Micah 4:5

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

we will follow ²  the Lord our God forever.

Micah 4:7

4:7 I will transform the lame into the nucleus of a new nation, ³ 

and those far off ⁴  into a mighty nation.

The Lord will reign over them on Mount Zion,

from that day forward and forevermore.” ⁵ 

Micah 7:12

A Closing Prayer

7:12 In that day people ⁶  will come to you ⁷ 

from Assyria as far as ⁸  Egypt,

from Egypt as far as the Euphrates River, ⁹ 

from the seacoasts ¹⁰  and the mountains. ¹¹ 

Micah 1:7

1:7 All her carved idols will be smashed to pieces;

all her metal cult statues will be destroyed by fire. ¹² 

I will make a waste heap ¹³  of all her images.

Since ¹⁴  she gathered the metal ¹⁵  as a prostitute collects her wages,

the idols will become a prostitute’s wages again.” ¹⁶ 

[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.”

[4:7]  ³ tn Heb “make the lame into a remnant.”

[4:7]  ⁴ 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]  ⁵ tn Heb “from now until forever.”

[7:12]  ⁵ tn Heb “they.” The referent has been specified as “people,” referring either to the nations (coming to God with their tribute) or to the exiles of Israel (returning to the Lord).

[7:12]  ⁶ tn The masculine pronominal suffix suggests the Lord is addressed. Some emend to a feminine form and take Jerusalem as the addressee.

[7:12]  ⁷ tc The MT reads וְעָרֵי (vÿ’arey, “and the cities [of Egypt]”), but the parallel line indicates this is a corruption of וְעַד (vÿ’ad, “even to”).

[7:12]  ⁸ tn Heb “the River,” referring to the Euphrates River. This has been specified in the translation for clarity (so also NASB, NIV).

[7:12]  ⁹ tn Heb “and sea from sea.” Many prefer to emend this to מִיָּם עַד יָם (miyyam ’ad yam, “from sea to sea”).

[7:12]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “and mountain of the mountain.” Many prefer to emend this to וּמֵהַר עַד הַר (umehar ’ad har, “and mountain to mountain”).

[1:7]  ⁷ tn Heb “and all her prostitute’s wages will be burned with fire.”

[1:7]  ⁸ tn Heb “I will make desolate” (so NASB).

[1:7]  ⁹ tn Or “for” (KJV, NASB, NRSV).

[1:7]  ¹⁰ tn No object is specified in the Hebrew text; the words “the metal” are supplied from the context.

[1:7]  ¹¹ tn Heb “for from a prostitute’s wages she gathered, and to a prostitute’s wages they will return.” When the metal was first collected it was comparable to the coins a prostitute would receive for her services. The metal was then formed into idols, but now the Lord’s fiery judgment would reduce the metal images to their original condition.