Mikha 1:16--2:1

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.

Land Robbers Will Lose their Land

2:1 Those who devise sinful plans are as good as dead, ⁴ 

those who dream about doing evil as they lie in bed. ⁵ 

As soon as morning dawns they carry out their plans, ⁶ 

because they have the power to do so.

Mikha 2:13

2:13 The one who can break through barriers will lead them out ⁷ 

they will break out, pass through the gate, and leave. ⁸ 

Their king will advance ⁹  before them,

The Lord himself will lead them. ¹⁰ 

Mikha 3:4

3:4 Someday these sinners will cry to the Lord for help, ¹¹ 

but he will not answer them.

He will hide his face from them at that time,

because they have done such wicked deeds.”

Mikha 4:4

4:4 Each will sit under his own grapevine

or under his own fig tree without any fear. ¹² 

The Lord who commands armies has decreed it. ¹³ 

Mikha 4:12

4:12 But they do not know what the Lord is planning;

they do not understand his strategy.

He has gathered them like stalks of grain to be threshed ¹⁴  at the threshing floor.

Mikha 6:7

6:7 Will the Lord accept a thousand rams,

or ten thousand streams of olive oil?

Should I give him my firstborn child as payment for my rebellion,

my offspring – my own flesh and blood – for my sin? ¹⁵ 

Mikha 7:2

7:2 Faithful men have disappeared ¹⁶  from the land;

there are no godly men left. ¹⁷ 

They all wait in ambush so they can shed blood; ¹⁸ 

they hunt their own brother with a net. ¹⁹ 

Mikha 7:16

7:16 Nations will see this and be disappointed by ²⁰  all their strength,

they will put their hands over their mouths,

and act as if they were deaf. ²¹ 

[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.

[2:1]  ⁴ tn Heb “Woe to those who plan sin.” The Hebrew term הוֹי (hoy, “woe”; “ah”) was a cry used in mourning the dead.

[2:1]  ⁵ tn Heb “those who do evil upon their beds.”

[2:1]  ⁶ tn Heb “at the light of morning they do it.”

[2:13]  ⁷ tn Heb “the one who breaks through goes up before them.” The verb form is understood as a perfect of certitude, emphasizing the certainty of this coming event.

[2:13]  ⁸ tn The three verb forms (a perfect and two preterites with vav [ו] consecutive) indicate certitude.

[2:13]  sn The “fold” from which the sheep/people break out is probably a reference to their place of exile.

[2:13]  ⁹ tn The verb form (a preterite with vav [ו] consecutive) indicates certitude.

[2:13]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “the Lord [will be] at their head.”

[3:4]  ¹¹ tn Heb “then they will cry out to the Lord.” The words “Someday these sinners” have been supplied in the translation for clarification.

[4:4]  ¹² tn Heb “and there will be no one making [him] afraid.”

[4:4]  ¹³ tn Heb “for the mouth of the Lord of Hosts has spoken.”

[4:12]  ¹⁴ tn The words “to be threshed” are not in the Hebrew text, but have been supplied in the translation to make it clear that the Lord is planning to enable “Daughter Zion” to “thresh” her enemies.

[6:7]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul.” The Hebrew term נֶפֶשׁ (nefesh) is often translated “soul,” but the word usually refers to the whole person; here “the sin of my soul” = “my sin.”

[7:2]  ¹⁶ tn Or “have perished”; “have been destroyed.”

[7:2]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “and an upright one among men there is not.”

[7:2]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “for bloodshed” (so NASB); TEV “for a chance to commit murder.”

[7:2]  ¹⁹ sn Micah compares these ungodly people to hunters trying to capture their prey with a net.

[7:16]  ²⁰ tn Or “be ashamed of.”

[7:16]  ²¹ 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.