Micah 7:9-10

Context

7:9 I must endure¹ the Lord’s anger,

for I have sinned against him.

But then² he will defend my cause,³

and accomplish justice on my behalf.

He will lead me out into the light;

I will experience firsthand⁴ his deliverance.⁵

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

They say⁶ to me, “Where is the Lord your God?”

I will gloat over them.⁷

Then they will be trampled down⁸

like mud in the streets.

Micah 7:16-17

Context

7:16 Nations will see this and be disappointed by⁹ all their strength,

they will put their hands over their mouths,

and act as if they were deaf.¹⁰

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

like serpents crawling on the ground.¹¹

They will come trembling from their strongholds

to the Lord our God;¹²

they will be terrified¹³ of you.¹⁴

[7:9] ¹tn Heb “lift, bear.”

[7:9] ²tn Heb “until.”

[7:9] ³tn Or “plead my case” (NASB and NIV both similar); NRSV “until he takes my side.”

[7:9] ⁴tn Heb “see.”

[7:9] ⁵tn Or “justice, vindication.”

[7:10] ⁶tn Heb “who say.” A new sentence was begun here in the translation for stylistic reasons.

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

[7:10] ⁸tn Heb “a trampled-down place.”

[7:16] ⁹tn Or “be ashamed of.”

[7:16] ¹⁰tn 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.

[7:17] ¹¹tn Heb “like crawling things on the ground.” The parallelism suggests snakes are in view.

[7:17] ¹²tn 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] ¹³tn Heb “they will be in dread and afraid.”

[7:17] ¹⁴tn The Lord is addressed directly using the second person.