Mikha 7:15-16

7:15 “As in the days when you departed from the land of Egypt,

I will show you ¹  miraculous deeds.” ² 

7:16 Nations will see this and be disappointed by ³  all their strength,

they will put their hands over their mouths,

and act as if they were deaf. ⁴ 

Mikha 3:6-7

3:6 Therefore night will fall, and you will receive no visions; ⁵ 

it will grow dark, and you will no longer be able to read the omens. ⁶ 

The sun will set on these prophets,

and the daylight will turn to darkness over their heads. ⁷ 

3:7 The prophets ⁸  will be ashamed;

the omen readers will be humiliated.

All of them will cover their mouths, ⁹ 

for they will receive no divine oracles.” ¹⁰ 

Mikha 1:3

1:3 Look, ¹¹  the Lord is coming out of his dwelling place!

He will descend and march on the earth’s mountaintops! ¹² 

Mikha 7:10

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

They say ¹³  to me, “Where is the Lord your God?”

I will gloat over them. ¹⁴ 

Then they will be trampled down ¹⁵ 

like mud in the streets.

Mikha 7:9

7:9 I must endure ¹⁶  the Lord’s anger,

for I have sinned against him.

But then ¹⁷  he will defend my cause, ¹⁸ 

and accomplish justice on my behalf.

He will lead me out into the light;

I will experience firsthand ¹⁹  his deliverance. ²⁰ 

Mikha 1:1

Introduction

1:1 This is the prophetic message that the Lord gave to ²¹  Micah of Moresheth. He delivered this message ²²  during the reigns of ²³  Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah. The prophecies pertain to ²⁴  Samaria ²⁵  and Jerusalem. ²⁶ 

Mikha 1:10

1:10 Don’t spread the news in Gath! ²⁷ 

Don’t shed even a single tear! ²⁸ 

In Beth Leaphrah sit in the dust! ²⁹ 

Mikha 4:11

4:11 Many nations have now assembled against you.

They say, “Jerusalem must be desecrated, ³⁰ 

so we can gloat over Zion!” ³¹ 

Mikha 1:16

1:16 Shave your heads bald as you mourn for the children you love; ³² 

shave your foreheads as bald ³³  as an eagle, ³⁴ 

for they are taken from you into exile.

Mikha 4:2

4:2 Many nations will come, saying,

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

to the temple ³⁵  of Jacob’s God,

so he can teach us his commands ³⁶ 

and we can live by his laws.” ³⁷ 

For Zion will be the source of instruction;

the Lord’s teachings will proceed from Jerusalem. ³⁸ 

Mikha 6:16

6:16 You implement the regulations of Omri,

and all the practices of Ahab’s dynasty; ³⁹ 

you follow their policies. ⁴⁰ 

Therefore I will make you an appalling sight, ⁴¹ 

the city’s ⁴²  inhabitants will be taunted derisively, ⁴³ 

and nations will mock all of you.” ⁴⁴ 

[7:15]  ¹ tn Heb “him.” This probably refers to Israel in a collective sense. Because the switch from direct address to the third person is awkward, some prefer to emend the suffix to a second person form. In any case, it is necessary to employ a second person pronoun in the translation to maintain the connection for the English reader.

[7:15]  ² sn I will show you miraculous deeds. In this verse the Lord responds to the petition of v. 14 with a brief promise of deliverance.

[7:16]  ³ tn Or “be ashamed of.”

[7:16]  ⁴ 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.

[3:6]  ⁵ tn Heb “it will be night for you without a vision.”

[3:6]  sn The coming of night (and darkness in the following line) symbolizes the cessation of revelation.

[3:6]  ⁶ tn Heb “it will be dark for you without divination.”

[3:6]  sn The reading of omens (Heb “divination”) was forbidden in the law (Deut 18:10), so this probably reflects the prophets’ view of how they received divine revelation.

[3:6]  ⁷ tn Heb “and the day will be dark over them.”

[3:7]  ⁸ tn Or “seers.”

[3:7]  ⁹ tn Or “the mustache,” or perhaps “the beard.” Cf. KJV, NAB, NRSV “cover their lips.”

[3:7]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “for there will be no answer from God.”

