Micah 6:1

The Lord Demands Justice, not Ritual

6:1 Listen to what the Lord says:

“Get up! Defend yourself ¹  before the mountains! ² 

Present your case before the hills!” ³ 

Micah 2:3-4

2:3 Therefore the Lord says this: “Look, I am devising disaster for this nation! ⁴ 

It will be like a yoke from which you cannot free your neck. ⁵ 

You will no longer ⁶  walk proudly,

for it will be a time of catastrophe.

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

they will mock you with this lament: ⁷ 

‘We are completely destroyed;

they sell off ⁸  the property of my people.

How they remove it from me! ⁹ 

They assign our fields to the conqueror.’ ¹⁰ 

Micah 3:5

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

are as good as dead. ¹¹ 

If someone gives them enough to eat,

they offer an oracle of peace. ¹² 

But if someone does not give them food,

they are ready to declare war on him. ¹³ 

[6:1]  ¹ tn Or “plead your case” (NASB, NIV, NRSV); NAB “present your plea”; NLT “state your case.”

[6:1]  ² sn As in some ancient Near Eastern treaties, the mountains are personified as legal witnesses that will settle the dispute between God and Israel.

[6:1]  ³ tn Heb “let the hills hear your voice.”

[2:3]  ⁴ tn Heb “clan” or “extended family.”

[2:3]  ⁵ 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]  ⁶ tn Or “you will not.”

[2:4]  ⁷ tc The form נִהְיָה (nihyah) should be omitted as dittographic (note the preceding וְנָהָה נְהִי vÿnahah nÿhiy).

[2:4]  ⁸ 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]  ⁹ tn Heb “how one removes for me.” Apparently the preposition has the nuance “from” here (cf. KJV, NASB, NIV, NRSV, NLT).

[2:4]  ¹⁰ 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]  ¹⁰ 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]  ¹¹ 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]  ¹² tn Heb “but [as for the one] who does not place [food] in their mouths, they prepare for war against him.”