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 3:5

3:5 This is what the Lord says: “The prophets who mislead my people

are as good as dead. ⁴ 

If someone gives them enough to eat,

they offer an oracle of peace. ⁵ 

But if someone does not give them food,

they are ready to declare war on him. ⁶ 

Micah 4:10

4:10 Twist and strain, ⁷  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 ⁸  you

from the power ⁹  of your enemies.

Micah 5:7

5:7 Those survivors from ¹⁰  Jacob will live ¹¹ 

in the midst of many nations. ¹² 

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. ¹³ 

Micah 6:5

6:5 My people, recall how King Balak of Moab planned to harm you, ¹⁴ 

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.” ¹⁵ 

Micah 6:8

6:8 He has told you, O man, what is good,

and what the Lord really wants from you: ¹⁶ 

He wants you to ¹⁷  promote ¹⁸  justice, to be faithful, ¹⁹ 

and to live obediently before ²⁰  your God.

[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.”

[3:5]  ⁴ tn Heb “concerning the prophets, those who mislead my people.” The first person pronominal suffix is awkward in a quotation formula that introduces the words of the Lord. For this reason some prefer to begin the quotation after “the Lord says” (cf. NIV), but this leaves “concerning the prophets” hanging very awkwardly at the beginning of the quotation. It is preferable to add הוֹי (hoy, “woe, ah”) at the beginning of the quotation, right after the graphically similar יְהוָה (yÿhvah; see D. R. Hillers, Micah [Hermeneia], 44). The phrase הוֹי עַל (hoy ’al, “woe upon”) occurs in Jer 50:27 and Ezek 13:3 (with “the prophets” following the preposition in the latter instance).

[3:5]  ⁵ tn Heb “those who bite with their teeth and cry out, ‘peace.’” The phrase “bite with the teeth” is taken here as idiomatic for eating. Apparently these prophets were driven by mercenary motives. If they were paid well, they gave positive oracles to their clients, but if someone could not afford to pay them, they were hostile and delivered oracles of doom.

[3:5]  ⁶ tn Heb “but [as for the one] who does not place [food] in their mouths, they prepare for war against him.”

[4:10]  ⁷ tn Or perhaps “scream”; NRSV, TEV, NLT “groan.”

[4:10]  ⁸ tn Or “redeem” (KJV, NASB, NIV, NRSV, NLT).

[4:10]  ⁹ tn Heb “hand.” The Hebrew idiom is a metonymy for power or control.

[5:7]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “the remnant of” (also in v. 8).

[5:7]  ¹¹ tn Heb “will be.”

[5:7]  ¹² tn This could mean “(scattered) among the nations” (cf. CEV, NLT) or “surrounded by many nations” (cf. NRSV).

[5:7]  ¹³ tn Heb “that does not hope for man, and does not wait for the sons of men.”

[6:5]  ¹³ tn Heb “remember what Balak…planned.”

[6:5]  ¹⁴ 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).

[6:8]  ¹⁶ sn What the Lord really wants from you. Now the prophet switches roles and answers the hypothetical worshiper’s question. He makes it clear that the Lord desires proper attitudes more than ritual and sacrifice.

[6:8]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “except.” This statement is actually linked with what precedes, “What does he want from you except….”

[6:8]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “to do,” in the sense of “promote.”

[6:8]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “to love faithfulness.”

[6:8]  ²⁰ tn Heb “to walk humbly [or perhaps, “carefully”] with.”