Micah 1 - New English Translation (NET)

Introduction

1 This is the Lord’s message that came to Micah of Moresheth during the time of^[a] Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah, which he saw concerning Samaria and Jerusalem.

The Judge is Coming

² Listen, all you nations!^[b]
Pay attention, all inhabitants of earth!^[c]
The Sovereign Lord will act^[d] as a witness against you;
the Lord will accuse you^[e] from his majestic palace.^[f]
3 Look,^[g] the Lord is coming out of his dwelling place!
He will descend and march on the earth’s mountaintops!^[h]
4 The mountains will crumble^[i] beneath him,
and the valleys will split apart^[j]
like wax before a fire,
like water dumped down a steep slope.

⁵ All this is because of Jacob’s^[k] rebellion
and^[l] the sins of the nation^[m] of Israel.
And just what is Jacob’s rebellion?
Isn’t it Samaria’s doings?^[n]
And what is Judah’s sin?^[o]
Isn’t it Jerusalem’s doings?^[p]
6 “I will turn Samaria into a heap of ruins in an open field,

into a place for planting vineyards.
I will dump the rubble of her walls^[q] down into the valley
and lay bare her foundations.^[r]
7 All her carved idols will be smashed to pieces;
all her metal cult statues will be destroyed by fire.^[s]
I will make a waste heap^[t] of all her images.
Since^[u] she gathered the metal^[v] as a prostitute collects her wages,
the idols will become a prostitute’s wages again.”^[w]
8 For this reason I^[x] will mourn and wail;
I will walk around barefoot^[y] and without my outer garments.^[z]
I will howl^[aa] like a wild dog,^[ab]
and screech^[ac] like an owl.^[ad]
9 For Samaria’s^[ae] disease^[af] is incurable.
It has infected^[ag] Judah;
it has spread to^[ah] the leadership^[ai] of my people
and even to Jerusalem!
¹⁰ Don’t spread the news in Gath.^[aj]
Don’t shed even a single tear.^[ak]
In Beth Leaphrah roll about in mourning in the dust!^[al]
11 Residents^[am] of Shaphir,^[an] pass by in nakedness and humiliation!
The residents of Zaanan have not escaped.^[ao]
Beth Ezel^[ap] mourns,^[aq]
“He takes from you what he desires.”^[ar]
12 Indeed, the residents of Maroth^[as] hope for something good to happen,^[at]
though the Lord has sent disaster against the city of Jerusalem.^[au]
13 Residents of Lachish,^[av] hitch the horses to the chariots!
You^[aw] influenced Daughter Zion^[ax] to sin,^[ay]
for Israel’s rebellious deeds can be traced back^[az] to you!
¹⁴ Therefore you^[ba] will have to say farewell^[bb] to Moresheth Gath.
The residents^[bc] of Achzib^[bd] will be as disappointing
as a dried up well^[be] to the kings of Israel.^[bf]
15 Residents of Mareshah,^[bg] a conqueror will attack you;^[bh]
the leaders of Israel shall flee to Adullam.^[bi]
16 Shave your heads bald as you mourn for the children you love;^[bj]
shave your foreheads as bald^[bk] as an eagle,^[bl]
for they are taken from you into exile.

