Micah 2:3

2:3 Therefore the Lord says this: “Look, I am devising disaster for this nation! ¹ 

It will be like a yoke from which you cannot free your neck. ² 

You will no longer ³  walk proudly,

for it will be a time of catastrophe.

Micah 2:8

2:8 but you rise up as an enemy against my people. ⁴ 

You steal a robe from a friend, ⁵ 

from those who pass by peacefully as if returning from a war. ⁶ 

Micah 4:1

Better Days Ahead for Jerusalem

4:1 In the future ⁷  the Lord’s Temple Mount will be the most important mountain of all; ⁸ 

it will be more prominent than other hills. ⁹ 

People will stream to it.

Micah 5:2

A King Will Come and a Remnant Will Prosper

5:2 (5:1) As for you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, ¹⁰ 

seemingly insignificant ¹¹  among the clans of Judah –

from you a king will emerge who will rule over Israel on my behalf, ¹² 

one whose origins ¹³  are in the distant past. ¹⁴ 

Micah 5:7

5:7 Those survivors from ¹⁵  Jacob will live ¹⁶ 

in the midst of many nations. ¹⁷ 

They will be like the dew the Lord sends,

like the rain on the grass,

that does not hope for men to come

or wait around for humans to arrive. ¹⁸ 

Micah 7:3

7:3 They are determined to be experts at doing evil; ¹⁹ 

government officials and judges take bribes, ²⁰ 

prominent men make demands,

and they all do what is necessary to satisfy them. ²¹ 

Micah 7:17

7:17 They will lick the dust like a snake,

like serpents crawling on the ground. ²² 

They will come trembling from their strongholds

to the Lord our God; ²³ 

they will be terrified ²⁴  of you. ²⁵ 

[2:3]  ¹ tn Heb “clan” or “extended family.”

[2:3]  ² 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]  ³ tn Or “you will not.”

[2:8]  ⁴ tc Heb “Recently my people rise up as an enemy.” The MT is problematic in light of v. 9, where “my people” are the object of oppression, not the perpetrators of it. The form וְאֶתְמוּל (vÿ’etmul, “and recently”) is probably the product of fusion and subsequent suppression of an (ע) ayin. The translation assumes an emendation to וְאַתֶּם עַל (vÿ’attem ’al, “and you against [my people]”). The second person plural pronoun fits well with the second plural verb forms of vv. 8b-10. If this emendation is accepted, then יְקוֹמֵם (yÿqomem, the imperfect of קוּם [qum]) should be emended to קָמִים (qamim; a participle from the same root).

[2:8]  ⁵ tc Heb “From the front of a garment glory [or perhaps, “a robe”] you strip off,” but this makes little if any sense. The term מִמּוּל (mimmul, “from the front of”) is probably the product of dittography (note the preceding word, which ends in [ם] mem) and subsequent suppression of ע (ayin). The translation assumes an emendation to מֵעַל (me’al, “from upon”). The translation also assumes an emendation of שַׂלְמָה אֶדֶר (salmah ’eder, “a garment, glory [or robe]”) to שֹׁלְמִים אֲדֶרֶת (sholÿmim ’aderet, “[from] a friend the robe [you strip off]”). The MT’s אֶדֶר (’eder) is the result of misdivision (the article has erroneously been attached to the preceding word) and haplography (of the final tav, which also begins the following word).

[2:8]  ⁶ tc The passive participle שׁוּבֵי (shuvey) is unattested elsewhere and should be emended to a participle שָׁבִים (shavim).

[4:1]  ⁷ tn Heb “at the end of days.”

[4:1]  ⁸ tn Heb “will be established as the head of the mountains.”

[4:1]  ⁹ tn Heb “it will be lifted up above the hills.”

[5:2]  ¹⁰ sn Ephrathah is either an alternate name for Bethlehem or the name of the district in which Bethlehem was located. See Ruth 4:11.

[5:2]  ¹¹ tn Heb “being small.” Some omit לִהְיוֹת (lihyot, “being”) because it fits awkwardly and appears again in the next line.

[5:2]  ¹² tn Heb “from you for me one will go out to be a ruler over Israel.”

[5:2]  ¹³ tn Heb “his goings out.” The term may refer to the ruler’s origins (cf. NAB, NIV, NRSV, NLT) or to his activities.

[5:2]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “from the past, from the days of antiquity.” Elsewhere both phrases refer to the early periods in the history of the world or of the nation of Israel. For מִקֶּדֶם (miqqedem, “from the past”) see Neh 12:46; Pss 74:12; 77:11; Isa 45:21; 46:10. For מִימֵי עוֹלָם (mimey ’olam, “from the days of antiquity”) see Isa 63:9, 11; Amos 9:11; Mic 7:14; Mal 3:4. In Neh 12:46 and Amos 9:11 the Davidic era is in view.

[5:7]  ¹³ tn Heb “the remnant of” (also in v. 8).

[5:7]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “will be.”

[5:7]  ¹⁵ tn This could mean “(scattered) among the nations” (cf. CEV, NLT) or “surrounded by many nations” (cf. NRSV).

[5:7]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “that does not hope for man, and does not wait for the sons of men.”

[7:3]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “upon evil [are their] hands to do [it] well.”

[7:3]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “the official asks – and the judge – for a bribe.”

[7:3]  ¹⁸ 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.

[7:17]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “like crawling things on the ground.” The parallelism suggests snakes are in view.

[7:17]  ²⁰ tn Thetranslationassumesthatthe phrase אֶל־יְהוָה אֱלֹהֵינוּ (’el-yÿhvah ’elohenu, “to the Lord our God”) goes with what precedes. Another option is to take the phrase with the following verb, in which case one could translate, “to the Lord our God they will turn in dread.”

[7:17]  ²¹ tn Heb “they will be in dread and afraid.”

[7:17]  ²² tn The Lord is addressed directly using the second person.