Discovery BoxMicah 3:8--4:4
Context3:8 But I 1 am full of the courage that the Lord’s Spirit gives,
and have a strong commitment to justice. 2
This enables me to confront Jacob with its rebellion,
and Israel with its sin. 3
3:9 Listen to this, you leaders of the family 4 of Jacob,
you rulers of the nation 5 of Israel!
You 6 hate justice
and pervert all that is right.
3:10 You 7 build Zion through bloody crimes, 8
Jerusalem 9 through unjust violence.
3:11 Her 10 leaders take bribes when they decide legal cases, 11
her priests proclaim rulings for profit,
and her prophets read omens for pay.
Yet they claim to trust 12 the Lord and say,
“The Lord is among us. 13
Disaster will not overtake 14 us!”
3:12 Therefore, because of you, 15 Zion will be plowed up like 16 a field,
Jerusalem will become a heap of ruins,
and the Temple Mount 17 will become a hill overgrown with brush! 18
4:1 In the future 19 the Lord’s Temple Mount will be the most important mountain of all; 20
it will be more prominent than other hills. 21
People will stream to it.
4:2 Many nations will come, saying,
“Come on! Let’s go up to the Lord’s mountain,
to the temple 22 of Jacob’s God,
so he can teach us his commands 23
and we can live by his laws.” 24
For Zion will be the source of instruction;
the Lord’s teachings will proceed from Jerusalem. 25
4:3 He will arbitrate 26 between many peoples
and settle disputes between many 27 distant nations. 28
They will beat their swords into plowshares, 29
and their spears into pruning hooks. 30
Nations will not use weapons 31 against other nations,
and they will no longer train for war.
4:4 Each will sit under his own grapevine
or under his own fig tree without any fear. 32
The Lord who commands armies has decreed it. 33
[3:8] 1 sn The prophet Micah speaks here and contrasts himself with the mercenaries just denounced by the
[3:8] 2 tn Heb “am full of power, the Spirit of the
[3:8] 3 tn Heb “to declare to Jacob his rebellion and to Israel his sin.” The words “this enables me” are supplied in the translation for clarification.
[3:9] 6 tn Heb “who.” A new sentence was begun here in the translation for stylistic reasons (also at the beginning of v. 10).
[3:10] 8 tn Heb “bloodshed” (so NAB, NASB, NIV); NLT “murder.”
[3:10] 9 map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.
[3:11] 10 sn The pronoun Her refers to Jerusalem (note the previous line).
[3:11] 11 tn Heb “judge for a bribe.”
[3:11] 12 tn Heb “they lean upon” (so KJV, NIV, NRSV); NAB “rely on.”
[3:11] 13 tn Heb “Is not the
[3:11] 14 tn Or “come upon” (so many English versions); NCV “happen to us”; CEV “come to us.”
[3:12] 15 tn The plural pronoun refers to the leaders, priests, and prophets mentioned in the preceding verse.
[3:12] 16 tn Or “into” (an adverbial accusative of result).
[3:12] 17 tn Heb “the mountain of the house” (so KJV, ASV, NRSV).
[3:12] 18 tn Heb “a high place of overgrowth.”
[4:1] 19 tn Heb “at the end of days.”
[4:1] 20 tn Heb “will be established as the head of the mountains.”
[4:1] 21 tn Heb “it will be lifted up above the hills.”
[4:2] 24 tn Heb “and we can walk in his paths.”
[4:2] 25 tn Heb “instruction [or, “law”] will go out from Zion, and the word of the
[4:3] 27 tn Or “mighty” (NASB); KJV, NAB, NIV, NRSV “strong”; TEV “among the great powers.”
[4:3] 28 tn Heb “[for many nations] to a distance.”
[4:3] 29 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] 30 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] 31 tn Heb “take up the sword.”
[4:4] 32 tn Heb “and there will be no one making [him] afraid.”
[4:4] 33 tn Heb “for the mouth of the