Footnotes

1. Micah 1:1 tn Heb “in the days of” (so KJV, NASB, NRSV).
2. Micah 1:2 tn Heb “O peoples, all of them.”
3. Micah 1:2 tn Heb “O earth and that which fills it”; cf. KJV “and all that therein is.”
4. Micah 1:2 tc The MT has the jussive form verb וִיהִי (vihi, “may he be”), while the Dead Sea Scrolls have the imperfect form יהיה (yihyeh, “he will be”). The LXX uses a future indicative. On the basis of distance from the primary accent, GKC 325-26 §109.k attempts to explain the form as a rhythmical shortening of the imperfect rather than a true jussive. Some of the examples in GKC may now be explained as preterites, while others are text-critical problems. And some may have other modal explanations. But other examples are not readily explained by these considerations. The text-critical decision and the grammatical explanation in GKC would both lead to translating as an imperfect. Some translations render it in a jussive sense, either as request: “And let my Lord God be your accuser” (NJPS), or as dependent purpose/result: “that the Sovereign Lord may witness against you” (NIV).
5. Micah 1:2 tn Heb “the Lord from his majestic palace.” The verb is supplied from the previous line by the convention of ellipsis and double duty. Cf. CEV “the Lord God accuses you from his holy temple,” TEV “He speaks from his holy temple.”
6. Micah 1:2 tn Or “his holy temple” (KJV, NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV, NLT). This refers to the Lord’s dwelling in heaven, however, rather than the temple in Jerusalem (note the following verse, which describes a theophany).
7. Micah 1:3 tn Or “For look.” The expression כִּי־הִנֵּה (ki-hinneh) may function as an explanatory introduction (“For look!”; Isa 26:21; 60:2; 65:17, 18: 66:15; Jer 1:15; 25:29; 30:10; 45:5; 46:27; 50:9; Ezek 30:9; 36:9; Zech 2:10; 3:8), or as an emphatic introduction (“Look!”; Jdgs 3:15; Isa 3:1; Jer 8:17; 30:3; 49:15; Hos 9:6; Joel 3:1 [4:1 HT]; Amos 4:2, 13; 6:11, 14; 9:9; Hab 1:6; Zech 2:9 [2:13 HT]; Zech 3:9; 11:16).
8. Micah 1:3 tn Or “high places” (KJV, NASB, NIV, NRSV, NLT).
9. Micah 1:4 tn Or “melt” (NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV, NLT). This is a figurative description of earthquakes, landslides, and collapse of the mountains, rather than some sort of volcanic activity (note the remainder of the verse).
10. Micah 1:4 tn Or “rupture.” This may refer to the appearance of a valley after the blockage of a landslide has effectively divided it.
11. Micah 1:5 sn Jacob is an alternate name for Israel (see Gen 32:28).
12. Micah 1:5 tn Heb “and because of.”
13. Micah 1:5 tn Heb “house.”
14. Micah 1:5 tn Heb “Is it not Samaria?” The capital city, Samaria, represents the policies of the government and trend-setting behaviors of her people. The rhetorical question expects a positive answer, “Yes, it is.”
15. Micah 1:5 tc The MT reads, “What are Judah’s high places?” while the LXX, Syriac, and Targum read, “What is Judah’s sin?” Whether or not the original text was “sin,” the passage certainly alludes to Judah’s sin as a complement to Samaria’s. “High places” are where people worshiped idols; they could, by metonymy, represent pagan worship. Smith notes, however, that, “Jerusalem was not known for its high places,” and so follows the LXX as representing the original text (R. Smith, Micah [WBC], 16). Given the warning in v. 3 that the Lord will march on the land’s high places (“mountain tops,” based on the same word but a different plural form), this may be a way of referring to that threat while evoking the notion of idolatry.
16. Micah 1:5 tn Jerusalem, the capital of Judah, represents the nation’s behavior. The rhetorical question expects an affirmative answer.sn In vv. 2-5 Micah narrows the scope of God’s judgment from the nations (vv. 2-4) to his covenant people (v. 5). Universal judgment is coming, but ironically Israel is the focal point of God’s anger. In v. 5c the prophet includes Judah within the scope of divine judgment, for Judah has followed in the pagan steps of the northern kingdom. He accomplishes this with rhetorical skill. In v. 5b he develops the first assertion of v. 5a (“All of this is because of Jacob’s rebellion”). One expects in v. 5c an elaboration of the second assertion in v. 5a (“and the sins of the nation of Israel”), which one assumes, in light of v. 5b, pertains to the northern kingdom. But the prophet makes it clear that “the nation of Israel” includes Judah. Verses 6-7 further develop v. 5b (judgment on the northern kingdom), while vv. 8-16 expand on v. 5c (judgment on Judah).
