Mikha 4:9

4:9 Jerusalem, why are you ¹  now shouting so loudly? ² 

Has your king disappeared? ³ 

Has your wise leader ⁴  been destroyed?

Is this why ⁵  pain grips ⁶  you as if you were a woman in labor?

Mikha 6:2

6:2 Hear the Lord’s accusation, you mountains,

you enduring foundations of the earth!

For the Lord has a case against his people;

he has a dispute with Israel! ⁷ 

Mikha 6:6

6:6 With what should I ⁸  enter the Lord’s presence?

With what ⁹  should I bow before the sovereign God? ¹⁰ 

Should I enter his presence with burnt offerings,

with year-old calves?

Mikha 6:8

6:8 He has told you, O man, what is good,

and what the Lord really wants from you: ¹¹ 

He wants you to ¹²  promote ¹³  justice, to be faithful, ¹⁴ 

and to live obediently before ¹⁵  your God.

Mikha 7:12

A Closing Prayer

7:12 In that day people ¹⁶  will come to you ¹⁷ 

from Assyria as far as ¹⁸  Egypt,

from Egypt as far as the Euphrates River, ¹⁹ 

from the seacoasts ²⁰  and the mountains. ²¹ 

[4:9]  ¹ tn The Hebrew form is feminine singular, indicating that Jerusalem, personified as a young woman, is now addressed (see v. 10). In v. 8 the tower/fortress was addressed with masculine forms, so there is clearly a shift in addressee here. “Jerusalem” has been supplied in the translation at the beginning of v. 9 to make this shift apparent.

[4:9]  ² tn Heb “Now why are you shouting [with] a shout.”

[4:9]  ³ tn Heb “Is there no king over you?”

[4:9]  ⁴ tn Traditionally, “counselor” (cf. KJV, NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV). This refers to the king mentioned in the previous line; the title points to the king’s roles as chief strategist and policy maker, both of which required extraordinary wisdom.

[4:9]  ⁵ tn Heb “that.” The Hebrew particle כִּי (ki) is used here in a resultative sense; for this use see R. J. Williams, Hebrew Syntax, 73, §450.

[4:9]  ⁶ tn Heb “grabs hold of, seizes.”

[6:2]  ⁷ tn This verse briefly interrupts the Lord’s statement (see vv. 1, 3) as the prophet summons the mountains as witnesses. Because of this v. 2 has been placed in parentheses in the translation.

[6:6]  ⁸ sn With what should I enter the Lord’s presence? The prophet speaks again, playing the role of an inquisitive worshiper who wants to know what God really desires from his followers.

[6:6]  ⁹ tn The words “with what” do double duty in the parallelism and are supplied in the second line of the translation for clarification.

[6:6]  ¹⁰ tn Or “the exalted God.”

[6:8]  ¹¹ sn What the Lord really wants from you. Now the prophet switches roles and answers the hypothetical worshiper’s question. He makes it clear that the Lord desires proper attitudes more than ritual and sacrifice.

[6:8]  ¹² tn Heb “except.” This statement is actually linked with what precedes, “What does he want from you except….”

[6:8]  ¹³ tn Heb “to do,” in the sense of “promote.”

[6:8]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “to love faithfulness.”

[6:8]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “to walk humbly [or perhaps, “carefully”] with.”

[7:12]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “they.” The referent has been specified as “people,” referring either to the nations (coming to God with their tribute) or to the exiles of Israel (returning to the Lord).

[7:12]  ¹⁷ tn The masculine pronominal suffix suggests the Lord is addressed. Some emend to a feminine form and take Jerusalem as the addressee.

[7:12]  ¹⁸ tc The MT reads וְעָרֵי (vÿ’arey, “and the cities [of Egypt]”), but the parallel line indicates this is a corruption of וְעַד (vÿ’ad, “even to”).

[7:12]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “the River,” referring to the Euphrates River. This has been specified in the translation for clarity (so also NASB, NIV).

[7:12]  ²⁰ tn Heb “and sea from sea.” Many prefer to emend this to מִיָּם עַד יָם (miyyam ’ad yam, “from sea to sea”).

[7:12]  ²¹ tn Heb “and mountain of the mountain.” Many prefer to emend this to וּמֵהַר עַד הַר (umehar ’ad har, “and mountain to mountain”).