Micah 3:10

3:10 You ¹  build Zion through bloody crimes, ² 

Jerusalem ³  through unjust violence.

Micah 3:12

3:12 Therefore, because of you, ⁴  Zion will be plowed up like ⁵  a field,

Jerusalem will become a heap of ruins,

and the Temple Mount ⁶  will become a hill overgrown with brush! ⁷ 

Micah 1:13

1:13 Residents of Lachish, ⁸  hitch the horses to the chariots!

You ⁹  influenced Daughter Zion ¹⁰  to sin, ¹¹ 

for Israel’s rebellious deeds can be traced back ¹²  to you!

Micah 4:7-8

4:7 I will transform the lame into the nucleus of a new nation, ¹³ 

and those far off ¹⁴  into a mighty nation.

The Lord will reign over them on Mount Zion,

from that day forward and forevermore.” ¹⁵ 

4:8 As for you, watchtower for the flock, ¹⁶ 

fortress of Daughter Zion ¹⁷  –

your former dominion will be restored, ¹⁸ 

the sovereignty that belongs to Daughter Jerusalem.

Micah 4:10

4:10 Twist and strain, ¹⁹  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 ²⁰  you

from the power ²¹  of your enemies.

Micah 4:13

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

For I will give you iron horns; ²² 

I will give you bronze hooves,

and you will crush many nations.” ²³ 

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

and dedicate their wealth to the sovereign Ruler ²⁴  of the whole earth. ²⁵ 

[3:10]  ¹ tn Heb “who.”

[3:10]  ² tn Heb “bloodshed” (so NAB, NASB, NIV); NLT “murder.”

[3:10]  ³ map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[3:12]  ⁴ tn The plural pronoun refers to the leaders, priests, and prophets mentioned in the preceding verse.

[3:12]  ⁵ tn Or “into” (an adverbial accusative of result).

[3:12]  ⁶ tn Heb “the mountain of the house” (so KJV, ASV, NRSV).

[3:12]  ⁷ tn Heb “a high place of overgrowth.”

[1:13]  ⁷ sn The place name Lachish sounds like the Hebrew word for “team [of horses].”

[1:13]  ⁸ tn Heb “she”; this has been translated as second person (“you”) in keeping with the direct address to the residents of Lachish in the previous line.

[1:13]  ⁹ sn The epithet Daughter Zion pictures the city of Jerusalem as a young lady.

[1:13]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “She was the beginning of sin for Daughter Zion.”

[1:13]  ¹¹ tn Heb “for in you was found the transgressions of Israel.”

[4:7]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “make the lame into a remnant.”

[4:7]  ¹¹ 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]  ¹² tn Heb “from now until forever.”

[4:8]  ¹³ tn Heb “Migdal-eder.” Some English versions transliterate this phrase, apparently because they view it as a place name (cf. NAB).

[4:8]  ¹⁴ 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]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “to you it will come, the former dominion will arrive.”

[4:10]  ¹⁶ tn Or perhaps “scream”; NRSV, TEV, NLT “groan.”

[4:10]  ¹⁷ tn Or “redeem” (KJV, NASB, NIV, NRSV, NLT).

[4:10]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “hand.” The Hebrew idiom is a metonymy for power or control.

[4:13]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “I will make your horn iron.”

[4:13]  ²⁰ 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]  ²¹ tn Or “the Lord” (so many English versions); Heb “the master.”

[4:13]  ²² 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.