This verse repeats the accusation that the people have been disloyal to God, and it also repeats the threat that God will punish them.

Here the people’s sin is stated in terms of a historical example. They had “kept the statutes of Omri, and all the works of the house of Ahab” (Revised Standard Version). Omri was politically one of the most important kings of the northern kingdom of Israel. He ruled from 885 to 874 B.C. and was followed by his son Ahab from 874 to 853 B.C. The family of Omri held the throne longer than any other family in the northern kingdom, yet they were outstanding for their wickedness. Ahab encouraged people to worship foreign gods because he was under the influence of his pagan wife Jezebel. He is condemned especially for this in 1 Kgs 16.23-24; 21.25-26.

Notice how Good News Translation has built into its translation some of the information that is only implicit in the Hebrew. The words This will happen because link this verse with those that precede. In the rest of the sentence, you have followed the evil practices of King Omri and of his son, King Ahab, the words evil, King, and his son are all added to make explicit to the modern reader information that was already known to the original hearers or readers. Most translators will find it helpful to their readers if they do the same. Followed means “to do the same thing that someone else does,” or “to copy.” Evil practices could be translated as “the evil things they did.”

On the other hand, Good News Translation has translated the literal “of the house of Ahab” as of his son, King Ahab. “The house of Ahab” means Ahab and the others of his family who became kings. Ahab was followed as king first by one son, Ahaziah, then by another son, Joram or Jehoram. These were the last kings of Israel who came from the family of Omri and Ahab. Both Ahaziah and Joram are called evil kings (see 1 Kgs 22.52 and 2 Kgs 3.2). The whole line can be restructured as “you have done the same evil things that King Omri and his son King Ahab and the others of their family did.” Or it may be easier in some languages to say “… and his son King Ahab and his sons did.”

The people of Micah’s day, about 150 years later than Omri and Ahab, had followed the bad example of these kings and could thus be said to have continued their policies. Policies means “their usual way of acting.” Because of their evil deeds, the Lord would bring these people to ruin. This can be translated as “destroy your country.” The prophets probably thought that this would happen by sending an enemy army to conquer them. When this happened, all the neighboring nations would despise them. This is the meaning of the expression “make … your inhabitants a hissing” (Revised Standard Version). In places where hissing is used as a sign of scorn, translators may be able to mention hissing, but even then they will probably need to expand the sentence and say “I will make the people of other nations hiss at you.”

The last sentence of the verse repeats the sense of the previous one. Good News Translation has restructured the literal translation of Revised Standard Version into simple and natural modern English: People everywhere will treat you with contempt. People everywhere refers to “the people of other nations.” If this group has just been mentioned in the previous line, translators could just refer to them with a pronoun, “they,” or perhaps one could even combine the last two lines of this verse, since the meaning of the two is so similar.

As the footnotes in Revised Standard Version and Good News Translation show, the reading “peoples” or People everywhere follows the ancient Greek translation. If the Hebrew text is followed, the meaning of the final line is as in Good News Translation‘s second footnote. The thought is then that the people of Israel deserve to be scorned by other nations, even though they are God’s people, because they have disobeyed him.

Quoted with permission from Clark, David J. et al. A Handbook on Micah. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 1978, 1982, 1993. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .

The opening phrase is a standard exclamation of despair in Hebrew, as is the Revised Standard Version “Woe is me!” in English. It cannot be translated literally, but many translators will find some common expression in their language that will fit very well here. Others may have to use an ordinary sentence in much the same way as Good News Translation has done with It’s hopeless! Very few translators however will want to translate literally It’s hopeless! Hopeless means that there is no chance of succeeding. The whole sentence in Good News Translation then means “There is no chance of doing what I am trying to do.” Other ways of putting this may be “All my work is wasted” or “I feel very sad.”

The picture in the rest of the verse is derived from the farming practices of Israel. After the main harvest had been gathered, the farmer was forbidden by the Law to go back over the fields or orchards to gather any grain or fruit that had been missed the first time (Lev 19.9-10; Deut 24.21). Whatever remained was to be left for the poor to take, or glean, as Ruth did (Ruth 2). Once the fields or orchards had been gleaned in this way by the poor, there really would be nothing left. Here Micah says he feels as disappointed as a hungry man would be if he went out to glean, but found that he was too late, and that no fruit was left on the trees and no grapes on the vines. Because the gleaners have already been at work, All the grapes and all the tasty (Revised Standard Version “first-ripe”) figs have been picked. The Hebrew expression here is a rather difficult one, as seen in Revised Standard Version, “I have become as when the summer fruit has been gathered.” Note that Good News Translation‘s hungry is from the Hebrew phrase “which my soul desires,” but is applied to the person’s general desire for food rather than for “first-ripe figs” alone.

