Micah 2:4

2:4 In that day people will sing this taunt song to you –

they will mock you with this lament: ¹ 

‘We are completely destroyed;

they sell off ²  the property of my people.

How they remove it from me! ³ 

They assign our fields to the conqueror.’ ⁴ 

Micah 3:5

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

are as good as dead. ⁵ 

If someone gives them enough to eat,

they offer an oracle of peace. ⁶ 

But if someone does not give them food,

they are ready to declare war on him. ⁷ 

Micah 4:3

4:3 He will arbitrate ⁸  between many peoples

and settle disputes between many ⁹  distant nations. ¹⁰ 

They will beat their swords into plowshares, ¹¹ 

and their spears into pruning hooks. ¹² 

Nations will not use weapons ¹³  against other nations,

and they will no longer train for war.

Micah 4:13

4:13 “Get up and thresh, Daughter Zion!

For I will give you iron horns; ¹⁴ 

I will give you bronze hooves,

and you will crush many nations.” ¹⁵ 

You will devote to the Lord the spoils you take from them,

and dedicate their wealth to the sovereign Ruler ¹⁶  of the whole earth. ¹⁷ 

Micah 5:7-8

5:7 Those survivors from ¹⁸  Jacob will live ¹⁹ 

in the midst of many nations. ²⁰ 

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. ²¹ 

5:8 Those survivors from Jacob will live among the nations,

in the midst of many peoples.

They will be like a lion among the animals of the forest,

like a young lion among the flocks of sheep,

which attacks when it passes through;

it rips its prey ²²  and there is no one to stop it. ²³ 

Micah 6:5

6:5 My people, recall how King Balak of Moab planned to harm you, ²⁴ 

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.” ²⁵ 

[2:4]  ¹ tc The form נִהְיָה (nihyah) should be omitted as dittographic (note the preceding וְנָהָה נְהִי vÿnahah nÿhiy).

[2:4]  ² tn Or “exchange.” The LXX suggests a reading יִמַּד (yimmad) from מָדַד (madad, “to measure”). In this case one could translate, “the property of my people is measured out [i.e., for resale].”

[2:4]  ³ tn Heb “how one removes for me.” Apparently the preposition has the nuance “from” here (cf. KJV, NASB, NIV, NRSV, NLT).

[2:4]  ⁴ tc The Hebrew term שׁוֹבֵב (shovev, “the one turning back”) elsewhere has the nuance “apostate” (cf. NASB) or “traitor” (cf. NIV). The translation assumes an emendation to שָׁבָה (shavah, “captor”).

[3:5]  ⁵ 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]  ⁶ 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]  ⁷ tn Heb “but [as for the one] who does not place [food] in their mouths, they prepare for war against him.”

[4:3]  ⁹ tn Or “judge.”

[4:3]  ¹⁰ tn Or “mighty” (NASB); KJV, NAB, NIV, NRSV “strong”; TEV “among the great powers.”

[4:3]  ¹¹ tn Heb “[for many nations] to a distance.”

[4:3]  ¹² 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]  ¹³ 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]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “take up the sword.”

[4:13]  ¹³ tn Heb “I will make your horn iron.”

[4:13]  ¹⁴ sn Jerusalem (Daughter Zion at the beginning of the verse; cf. 4:8) is here compared to a powerful ox which crushes the grain on the threshing floor with its hooves.

[4:13]  ¹⁵ tn Or “the Lord” (so many English versions); Heb “the master.”

[4:13]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “and their wealth to the master of all the earth.” The verb “devote” does double duty in the parallelism and is supplied in the second line for clarification.

[5:7]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “the remnant of” (also in v. 8).

[5:7]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “will be.”

[5:7]  ¹⁹ tn This could mean “(scattered) among the nations” (cf. CEV, NLT) or “surrounded by many nations” (cf. NRSV).

[5:7]  ²⁰ tn Heb “that does not hope for man, and does not wait for the sons of men.”

[5:8]  ²¹ tn The words “its prey” are supplied in the translation for clarification.

[5:8]  ²² tn Heb “and there is no deliverer.”

[6:5]  ²⁵ tn Heb “remember what Balak…planned.”

[6:5]  ²⁶ 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).