¹ tn Heb “he”; the referent (the Lord) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[5:3]  ³² tn Heb “them”; the referent (the people of Israel) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[5:3]  ³³ tn The words “to their enemies” are supplied in the translation for clarification.

[5:3]  ³⁴ sn The woman in labor. Personified, suffering Jerusalem is the referent. See 4:9-10.

[5:3]  ³⁵ sn Gives birth. The point of the figurative language is that Jerusalem finally finds relief from her suffering. See 4:10.

[5:3]  ³⁶ tn Heb “his”; the referent (the king) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[5:3]  ³⁷ tn Heb “to the sons of Israel.” The words “be reunited with” are supplied in the translation for clarity.

[5:4]  ³⁷ tn Heb “stand up”; NAB “stand firm”; NASB “will arise.”

[5:4]  ³⁸ tn The words “the people” are supplied in the translation for clarification.

[5:4]  ³⁹ tn Heb “by the majesty of the name of the Lord his God.”

[5:4]  ⁴⁰ 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]  ⁴¹ tn Heb “be great.”

[5:4]  ⁴² tn Or “to the ends of.”

[7:9]  ⁴³ tn Heb “lift, bear.”

[7:9]  ⁴⁴ tn Heb “until.”

[7:9]  ⁴⁵ tn Or “plead my case” (NASB and NIV both similar); NRSV “until he takes my side.”

[7:9]  ⁴⁶ tn Heb “see.”

[7:9]  ⁴⁷ tn Or “justice, vindication.”

[1:7]  ⁴⁹ tn Heb “and all her prostitute’s wages will be burned with fire.”

[1:7]  ⁵⁰ tn Heb “I will make desolate” (so NASB).

[1:7]  ⁵¹ tn Or “for” (KJV, NASB, NRSV).

[1:7]  ⁵² tn No object is specified in the Hebrew text; the words “the metal” are supplied from the context.

[1:7]  ⁵³ 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.

[4:3]  ⁵⁵ tn Or “judge.”

[4:3]  ⁵⁶ tn Or “mighty” (NASB); KJV, NAB, NIV, NRSV “strong”; TEV “among the great powers.”

[4:3]  ⁵⁷ tn Heb “[for many nations] to a distance.”

[4:3]  ⁵⁸ 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]  ⁵⁹ 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]  ⁶⁰ tn Heb “take up the sword.”

[4:10]  ⁶¹ tn Or perhaps “scream”; NRSV, TEV, NLT “groan.”

[4:10]  ⁶² tn Or “redeem” (KJV, NASB, NIV, NRSV, NLT).

[4:10]  ⁶³ tn Heb “hand.” The Hebrew idiom is a metonymy for power or control.

[6:5]  ⁶⁷ tn Heb “remember what Balak…planned.”

[6:5]  ⁶⁸ 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).