Mikha 3:11

3:11 Her ¹  leaders take bribes when they decide legal cases, ² 

her priests proclaim rulings for profit,

and her prophets read omens for pay.

Yet they claim to trust ³  the Lord and say,

“The Lord is among us. ⁴ 

Disaster will not overtake ⁵  us!”

Mikha 5:3-4

5:3 So the Lord ⁶  will hand the people of Israel ⁷  over to their enemies ⁸ 

until the time when the woman in labor ⁹  gives birth. ¹⁰ 

Then the rest of the king’s ¹¹  countrymen will return

to be reunited with the people of Israel. ¹² 

5:4 He will assume his post ¹³  and shepherd the people ¹⁴  by the Lord’s strength,

by the sovereign authority of the Lord his God. ¹⁵ 

They will live securely, ¹⁶  for at that time he will be honored ¹⁷ 

even in the distant regions of ¹⁸  the earth.

[3:11]  ¹ sn The pronoun Her refers to Jerusalem (note the previous line).

[3:11]  ² tn Heb “judge for a bribe.”

[3:11]  ³ tn Heb “they lean upon” (so KJV, NIV, NRSV); NAB “rely on.”

[3:11]  ⁴ tn Heb “Is not the Lord in our midst?” The rhetorical question expects the answer, “Of course he is!”

[3:11]  ⁵ tn Or “come upon” (so many English versions); NCV “happen to us”; CEV “come to us.”

[5:3]  ⁶ tn Heb “he”; the referent (the Lord) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[5:3]  ⁷ tn Heb “them”; the referent (the people of Israel) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[5:3]  ⁸ tn The words “to their enemies” are supplied in the translation for clarification.

[5:3]  ⁹ sn The woman in labor. Personified, suffering Jerusalem is the referent. See 4:9-10.

[5:3]  ¹⁰ sn Gives birth. The point of the figurative language is that Jerusalem finally finds relief from her suffering. See 4:10.

[5:3]  ¹¹ tn Heb “his”; the referent (the king) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[5:3]  ¹² tn Heb “to the sons of Israel.” The words “be reunited with” are supplied in the translation for clarity.

[5:3]  sn The rest of the king’s brothers are the coming king’s fellow Judahites, while the sons of Israel are the northern tribes. The verse pictures the reunification of the nation under the Davidic king. See Isa 11:12-13; Jer 31:2-6, 15-20; Ezek 37; Hos 1:11; 3:5.

[5:4]  ¹³ tn Heb “stand up”; NAB “stand firm”; NASB “will arise.”

[5:4]  ¹⁴ tn The words “the people” are supplied in the translation for clarification.

[5:4]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “by the majesty of the name of the Lord his God.”

[5:4]  ¹⁶ tn The words “in peace” are supplied in the translation for clarification. Perhaps וְיָשָׁבוּ (vÿyashavu, “and they will live”) should be emended to וְשָׁבוּ (vÿshavu, “and they will return”).

[5:4]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “be great.”

[5:4]  ¹⁸ tn Or “to the ends of.”