In some languages it may be necessary to say clearly that the man was looking for fruit and grapes but finds none, although the idea of looking for them has been left implicit in both the Hebrew and Good News Translation.

If the translator wishes to keep “which my soul desires” (Good News Translation hungry) as a description of the “first-ripe (tasty) figs,” he may say “… all the tasty figs that I would have liked so much have been picked.” In areas where grapes and figs are not known, it is usually better to use general terms for fruit and crops rather than to substitute particular fruits that are grown in the region but may not be known in Israel.

Quoted with permission from Clark, David J. et al. A Handbook on Micah. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 1978, 1982, 1993. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .

This verse and those that follow give the explanation of the figurative language in verse 1. The fruit that the prophet was looking for is identified as people who are honest and loyal to God. The word translated loyal to God (“godly” in Revised Standard Version) is a form of the same Hebrew root translated as “constant love” in 6.8 and 7.18. Honest can be translated as “someone who does what is right.” Loyal here means “always obedient to God,” or “always doing what God wants,” and it includes the idea of acting right toward others, which is one of the main things God wants (6.8). The prophet says that there is no such person left in the land. Land is better than the “earth” of Revised Standard Version, since the prophet is concerned with his own nation in particular rather than the whole world.

The people are pictured as being so bad that everyone is waiting for a chance to commit murder. This is the plain meaning of “lie in wait for blood” (Revised Standard Version). Commit murder may be simply “kill other people” in many languages.

Everyone hunts down his fellow countryman is an expansion of the same idea. The word translated “brother” in Revised Standard Version has a sense here that is wider than “member of the same family,” and so Good News Translation says fellow countryman. The Hebrew, followed by Revised Standard Version, mentions the method of hunting as “with a net.” In areas where this method is known and used, translators may wish to include a reference to it, but where it is not known, translators may prefer to use a general term, such as hunts down in Good News Translation. This is of course only a figurative expression, and it should not be used at all if readers will think it literally describes the way the murder was done. It is a picture of how each person was eagerly searching for ways to take advantage of other people, and how everyone was eager to harm others if he thought he could help himself by doing so.

Quoted with permission from Clark, David J. et al. A Handbook on Micah. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 1978, 1982, 1993. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .

This verse has certain textual difficulties in the Hebrew. Some scholars feel it is incomplete as it stands (see Jerusalem Bible). But even if this is true, the general sense is fairly clear. Revised Standard Version understands this verse in essentially the same way as Good News Translation. The people are all experts at doing evil. Evil actions are the kind that they like to do, and that they do well. Those in the positions of authority, the officials and judges, do not do their work normally but ask for bribes. (Compare 3.9-11. Translation of “bribes” is discussed in 3.11.)

Justice is ignored, because the influential man tells those in authority what he wants, and so they scheme together to get it done. The phrase scheme together is literally “weave … together” (Revised Standard Version), and some translators may be able to retain this figurative use of “weave.” The influential man means “the important man” or “the man with power.” He would usually be a rich man, and in some languages it may be necessary to translate this way.

Quoted with permission from Clark, David J. et al. A Handbook on Micah. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 1978, 1982, 1993. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .

There is a break in sense in the middle of this verse. The first half continues and completes the description of the evil of the time, while the second half begins an announcement of punishment. Good News Translation marks this change of topic by beginning a new paragraph in the middle of the verse, and many translators will wish to do the same.

The first half of the verse is expressed in Hebrew in two parallel clauses, as Revised Standard Version shows. As in many other places, Good News Translation combines the two parallel clauses into one and says Even the best and most honest people are as worthless as weeds. In Hebrew two specific plants, “briers” and “thorns,” are mentioned (compare Revised Standard Version). These may be retained if they are well known as a nuisance to farmers. If they are not known, or if they are considered useful for some purpose, it may be better to translate with a more general expression like Good News Translation‘s as worthless as weeds. Weeds are not particular types of plant but rather any plant that is not wanted. In some languages, particular plants may be commonly referred to as symbols of uselessness, and an expression of this kind will probably fit well in this context. However, translators should not introduce the names of plants significantly different from plants known in Judah in the eighth century B.C.

In some languages it may be difficult to compare good, honest people with something worthless. This is irony, or sarcasm, and when the prophet says they are good and honest, he does not really mean it.

