Micah 2:1-2

Land Robbers Will Lose their Land

2:1 Those who devise sinful plans are as good as dead, ¹ 

those who dream about doing evil as they lie in bed. ² 

As soon as morning dawns they carry out their plans, ³ 

because they have the power to do so.

2:2 They confiscate the fields they desire,

and seize the houses they want. ⁴ 

They defraud people of their homes, ⁵ 

and deprive people of the land they have inherited. ⁶ 

Micah 7:3

7:3 They are determined to be experts at doing evil; ⁷ 

government officials and judges take bribes, ⁸ 

prominent men make demands,

and they all do what is necessary to satisfy them. ⁹ 

[2:1]  ¹ tn Heb “Woe to those who plan sin.” The Hebrew term הוֹי (hoy, “woe”; “ah”) was a cry used in mourning the dead.

[2:1]  ² tn Heb “those who do evil upon their beds.”

[2:1]  ³ tn Heb “at the light of morning they do it.”

[2:2]  ⁴ tn Heb “they desire fields and rob [them], and houses and take [them] away.”

[2:2]  ⁵ tn Heb “and they oppress a man and his home.”

[2:2]  ⁶ tn Heb “and a man and his inheritance.” The verb עָשַׁק (’ashaq, “to oppress”; “to wrong”) does double duty in the parallel structure and is understood by ellipsis in the second line.

[7:3]  ⁷ tn Heb “upon evil [are their] hands to do [it] well.”

[7:3]  ⁸ tn Heb “the official asks – and the judge – for a bribe.”

[7:3]  ⁹ tn More literally, “the great one announces what his appetite desires and they weave it together.” Apparently this means that subordinates plot and maneuver to make sure the prominent man’s desires materialize.