Micah 4:5

4:5 Though all the nations follow their respective gods, ¹ 

we will follow ²  the Lord our God forever.

Micah 4:2

4:2 Many nations will come, saying,

“Come on! Let’s go up to the Lord’s mountain,

to the temple ³  of Jacob’s God,

so he can teach us his commands ⁴ 

and we can live by his laws.” ⁵ 

For Zion will be the source of instruction;

the Lord’s teachings will proceed from Jerusalem. ⁶ 

Micah 2:10

2:10 But you are the ones who will be forced to leave! ⁷ 

For this land is not secure! ⁸ 

Sin will thoroughly destroy it! ⁹ 

Micah 1:8

1:8 For this reason I ¹⁰  will mourn and wail;

I will walk around barefoot ¹¹  and without my outer garments. ¹² 

I will howl ¹³  like a wild dog, ¹⁴ 

and screech ¹⁵  like an owl. ¹⁶ 

Micah 2:7

2:7 Does the family ¹⁷  of Jacob say, ¹⁸ 

‘The Lord’s patience ¹⁹  can’t be exhausted –

he would never do such things’? ²⁰ 

To be sure, my commands bring a reward

for those who obey them, ²¹ 

Micah 2:11

2:11 If a lying windbag should come and say, ²² 

‘I’ll promise you blessings of wine and beer,’ ²³ 

he would be just the right preacher for these people! ²⁴ 

Micah 6:16

6:16 You implement the regulations of Omri,

and all the practices of Ahab’s dynasty; ²⁵ 

you follow their policies. ²⁶ 

Therefore I will make you an appalling sight, ²⁷ 

the city’s ²⁸  inhabitants will be taunted derisively, ²⁹ 

and nations will mock all of you.” ³⁰ 

Micah 2:3

2:3 Therefore the Lord says this: “Look, I am devising disaster for this nation! ³¹ 

It will be like a yoke from which you cannot free your neck. ³² 

You will no longer ³³  walk proudly,

for it will be a time of catastrophe.

Micah 6:8

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

and what the Lord really wants from you: ³⁴ 

He wants you to ³⁵  promote ³⁶  justice, to be faithful, ³⁷ 

and to live obediently before ³⁸  your God.

[4:5]  ¹ tn Heb “walk each in the name of his god.” The term “name” here has the idea of “authority.” To “walk in the name” of a god is to recognize the god’s authority as binding over one’s life.

[4:5]  ² tn Heb “walk in the name of.”

[4:2]  ³ tn Heb “house.”

[4:2]  ⁴ tn Heb “ways.”

[4:2]  ⁵ tn Heb “and we can walk in his paths.”

[4:2]  ⁶ tn Heb “instruction [or, “law”] will go out from Zion, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.”

[2:10]  ⁵ tn Heb “Arise and go!” These imperatives are rhetorical. Those who wrongly drove widows and orphans from their homes and land inheritances will themselves be driven out of the land (cf. Isa 5:8-17). This is an example of poetic justice.

[2:10]  ⁶ tn Heb “for this is no resting place.” The Lord speaks to the oppressors.

[2:10]  ⁷ tn Heb “uncleanness will destroy, and destruction will be severe.”

[1:8]  ⁷ tn The prophet is probably the speaker here.

[1:8]  ⁸ tn Or “stripped.” The precise meaning of this Hebrew word is unclear. It may refer to walking barefoot (see 2 Sam 15:30) or to partially stripping oneself (see Job 12:17-19).

[1:8]  ⁹ tn Heb “naked.” This probably does not refer to complete nudity, but to stripping off one’s outer garments as an outward sign of the destitution felt by the mourner.

[1:8]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “I will make lamentation.”

[1:8]  ¹¹ tn Or “a jackal”; CEV “howling wolves.”

[1:8]  ¹² tn Heb “[make] a mourning.”

[1:8]  ¹³ tn Or perhaps “ostrich” (cf. ASV, NAB, NASB, NRSV, NLT).

[2:7]  ⁹ tn Heb “house” (so many English versions); CEV “descendants.’

[2:7]  ¹⁰ tc The MT has אָמוּר (’amur), an otherwise unattested passive participle, which is better emended to אָמוֹר (’amor), an infinitive absolute functioning as a finite verb (see BDB 55 s.v. אָמַר).

[2:7]  ¹¹ tn The Hebrew word רוּחַ (ruach) often means “Spirit” when used of the Lord, but here it seems to have an abstract sense, “patience.” See BDB 925 s.v. 3.d.

[2:7]  ¹² tn Heb “Has the patience of the Lord run short? Or are these his deeds?” The rhetorical questions expect the answer, “No, of course not.” The people contest the prophet’s claims that the Lord’s judgment is falling on the nation.

[2:7]  ¹³ tn Heb “Do not my words accomplish good for the one who walks uprightly?” The rhetorical question expects the answer, “Of course they do!” The Lord begins his response to the claim of the house of Jacob that they are immune to judgment (see v. 7a). He points out that the godly are indeed rewarded, but then he goes on to show that those in the house of Jacob are not godly and can expect divine judgment, not blessing (vv. 8-11). Some emend “my words” to “his words.” In this case, v. 7b is a continuation of the immediately preceding quotation. The people, thinking they are godly, confidently ask, “Do not his [God’s] words accomplish good for the one who walks uprightly?”

[2:11]  ¹¹ tn Heb “if a man, coming [as] wind and falsehood, should lie”; NASB “walking after wind and falsehood”; NIV “a liar and a deceiver.”

[2:11]  ¹² tn Heb “I will foam at the mouth concerning wine and beer.”

[2:11]  ¹³ tn Heb “he would be the foamer at the mouth for this people.”

[6:16]  ¹³ tn Heb “the edicts of Omri are kept, and all the deeds of the house of Ahab.”

[6:16]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “and you walk in their plans.”

[6:16]  ¹⁵ tn The Hebrew term שַׁמָּה (shammah) can refer to “destruction; ruin,” or to the reaction it produces in those who witness the destruction.

[6:16]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “her”; the referent (the city) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[6:16]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “[an object] of hissing,” which was a way of taunting someone.

[6:16]  ¹⁸ tc The translation assumes an emendation of the MT’s עַמִּי (’ammi, “my people”) to עַמִּים (’ammim, “nations”).

[2:3]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “clan” or “extended family.”

[2:3]  ¹⁶ 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]  ¹⁷ tn Or “you will not.”

[6:8]  ¹⁷ 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]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “except.” This statement is actually linked with what precedes, “What does he want from you except….”

[6:8]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “to do,” in the sense of “promote.”

[6:8]  ²⁰ tn Heb “to love faithfulness.”

[6:8]  ²¹ tn Heb “to walk humbly [or perhaps, “carefully”] with.”