Micah 7:4

7:4 The best of them is like a thorn;

the most godly among them are more dangerous than a row of thorn bushes. ¹ 

The day you try to avoid by posting watchmen –

your appointed time of punishment – is on the way, ² 

and then you will experience confusion. ³ 

Micah 4:9

4:9 Jerusalem, why are you ⁴  now shouting so loudly? ⁵ 

Has your king disappeared? ⁶ 

Has your wise leader ⁷  been destroyed?

Is this why ⁸  pain grips ⁹  you as if you were a woman in labor?

Micah 5:1

5:1 (4:14) ¹⁰  But now slash yourself, ¹¹  daughter surrounded by soldiers! ¹² 

We are besieged!

With a scepter ¹³  they strike Israel’s ruler ¹⁴ 

on the side of his face.

Micah 5:4

5:4 He will assume his post ¹⁵  and shepherd the people ¹⁶  by the Lord’s strength,

by the sovereign authority of the Lord his God. ¹⁷ 

They will live securely, ¹⁸  for at that time he will be honored ¹⁹ 

even in the distant regions of ²⁰  the earth.

Micah 7:10

7:10 When my enemies see this, they will be covered with shame.

They say ²¹  to me, “Where is the Lord your God?”

I will gloat over them. ²² 

Then they will be trampled down ²³ 

like mud in the streets.

Micah 4:10

4:10 Twist and strain, ²⁴  Daughter Zion, as if you were in labor!

For you will leave the city

and live in the open field.

You will go to Babylon,

but there you will be rescued.

There the Lord will deliver ²⁵  you

from the power ²⁶  of your enemies.

[7:4]  ¹ tn Heb “[the] godly from a row of thorn bushes.” The preposition מִן (min) is comparative and the comparative element (perhaps “sharper” is the idea) is omitted. See BDB 582 s.v. 6 and GKC 431 §133.e.

[7:4]  ² tn Heb “the day of your watchmen, your appointed [time], is coming.” The present translation takes “watchmen” to refer to actual sentries. However, the “watchmen” could refer figuratively to the prophets who had warned Judah of approaching judgment. In this case one could translate, “The day your prophets warned about – your appointed time of punishment – is on the way.”

[7:4]  ³ tn Heb “and now will be their confusion.”

[4:9]  ⁴ 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]  ⁵ tn Heb “Now why are you shouting [with] a shout.”

[4:9]  ⁶ tn Heb “Is there no king over you?”

[4:9]  ⁷ 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]  ⁸ 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]  ⁹ tn Heb “grabs hold of, seizes.”

[5:1]  ⁷ sn Beginning with 5:1, the verse numbers through 5:15 in the English Bible differ by one from the verse numbers in the Hebrew text (BHS), with 5:1 ET = 4:14 HT, 5:2 ET = 5:1 HT, 5:3 ET = 5:2 HT, etc., through 5:15 ET = 5:14 HT. From 6:1 the verse numbers in the English Bible and the Hebrew Bible are again the same.

[5:1]  ⁸ tn The Hebrew verb גָדַד (gadad) can be translated “slash yourself” or “gather in troops.” A number of English translations are based on the latter meaning (e.g., NASB, NIV, NLT).

[5:1]  ⁹ tn Heb “daughter of a troop of warriors.”

[5:1]  ¹⁰ tn Or “staff”; KJV, NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV, NLT “rod”; CEV “stick”; NCV “club.”

[5:1]  ¹¹ tn Traditionally, “the judge of Israel” (so KJV, NASB).

[5:4]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “stand up”; NAB “stand firm”; NASB “will arise.”

[5:4]  ¹¹ tn The words “the people” are supplied in the translation for clarification.

[5:4]  ¹² tn Heb “by the majesty of the name of the Lord his God.”

[5:4]  ¹³ tn The words “in peace” are supplied in the translation for clarification. Perhaps וְיָשָׁבוּ (vÿyashavu, “and they will live”) should be emended to וְשָׁבוּ (vÿshavu, “and they will return”).

[5:4]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “be great.”

[5:4]  ¹⁵ tn Or “to the ends of.”

[7:10]  ¹³ tn Heb “who say.” A new sentence was begun here in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[7:10]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “My eyes will look on them.”

[7:10]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “a trampled-down place.”

[4:10]  ¹⁶ tn Or perhaps “scream”; NRSV, TEV, NLT “groan.”

[4:10]  ¹⁷ tn Or “redeem” (KJV, NASB, NIV, NRSV, NLT).

[4:10]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “hand.” The Hebrew idiom is a metonymy for power or control.