Mikha 1:16

1:16 Shave your heads bald as you mourn for the children you love; ¹ 

shave your foreheads as bald ²  as an eagle, ³ 

for they are taken from you into exile.

Mikha 3:1

God Will Judge Judah’s Sinful Leaders

3:1 I said,

“Listen, you leaders ⁴  of Jacob,

you rulers of the nation ⁵  of Israel!

You ought to know what is just, ⁶ 

Mikha 4:5

4:5 Though all the nations follow their respective gods, ⁷ 

we will follow ⁸  the Lord our God forever.

Mikha 7:3

7:3 They are determined to be experts at doing evil; ⁹ 

government officials and judges take bribes, ¹⁰ 

prominent men make demands,

and they all do what is necessary to satisfy them. ¹¹ 

[1:16]  ¹ tn Heb “over the sons of your delight.”

[1:16]  ² tn Heb “make wide your baldness.”

[1:16]  ³ tn Or “a vulture” (cf. NIV, TEV); CEV “a buzzard.” The Hebrew term נֶשֶׁר (nesher) refers to the griffon vulture or eagle.

[3:1]  ⁴ tn Heb “heads.”

[3:1]  ⁵ tn Heb “house.”

[3:1]  ⁶ tn Heb “Should you not know justice?” The rhetorical question expects the answer, “Of course you should!”

[4:5]  ⁷ 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]  ⁸ tn Heb “walk in the name of.”

[7:3]  ⁹ tn Heb “upon evil [are their] hands to do [it] well.”

[7:3]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “the official asks – and the judge – for a bribe.”

[7:3]  ¹¹ 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.