Micah 7:7

7:7 But I will keep watching for the Lord;

I will wait for the God who delivers me.

My God will hear my lament. ¹ 

Micah 4:5

4:5 Though all the nations follow their respective gods, ² 

we will follow ³  the Lord our God forever.

Micah 6:6

6:6 With what should I ⁴  enter the Lord’s presence?

With what ⁵  should I bow before the sovereign God? ⁶ 

Should I enter his presence with burnt offerings,

with year-old calves?

Micah 3:7

3:7 The prophets ⁷  will be ashamed;

the omen readers will be humiliated.

All of them will cover their mouths, ⁸ 

for they will receive no divine oracles.” ⁹ 

Micah 5:4

5:4 He will assume his post ¹⁰  and shepherd the people ¹¹  by the Lord’s strength,

by the sovereign authority of the Lord his God. ¹² 

They will live securely, ¹³  for at that time he will be honored ¹⁴ 

even in the distant regions of ¹⁵  the earth.

Micah 6:8

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

and what the Lord really wants from you: ¹⁶ 

He wants you to ¹⁷  promote ¹⁸  justice, to be faithful, ¹⁹ 

and to live obediently before ²⁰  your God.

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 7:17-18

7:17 They will lick the dust like a snake,

like serpents crawling on the ground. ²⁴ 

They will come trembling from their strongholds

to the Lord our God; ²⁵ 

they will be terrified ²⁶  of you. ²⁷ 

7:18 There is no other God like you! ²⁸ 

You ²⁹  forgive sin

and pardon ³⁰  the rebellion

of those who remain among your people. ³¹ 

You do not remain angry forever, ³² 

but delight in showing loyal love.

Micah 1:2

The Judge is Coming

1:2 Listen, all you nations! ³³ 

Pay attention, all inhabitants of earth! ³⁴ 

The sovereign Lord will testify ³⁵  against you;

the Lord will accuse you ³⁶  from his majestic palace. ³⁷ 

Micah 7:2

7:2 Faithful men have disappeared ³⁸  from the land;

there are no godly men left. ³⁹ 

They all wait in ambush so they can shed blood; ⁴⁰ 

they hunt their own brother with a net. ⁴¹ 

Micah 4:2

4:2 Many nations will come, saying,

“Come on! Let’s go up to the Lord’s mountain,

to the temple ⁴²  of Jacob’s God,

so he can teach us his commands ⁴³ 

and we can live by his laws.” ⁴⁴ 

For Zion will be the source of instruction;

the Lord’s teachings will proceed from Jerusalem. ⁴⁵ 

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. ⁴⁶ 

The day you try to avoid by posting watchmen –

your appointed time of punishment – is on the way, ⁴⁷ 

and then you will experience confusion. ⁴⁸ 

Micah 1:7

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

all her metal cult statues will be destroyed by fire. ⁴⁹ 

I will make a waste heap ⁵⁰  of all her images.

Since ⁵¹  she gathered the metal ⁵²  as a prostitute collects her wages,

the idols will become a prostitute’s wages again.” ⁵³ 

Micah 2:4

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

they will mock you with this lament: ⁵⁴ 

‘We are completely destroyed;

they sell off ⁵⁵  the property of my people.

How they remove it from me! ⁵⁶ 

They assign our fields to the conqueror.’ ⁵⁷ 

Micah 7:16

7:16 Nations will see this and be disappointed by ⁵⁸  all their strength,

they will put their hands over their mouths,

and act as if they were deaf. ⁵⁹ 

[7:7]  ¹ tn Heb “me.” In the interest of clarity the nature of the prophet’s cry has been specified as “my lament” in the translation.

[4:5]  ² 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]  ³ tn Heb “walk in the name of.”

[6:6]  ³ sn With what should I enter the Lord’s presence? The prophet speaks again, playing the role of an inquisitive worshiper who wants to know what God really desires from his followers.

[6:6]  ⁴ tn The words “with what” do double duty in the parallelism and are supplied in the second line of the translation for clarification.

[6:6]  ⁵ tn Or “the exalted God.”

[3:7]  ⁴ tn Or “seers.”

[3:7]  ⁵ tn Or “the mustache,” or perhaps “the beard.” Cf. KJV, NAB, NRSV “cover their lips.”

[3:7]  ⁶ tn Heb “for there will be no answer from God.”

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

[5:4]  ⁶ tn The words “the people” are supplied in the translation for clarification.

[5:4]  ⁷ tn Heb “by the majesty of the name of the Lord his God.”

[5:4]  ⁸ 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]  ⁹ tn Heb “be great.”

[5:4]  ¹⁰ tn Or “to the ends of.”

[6:8]  ⁶ 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]  ⁷ tn Heb “except.” This statement is actually linked with what precedes, “What does he want from you except….”

