3:5 This is what the Lord says: “The prophets who mislead my people
are as good as dead. 1
If someone gives them enough to eat,
they offer an oracle of peace. 2
But if someone does not give them food,
they are ready to declare war on him. 3
4:10 Twist and strain, 4 Daughter Zion, as if you were in labor!
For you will leave the city
and live in the open field.
You will go to Babylon,
but there you will be rescued.
There the Lord will deliver 5 you
from the power 6 of your enemies.
6:14 You will eat, but not be satisfied.
Even if you have the strength 7 to overtake some prey, 8
you will not be able to carry it away; 9
if you do happen to carry away something,
I will deliver it over to the sword.
7:9 I must endure 10 the Lord’s anger,
for I have sinned against him.
But then 11 he will defend my cause, 12
and accomplish justice on my behalf.
He will lead me out into the light;
I will experience firsthand 13 his deliverance. 14
1 tn Heb “concerning the prophets, those who mislead my people.” The first person pronominal suffix is awkward in a quotation formula that introduces the words of the
2 tn Heb “those who bite with their teeth and cry out, ‘peace.’” The phrase “bite with the teeth” is taken here as idiomatic for eating. Apparently these prophets were driven by mercenary motives. If they were paid well, they gave positive oracles to their clients, but if someone could not afford to pay them, they were hostile and delivered oracles of doom.
3 tn Heb “but [as for the one] who does not place [food] in their mouths, they prepare for war against him.”
4 tn Or perhaps “scream”; NRSV, TEV, NLT “groan.”
5 tn Or “redeem” (KJV, NASB, NIV, NRSV, NLT).
6 tn Heb “hand.” The Hebrew idiom is a metonymy for power or control.
7 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”).
8 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.
9 tn The Hiphal of פָּלַט (palat) is used in Isa 5:29 of an animal carrying its prey to a secure place.
10 tn Heb “lift, bear.”
11 tn Heb “until.”
12 tn Or “plead my case” (NASB and NIV both similar); NRSV “until he takes my side.”
13 tn Heb “see.”
14 tn Or “justice, vindication.”