Micah 6:7

6:7 Will the Lord accept a thousand rams,

or ten thousand streams of olive oil?

Should I give him my firstborn child as payment for my rebellion,

my offspring – my own flesh and blood – for my sin? ¹ 

Micah 7:1

Micah Laments Judah’s Sin

7:1 I am depressed! ² 

Indeed, ³  it is as if the summer fruit has been gathered,

and the grapes have been harvested. ⁴ 

There is no grape cluster to eat,

no fresh figs that I crave so much. ⁵ 

Micah 7:3

7:3 They are determined to be experts at doing evil; ⁶ 

government officials and judges take bribes, ⁷ 

prominent men make demands,

and they all do what is necessary to satisfy them. ⁸ 

[6:7]  ¹ tn Heb “the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul.” The Hebrew term נֶפֶשׁ (nefesh) is often translated “soul,” but the word usually refers to the whole person; here “the sin of my soul” = “my sin.”

[7:1]  ² tn Heb “woe to me!” In light of the image that follows, perhaps one could translate, “I am disappointed.”

[7:1]  ³ tn Or “for.”

[7:1]  ⁴ tn Heb “I am like the gathering of the summer fruit, like the gleanings of the harvest.” Micah is not comparing himself to the harvested fruit. There is an ellipsis here, as the second half of the verse makes clear. The idea is, “I am like [one at the time] the summer fruit is gathered and the grapes are harvested.”

[7:1]  ⁵ tn Heb “my appetite craves.”

[7:3]  ³ tn Heb “upon evil [are their] hands to do [it] well.”

[7:3]  ⁴ tn Heb “the official asks – and the judge – for a bribe.”

[7:3]  ⁵ tn More literally, “the great one announces what his appetite desires and they weave it together.” Apparently this means that subordinates plot and maneuver to make sure the prominent man’s desires materialize.