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

[6:8]  ⁹ tn Heb “to love faithfulness.”

[6:8]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “to walk humbly [or perhaps, “carefully”] with.”

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

[7:10]  ⁸ tn Heb “My eyes will look on them.”

[7:10]  ⁹ tn Heb “a trampled-down place.”

[7:17]  ⁸ tn Heb “like crawling things on the ground.” The parallelism suggests snakes are in view.

[7:17]  ⁹ tn Thetranslationassumesthatthe phrase אֶל־יְהוָה אֱלֹהֵינוּ (’el-yÿhvah ’elohenu, “to the Lord our God”) goes with what precedes. Another option is to take the phrase with the following verb, in which case one could translate, “to the Lord our God they will turn in dread.”

[7:17]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “they will be in dread and afraid.”

[7:17]  ¹¹ tn The Lord is addressed directly using the second person.

[7:18]  ⁹ tn Heb “Who is a God like you?” The rhetorical question expects the answer, “No one!”

[7:18]  ¹⁰ 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]  ¹¹ tn Heb “pass over.”

[7:18]  ¹² tn Heb “of the remnant of his inheritance.”

[7:18]  ¹³ tn Heb “he does not keep hold of his anger forever.”

[1:2]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “O peoples, all of them.”

[1:2]  ¹¹ tn Heb “O earth and all its fullness”; KJV “and all that therein is.”

[1:2]  ¹² tn Heb “May the sovereign Lord testify against you.” The verb וִיהִי (vihiy) is jussive, which normally conveys a volitional sense of an urgent request or prayer (“may he testify!”). However, GKC 325-26 §109.k notes that here the jussive form is used without any volitional sense for the ordinary imperfect, as a rhythmic shortening at the beginning of a sentence, thus removed as far as possible from the principal accent (cf. Gen 49:17; Deut 28:8; 1 Sam 10:5; 2 Sam 5:24; Hos 6:1; 11:4; Amos 5:14; Zeph 2:13; Zech 9:5; Pss 72:16-17; 104:31; Job 18:12; 20:23, 26, 28; 27:8; 33:21; 34:37; Ruth 3:4). Thus, the translation here renders the jussive as an ordinary imperfect. Some translations render it in a traditional jussive sense: (1) urgent request: “And let my Lord God be your accuser” (NJPS); or (2) dependent purpose/result: “that the Sovereign Lord may witness against you” (NIV).

[1:2]  ¹³ tn Heb “the Lord from his majestic palace.” Since the verb is omitted it is unclear whether the implied term be supplied from the preceding line (“he will testify against you”) or the following line (“he is leaving”). So the line may be rendered “the Lord will accuse you from his majestic temple” or “the Lord will come forth from his majestic temple.” Most translations render it literally, but some remove the ambiguity: “the Lord God accuses you from his holy temple” (CEV); “He speaks from his holy temple” (TEV).

[1:2]  ¹⁴ tn Or “his holy temple” (KJV, NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV, NLT). This refers to the Lord’s dwelling in heaven, however, rather than the temple in Jerusalem (note the following verse, which describes a theophany).

[7:2]  ¹¹ tn Or “have perished”; “have been destroyed.”

[7:2]  ¹² tn Heb “and an upright one among men there is not.”

[7:2]  ¹³ tn Heb “for bloodshed” (so NASB); TEV “for a chance to commit murder.”

[7:2]  ¹⁴ sn Micah compares these ungodly people to hunters trying to capture their prey with a net.

[4:2]  ¹² tn Heb “house.”

[4:2]  ¹³ tn Heb “ways.”

[4:2]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “and we can walk in his paths.”

[4:2]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “instruction [or, “law”] will go out from Zion, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.”

[7:4]  ¹³ 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]  ¹⁴ 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]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “and now will be their confusion.”

[1:7]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “and all her prostitute’s wages will be burned with fire.”

[1:7]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “I will make desolate” (so NASB).

[1:7]  ¹⁶ tn Or “for” (KJV, NASB, NRSV).

[1:7]  ¹⁷ tn No object is specified in the Hebrew text; the words “the metal” are supplied from the context.

[1:7]  ¹⁸ 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.

[2:4]  ¹⁵ tc The form נִהְיָה (nihyah) should be omitted as dittographic (note the preceding וְנָהָה נְהִי vÿnahah nÿhiy).

[2:4]  ¹⁶ 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]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “how one removes for me.” Apparently the preposition has the nuance “from” here (cf. KJV, NASB, NIV, NRSV, NLT).

[2:4]  ¹⁸ 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”).

[7:16]  ¹⁶ tn Or “be ashamed of.”

[7:16]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “and their ears will be deaf.” Apparently this means the opposing nations will be left dumbfounded by the Lord’s power. Their inability to respond will make them appear to be deaf mutes.