[1:3]  ¹¹ tn Or “For look.” The expression כִּי־הִנֵּה (ki-hinneh) may function as an explanatory introduction (“For look!”; Isa 26:21; 60:2; 65:17, 18: 66:15; Jer 1:15; 25:29; 30:10; 45:5; 46:27; 50:9; Ezek 30:9; 36:9; Zech 2:10; 3:8), or as an emphatic introduction (“Look!”; Jdgs 3:15; Isa 3:1; Jer 8:17; 30:3; 49:15; Hos 9:6; Joel 3:1 [HT 4:1]; Amos 4:2, 13; 6:11, 14; 9:9; Hab 1:6; Zech 2:9 [HT 2:13]; Zech 3:9; 11:16).

[1:3]  ¹² tn Or “high places” (KJV, NASB, NIV, NRSV, NLT).

[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.”

[7:9]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “lift, bear.”

[7:9]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “until.”

[7:9]  ¹⁸ tn Or “plead my case” (NASB and NIV both similar); NRSV “until he takes my side.”

[7:9]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “see.”

[7:9]  ²⁰ tn Or “justice, vindication.”

[1:1]  ²¹ tn Heb “The word of the Lord which came to.”

[1:1]  ²² tn The words “he delivered this message” are not in the Hebrew text, but are supplied in the translation for clarification.

[1:1]  ²³ tn Heb “in the days of” (so KJV, NASB, NRSV).

[1:1]  ²⁴ tn Heb “which he saw concerning.”

[1:1]  ²⁵ map For location see Map2 B1; Map4 D3; Map5 E2; Map6 A4; Map7 C1.

[1:1]  ²⁶ map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[1:10]  ²⁷ tn Heb “Tell it not in Gath.” The Hebrew word for “tell” (נָגַד, nagad) sounds like the name of the city, Gath (גַּת, gat).

[1:10]  ²⁸ tn The Hebrew infinitive absolute before the negated jussive emphasizes the prohibition.

[1:10]  ²⁹ tc The translation assumes a masculine plural imperative. If one were to emend בְּבֵית (bÿvet) to בֵית (vet), Beth Leaphrah would then be the addressee and the feminine singular imperative (see Qere) could be retained, “O Beth Leaphrah, sit in the dust.”

[1:10]  tn Heb “roll about in mourning in the dust”; or “wallow about in mourning in the dust.” The verb פָּלַשׁ (palash, “roll about in mourning [in dust]”; HALOT 935 s.v. פלשׁ) is figurative (metonymy) for sitting as an outward sign of mourning.

[1:10]  sn To sit in the dust was an outward sign of mourning. The name Beth Leaphrah means “house of dust.”

[4:11]  ³⁰ tn Heb “let her be desecrated.” the referent (Jerusalem) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[4:11]  ³¹ tn Heb “and let our eye look upon Zion.”

[1:16]  ³² tn Heb “over the sons of your delight.”

[1:16]  ³³ tn Heb “make wide your baldness.”

[1:16]  ³⁴ tn Or “a vulture” (cf. NIV, TEV); CEV “a buzzard.” The Hebrew term נֶשֶׁר (nesher) refers to the griffon vulture or eagle.

[4:2]  ³⁵ tn Heb “house.”

[4:2]  ³⁶ tn Heb “ways.”

[4:2]  ³⁷ tn Heb “and we can walk in his paths.”

[4:2]  ³⁸ tn Heb “instruction [or, “law”] will go out from Zion, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.”

[4:2]  map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[6:16]  ³⁹ tn Heb “the edicts of Omri are kept, and all the deeds of the house of Ahab.”

[6:16]  ⁴⁰ tn Heb “and you walk in their plans.”

[6:16]  sn The Omride dynasty, of which Ahab was the most infamous king, had a reputation for implementing unjust and oppressive measures. See 1 Kgs 21.

[6:16]  ⁴¹ tn The Hebrew term שַׁמָּה (shammah) can refer to “destruction; ruin,” or to the reaction it produces in those who witness the destruction.

[6:16]  ⁴² tn Heb “her”; the referent (the city) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[6:16]  ⁴³ tn Heb “[an object] of hissing,” which was a way of taunting someone.

[6:16]  ⁴⁴ tc The translation assumes an emendation of the MT’s עַמִּי (’ammi, “my people”) to עַמִּים (’ammim, “nations”).

[6:16]  tn Heb “and the reproach of my people you will bear.” The second person verb is plural here, in contrast to the singular forms used in vv. 13-15.