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!”
6:14 You will eat, but not be satisfied.
Even if you have the strength 6 to overtake some prey, 7
you will not be able to carry it away; 8
if you do happen to carry away something,
I will deliver it over to the sword.
1 sn The pronoun Her refers to Jerusalem (note the previous line).
2 tn Heb “judge for a bribe.”
3 tn Heb “they lean upon” (so KJV, NIV, NRSV); NAB “rely on.”
4 tn Heb “Is not the
5 tn Or “come upon” (so many English versions); NCV “happen to us”; CEV “come to us.”
6 tc The first Hebrew term in the line (וְיֶשְׁחֲךָ, vÿyeshkhakha) is obscure. HALOT 446 s.v. יֶשַׁח understands a noun meaning “filth,” which would yield the translation, “and your filth is inside you.” The translation assumes an emendation to כֹּחַ-וְיֶשׁ (vÿyesh-koakh, “and [if] there is strength inside you”).
7 tn The meaning of the Hebrew term וְתַסֵּג (vÿtasseg) is unclear. The translation assumes it is a Hiphal imperfect from נָסַג/נָשַׂג (nasag/nasag, “reach; overtake”) and that hunting imagery is employed. (Note the reference to hunger in the first line of the verse.) See D. R. Hillers, Micah (Hermeneia), 80.
8 tn The Hiphal of פָּלַט (palat) is used in Isa 5:29 of an animal carrying its prey to a secure place.