17. Micah 1:6 tn Heb “her stones.” The term “stones” is a metonymy for the city walls whose foundations were constructed of stone masonry.
18. Micah 1:6 tn Heb “I will uncover her foundations.” The term “foundations” refers to the lower courses of the stones of the city’s outer fortification walls.
19. Micah 1:7 tn Heb “and all her prostitute’s wages will be burned with fire.”sn The precious metal used by Samaria’s pagan worship centers to make idols is compared to a prostitute’s wages because Samaria had been unfaithful to the Lord and prostituted herself to pagan gods such as Baal.
20. Micah 1:7 tn Heb “I will make desolate” (so NASB).
21. Micah 1:7 tn Or “for” (KJV, NASB, NRSV).
22. Micah 1:7 tn No object is specified in the Hebrew text; the words “the metal” are supplied from the context.
23. Micah 1:7 tn Heb “for from a prostitute’s wages she gathered, and to a prostitute’s wages they will return.” When the metal was first collected it was comparable to the coins a prostitute would receive for her services. The metal was then formed into idols, but now the Lord’s fiery judgment would reduce the metal images to their original condition.
24. Micah 1:8 tn The prophet is probably the speaker here.
25. Micah 1:8 tn Or “stripped.” The precise meaning of this Hebrew word is unclear. It may refer to walking barefoot (see 2 Sam 15:30) or to partially stripping oneself (see Job 12:17-19).
26. Micah 1:8 tn Heb “naked.” This probably does not refer to complete nudity, but to stripping off one’s outer garments as an outward sign of the destitution felt by the mourner.
27. Micah 1:8 tn Heb “I will make lamentation.”
28. Micah 1:8 tn Or “a jackal”; CEV “howling wolves.”
29. Micah 1:8 tn Heb “[make] a mourning.”
30. Micah 1:8 tn Or perhaps “ostrich” (cf. ASV, NAB, NASB, NRSV, NLT).
31. Micah 1:9 tn Heb “her.”
32. Micah 1:9 tc The MT reads the plural “wounds/plagues”; the singular is read by the LXX, Syriac, and Vg.
33. Micah 1:9 tn Heb “come to.”
34. Micah 1:9 tn Or “reached.”
35. Micah 1:9 tn Heb “the gate.” Kings and civic leaders typically conducted important business at the city gate (see 1 Kgs 22:10 for an example), and the term is understood here to refer by metonymy to the leadership who would be present at the gate.
36. Micah 1:10 tn Heb “Tell it not in Gath.” The Hebrew word for “tell” (נָגַד, nagad) sounds like the name of the city, Gath (גַּת, gat).
37. Micah 1:10 tn The Hebrew infinitive absolute before the negated jussive emphasizes the prohibition.
38. Micah 1:10 tc The translation assumes a masculine plural imperative. If one were to emend בְּבֵית (b^evet) to בֵית (vet), Beth Leaphrah would then be the addressee and the feminine singular imperative (see Qere) could be retained, “O Beth Leaphrah, sit in the dust.”tn Or “wallow.” The verb פָּלַשׁ (palash, “roll about [in dust])” refers to a cultural behavior associated with mourning.sn The name Beth Leaphrah means “house of dust.”
39. Micah 1:11 tn The feminine singular participle is here used in a collective sense for all the residents of the town. See GKC 394 §122.s.
40. Micah 1:11 sn The place name Shaphir means “pleasant” in Hebrew.
41. Micah 1:11 tn Heb “have not gone out.” NIV “will not come out”; NLT “dare not come outside.” sn The place name Zaanan sounds like the verb “go out” in Hebrew.
42. Micah 1:11 sn The place name Beth Ezel means “house of nearness” or “house of proximity” in Hebrew.
43. Micah 1:11 tn Heb “the lamentation of Beth Ezel.” The following words could be the lamentation offered up by Beth Ezel (subjective genitive) or the mourning song sung over it (objective genitive).
