Micah 6:8

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

and what the Lord really wants from you: ¹ 

He wants you to ²  promote ³  justice, to be faithful, ⁴ 

and to live obediently before ⁵  your God.

Micah 7:18

7:18 There is no other God like you! ⁶ 

You ⁷  forgive sin

and pardon ⁸  the rebellion

of those who remain among your people. ⁹ 

You do not remain angry forever, ¹⁰ 

but delight in showing loyal love.

Micah 1:11

1:11 Residents ¹¹  of Shaphir, ¹²  pass by in nakedness and humiliation! ¹³ 

The residents of Zaanan can’t leave their city. ¹⁴ 

Beth Ezel ¹⁵  mourns, ¹⁶ 

“He takes from you what he desires.” ¹⁷ 

Micah 2:7

2:7 Does the family ¹⁸  of Jacob say, ¹⁹ 

‘The Lord’s patience ²⁰  can’t be exhausted –

he would never do such things’? ²¹ 

To be sure, my commands bring a reward

for those who obey them, ²² 

Micah 3:5

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

are as good as dead. ²³ 

If someone gives them enough to eat,

they offer an oracle of peace. ²⁴ 

But if someone does not give them food,

they are ready to declare war on him. ²⁵ 

Micah 4:9

4:9 Jerusalem, why are you ²⁶  now shouting so loudly? ²⁷ 

Has your king disappeared? ²⁸ 

Has your wise leader ²⁹  been destroyed?

Is this why ³⁰  pain grips ³¹  you as if you were a woman in labor?

Micah 5:7

5:7 Those survivors from ³²  Jacob will live ³³ 

in the midst of many nations. ³⁴ 

They will be like the dew the Lord sends,

like the rain on the grass,

that does not hope for men to come

or wait around for humans to arrive. ³⁵ 

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? ³⁶ 

Micah 7:9

7:9 I must endure ³⁷  the Lord’s anger,

for I have sinned against him.

But then ³⁸  he will defend my cause, ³⁹ 

and accomplish justice on my behalf.

He will lead me out into the light;

I will experience firsthand ⁴⁰  his deliverance. ⁴¹ 

[6:8]  ¹ 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]  ² tn Heb “except.” This statement is actually linked with what precedes, “What does he want from you except….”

[6:8]  ³ tn Heb “to do,” in the sense of “promote.”

[6:8]  ⁴ tn Heb “to love faithfulness.”

[6:8]  ⁵ tn Heb “to walk humbly [or perhaps, “carefully”] with.”

[7:18]  ⁶ tn Heb “Who is a God like you?” The rhetorical question expects the answer, “No one!”

[7:18]  ⁷ tn Heb “one who.” The prayer moves from direct address (second person) in v. 18a to a descriptive (third person) style in vv. 18b-19a and then back to direct address (second person) in vv. 19b-20. Due to considerations of English style and the unfamiliarity of the modern reader with alternation of persons in Hebrew poetry, the entire section has been rendered as direct address (second person) in the translation.

[7:18]  ⁸ tn Heb “pass over.”

[7:18]  ⁹ tn Heb “of the remnant of his inheritance.”

[7:18]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “he does not keep hold of his anger forever.”

[1:11]  ¹¹ tn The Hebrew participial form, which is feminine singular, is here used in a collective sense for the all the residents of the town. See GKC 394 §122.s.

[1:11]  ¹² sn The place name Shaphir means “pleasant” in Hebrew.

[1:11]  ¹³ tn The imperatival form is used rhetorically, emphasizing that the inhabitants of Shaphir will pass by into exile.

[1:11]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “have not come out”; NIV “will not come out”; NLT “dare not come outside.”

[1:11]  ¹⁵ sn The place name Beth Ezel means “house of nearness” or “house of proximity” in Hebrew.

[1:11]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “the lamentation of Beth Ezel.” The following words could be the lamentation offered up by Beth Ezel (subjective genitive) or the mourning song sung over it (objective genitive).

[1:11]  ¹⁷ tc The form עֶמְדָּתוֹ (’emdato) should be emended to חֲמַדְּתוֹ (khamadto, “his (the conqueror’s) desire”).

[2:7]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “house” (so many English versions); CEV “descendants.’

[2:7]  ¹⁷ 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]  ¹⁸ 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]  ¹⁹ 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]  ²⁰ 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?”

[3:5]  ²¹ 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]  ²² 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]  ²³ tn Heb “but [as for the one] who does not place [food] in their mouths, they prepare for war against him.”

[4:9]  ²⁶ tn The Hebrew form is feminine singular, indicating that Jerusalem, personified as a young woman, is now addressed (see v. 10). In v. 8 the tower/fortress was addressed with masculine forms, so there is clearly a shift in addressee here. “Jerusalem” has been supplied in the translation at the beginning of v. 9 to make this shift apparent.

[4:9]  ²⁷ tn Heb “Now why are you shouting [with] a shout.”

[4:9]  ²⁸ tn Heb “Is there no king over you?”

[4:9]  ²⁹ tn Traditionally, “counselor” (cf. KJV, NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV). This refers to the king mentioned in the previous line; the title points to the king’s roles as chief strategist and policy maker, both of which required extraordinary wisdom.

[4:9]  ³⁰ tn Heb “that.” The Hebrew particle כִּי (ki) is used here in a resultative sense; for this use see R. J. Williams, Hebrew Syntax, 73, §450.

[4:9]  ³¹ tn Heb “grabs hold of, seizes.”

[5:7]  ³¹ tn Heb “the remnant of” (also in v. 8).

[5:7]  ³² tn Heb “will be.”

[5:7]  ³³ tn This could mean “(scattered) among the nations” (cf. CEV, NLT) or “surrounded by many nations” (cf. NRSV).

[5:7]  ³⁴ tn Heb “that does not hope for man, and does not wait for the sons of men.”

[6:7]  ³⁶ 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.”

[7:9]  ⁴¹ tn Heb “lift, bear.”

[7:9]  ⁴² tn Heb “until.”

[7:9]  ⁴³ tn Or “plead my case” (NASB and NIV both similar); NRSV “until he takes my side.”

[7:9]  ⁴⁴ tn Heb “see.”

[7:9]  ⁴⁵ tn Or “justice, vindication.”