Mikha 3:2-4

3:2 yet you ¹  hate what is good, ² 

and love what is evil. ³ 

You flay my people’s skin ⁴ 

and rip the flesh from their bones. ⁵ 

3:3 You ⁶  devour my people’s flesh,

strip off their skin,

and crush their bones.

You chop them up like flesh in a pot ⁷  –

like meat in a kettle.

3:4 Someday these sinners will cry to the Lord for help, ⁸ 

but he will not answer them.

He will hide his face from them at that time,

because they have done such wicked deeds.”

Mikha 3:8

3:8 But I ⁹  am full of the courage that the Lord’s Spirit gives,

and have a strong commitment to justice. ¹⁰ 

This enables me to confront Jacob with its rebellion,

and Israel with its sin. ¹¹ 

[3:2]  ¹ tn Heb “the ones who.”

[3:2]  ² tn Or “good.”

[3:2]  ³ tn Or “evil.”

[3:2]  ⁴ 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]  ⁵ 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]  ⁶ tn Heb “who.”

[3:3]  ⁷ 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]  ⁸ tn Heb “then they will cry out to the Lord.” The words “Someday these sinners” have been supplied in the translation for clarification.

[3:8]  ⁹ sn The prophet Micah speaks here and contrasts himself with the mercenaries just denounced by the Lord in the preceding verses.

[3:8]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “am full of power, the Spirit of the Lord, and justice and strength.” The appositional phrase “the Spirit of the Lord” explains the source of the prophet’s power. The phrase “justice and strength” is understood here as a hendiadys, referring to the prophet’s strong sense of justice.

[3:8]  ¹¹ tn Heb “to declare to Jacob his rebellion and to Israel his sin.” The words “this enables me” are supplied in the translation for clarification.