44. Micah 1:11 tc The form עֶמְדָּתוֹ (ʿemdato) should be emended to חֲמַדְּתוֹ (khamadto, “his (the conqueror’s) desire”).tn The precise meaning of the line is uncertain. The translation assumes: (a) the subject of the third masculine singular verb יִקַּח (yiqqakh, “he/it takes”) is the conqueror, (b) the second masculine plural suffix (“you”) on the preposition מִן (min, “from”) refers to the residents of Shaphir and Zaanan, (c) the final form עֶמְדָּתוֹ should be emended to חֲמַדְּתוֹ, “his (the conqueror’s) desire.”
45. Micah 1:12 sn The place name Maroth sounds like the Hebrew word for “bitter.”
46. Micah 1:12 tc The translation assumes an emendation of חָלָה (khalah; from חִיל, khil, “to writhe”) to יִחֲלָה (yikhalah; from יָחַל, yakhal, “to wait”).tn Heb “[the residents of Maroth] writhe [= “anxiously long for”?] good.”
47. Micah 1:12 tn Heb “though disaster has come down from the Lord to the gate of Jerusalem.”
48. Micah 1:13 sn The place name Lachish sounds like the Hebrew word for “team [of horses].”
49. Micah 1:13 tn Heb “she”; this has been translated as second person (“you”) in keeping with the direct address to the residents of Lachish in the previous line.
50. Micah 1:13 sn The epithet Daughter Zion pictures the city of Jerusalem as a young lady.
51. Micah 1:13 tn Heb “She was the beginning of sin for Daughter Zion.”
52. Micah 1:13 tn Heb “for in you was found the transgressions of Israel.”
53. Micah 1:14 tn The subject of the feminine singular verb is probably Lachish.
54. Micah 1:14 tn Heb “you will give a dowry to”; NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV “give parting gifts to.” Lachish is compared to a father who presents wedding gifts to his daughter as she leaves her father’s home to take up residence with her husband. In similar fashion Lachish will bid farewell to Moresheth Gath, for the latter will be taken by the invader.
55. Micah 1:14 tn Heb “houses.” By metonymy this refers to the people who live in them.
56. Micah 1:14 sn The place name Achzib (אַכְזִיב, ʾakhziv, “place on the dried up river”; see HALOT 45 s.v. אַכְזָב) creates a word play on the similar sounding term כָּזָב (kazav, “lie, deception”; HALOT 468 s.v. כָּזָב). Like the dried up river upon which its name was based, the city of Achzib would fail to help the kings of Israel in their time of need.
57. Micah 1:14 tn Or “will be a deception.” The term אַכְזָב (ʾakhzav) is often translated “deception,” derived from the verb I כָּזָב (“to deceive, lie”; HALOT 467-68 s.v. I כזב). However, it probably means “what is dried up,” since (1) the noun elsewhere refers to an empty well or dried river in summer (Jer 15:18; cf. Job 6:15-20) (HALOT 45 s.v. אַכְזָב); (2) the place-name “Achzib” (אַכְזִיב) literally means “place on the אַכְזָב [dried up river]” (HALOT 45 s.v. אַכְזָב); and (3) it is derived from the verb II כָּזָב (“to dry up [brook]”; Isa 58:11), which also appears in Mishnaic Hebrew and Arabic. The point of the metaphor is that Achzib will be as disappointing to the kings of Israel as a dried up spring in the summer is to a thirsty traveler in the Jordanian desert.
58. Micah 1:14 sn Because of the enemy invasion, Achzib would not be able to deliver soldiers for the army and/or services normally rendered to the crown.
59. Micah 1:15 sn The place name Mareshah sounds like the Hebrew word for “conqueror.”
60. Micah 1:15 tn Heb “Again a conqueror I will bring to you, residents of Mareshah.” The first person verb is problematic, for the Lord would have to be the subject (cf. NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV, NLT). But the prophet appears to be delivering this lament and the Lord is referred to in the third person in v. 12. Consequently many emend the verb to a third person form (יָבוֹא, yavoʾ) and understand the “conqueror” as subject.
61. Micah 1:15 tn Heb “to Adullam the glory of Israel will go.” This probably means that the nation’s leadership will run for their lives and, like David of old, hide from their enemy in the caves of Adullam. Cf. NIV’s “He who is the glory of Israel will come to Adullam,” which sounds as if an individual is in view, and could be understood as a messianic reference.
62. Micah 1:16 tn Heb “over the sons of your delight.”
63. Micah 1:16 tn Heb “make wide your baldness.”
64. Micah 1:16 tn Or “a vulture” (cf. NIV, TEV); CEV “a buzzard.” The Hebrew term נֶשֶׁר (nesher) refers to the griffon vulture or eagle.