Mikha 2:2

2:2 They confiscate the fields they desire,

and seize the houses they want. ¹ 

They defraud people of their homes, ² 

and deprive people of the land they have inherited. ³ 

Mikha 3:1-4

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 

3:2 yet you ⁷  hate what is good, ⁸ 

and love what is evil. ⁹ 

You flay my people’s skin ¹⁰ 

and rip the flesh from their bones. ¹¹ 

3:3 You ¹²  devour my people’s flesh,

strip off their skin,

and crush their bones.

You chop them up like flesh in a pot ¹³  –

like meat in a kettle.

3:4 Someday these sinners will cry to the Lord for help, ¹⁴ 

but he will not answer them.

He will hide his face from them at that time,

because they have done such wicked deeds.”

[2:2]  ¹ tn Heb “they desire fields and rob [them], and houses and take [them] away.”

[2:2]  ² tn Heb “and they oppress a man and his home.”

[2:2]  ³ tn Heb “and a man and his inheritance.” The verb עָשַׁק (’ashaq, “to oppress”; “to wrong”) does double duty in the parallel structure and is understood by ellipsis in the second line.

[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!”

[3:2]  ⁷ tn Heb “the ones who.”

[3:2]  ⁸ tn Or “good.”

[3:2]  ⁹ tn Or “evil.”

[3:2]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “their skin from upon them.” The referent of the pronoun (“my people,” referring to Jacob and/or the house of Israel, with the Lord as the speaker) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[3:2]  ¹¹ tn Heb “and their flesh from their bones.”

[3:2]  sn Micah compares the social injustice perpetrated by the house of Jacob/Israel to cannibalism, because it threatens the very lives of the oppressed.

[3:3]  ¹² tn Heb “who.”

[3:3]  ¹³ tc The MT reads “and they chop up as in a pot.” The translation assumes an emendation of כַּאֲשֶׁר (ka’asher, “as”) to כִּשְׁאֵר (kish’er, “like flesh”).

[3:4]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “then they will cry out to the Lord.” The words “Someday these sinners” have been supplied in the translation for clarification.