Micah 7:19-20

7:19 You will once again ¹  have mercy on us;

you will conquer ²  our evil deeds;

you will hurl our ³  sins into the depths of the sea. ⁴ 

7:20 You will be loyal to Jacob

and extend your loyal love to Abraham, ⁵ 

which you promised on oath to our ancestors ⁶ 

in ancient times. ⁷ 

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¹ tn The verb יָשׁוּב (yashuv, “he will return”) is here used adverbially in relation to the following verb, indicating that the Lord will again show mercy.

² tn Some prefer to read יִכְבֹּס (yikhbos, “he will cleanse”; see HALOT 459 s.v. כבס pi). If the MT is taken as it stands, sin is personified as an enemy that the Lord subdues.

³ tn Heb “their sins,” but the final mem (ם) may be enclitic rather than a pronominal suffix. In this case the suffix from the preceding line (“our”) may be understood as doing double duty.

⁴ sn In this metaphor the Lord disposes of Israel’s sins by throwing them into the waters of the sea (here symbolic of chaos).

⁵ tn More literally, “You will extend loyalty to Jacob, and loyal love to Abraham.

⁶ tn Heb “our fathers.” The Hebrew term refers here to more distant ancestors, not immediate parents.

⁷ tn Heb “which you swore [or, “pledged”] to our fathers from days of old.”