The point is that if the best of the people are worthless, then all the others are really terrible. Many languages may be able to find a way to make this point with sarcasm, but it may be necessary to change the wording slightly. If it seems impossible to use sarcasm, then a translator can just say something like “some of them are as worthless as briers and thorns, and the rest of them are even worse.”

In the second half of the verse the Hebrew has second person singular possessives (“your,” New American Bible, New International Version; “thy, thine,” New English Bible). Since it is not clear to whom these possessives refer, a number of modern versions and commentators have changed them to third person plural to match the context (Revised Standard Version, Bible de Jérusalem, Jerusalem Bible, Good News Translation, Moffatt, Smith, Mays). But even then the Hebrew text is very condensed, as Revised Standard Version shows. Therefore Good News Translation fills it out by making explicit the relationships that are to be understood between the different clauses. “The day … of their punishment has come” (Revised Standard Version) is taken as the main statement, and Good News Translation makes explicit who will do the punishing: The day has come when God will punish the people. Day can be translated more generally as “time” if this sounds better. The people refers if course to the people just mentioned in the preceding lines, and a translator may need to say “these people.”

The “watchmen” of Revised Standard Version are further identified as the prophets in Good News Translation, and Good News Translation also tells what the prophets did: as he warned them through their watchmen, the prophets. (The British edition of Good News Translation omits the words their watchmen, but they should be included.) The punishment will be as foretold and not something unexpected. The prophets are called watchmen because they are supposed to see trouble coming on the people and to warn them about it so that they can change their evil ways and be saved (see Jer 6.17; Ezek 3.17; Hos 9.8). Another way of expressing this idea may be “The prophets warned them that God would do this, just as watchmen warn people that their enemy is coming.”

As a result of this punishment, the people will be in confusion. This probably suggests the confusion arising from a military defeat (compare Isa 22.5, the only other place where the same word occurs). A translator should use a word that suggests that the people have no idea what they should do.

Quoted with permission from Clark, David J. et al. A Handbook on Micah. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 1978, 1982, 1993. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .

The result of the social evil described in verses 2-3 is that nobody can be trusted. The wisest advice the prophet can give is Don’t believe your neighbor or trust your friend. If it is difficult to find different words for neighbor and friend, it is possible to translate these two Hebrew expressions as “friend” and “special friend” or “close friend.” Believe and trust mean almost the same thing here, and if necessary the same word can be used, or this can be translated as “Do not trust your neighbor or even your friend.”

The relationships mentioned become increasingly close, and from neighbor and friend we even move on to wife. The Hebrew employs two figurative expressions in this sentence. “Guard the doors of your mouth” (Revised Standard Version) sounds very strange in many languages if translated literally, and most translators will prefer to use plain language such as Good News Translation‘s Be careful what you say. The second figurative expression is “her who lies in your bosom” (Revised Standard Version). This reference suggests the intimacy of a sexual embrace and shows that there can no longer be full trust between people even in this, the most intimate of human relationships. Good News Translation‘s even to your wife conveys the basic meaning but loses the emotional effect of the Hebrew. Translators may be able to regain some of this effect by saying “your wife whom you love.”

Quoted with permission from Clark, David J. et al. A Handbook on Micah. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 1978, 1982, 1993. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .

The prophet expands on the theme of the breakdown of family relationships and gives three examples. Good News Translation begins this verse with In these times, which is simply a way of reminding the reader that Micah is talking about a particular period of time in this passage. These words do not actually appear in the Hebrew and do not need to be translated in just this way, but a translator should be careful that the translation does not sound as though these statements are true for all times and places. Verse 6 is describing the general situation at that time. It is because of this terrible situation that the prophet gave his advice in verse 5. The important thing is that translators find some way to show the correct relationship between the two verses. In some languages it may sound better to describe the general situation first (verse 6), and then to tell what people should do because of it (verse 5), so that the order of the verses will be turned around. If a translator decides to do this, the two verses together should be numbered “5-6.”

Good News Translation, sons treat their fathers like fools, here catches well the emotional effect. Treat … like fools means to show no respect to them, or to look down on them, as though they were nothing but fools. Many languages may have one word that carries the meaning of these three English words (it is only one word in Hebrew). The corresponding attitude among women means that daughters oppose their mothers. Both actions involve breaking the commandment to respect your father and mother (Exo 20.12; Deut 6.16), so that this kind of behavior is in direct disobedience to God.

The third example involves young women who quarrel with their mothers-in-law. Since a daughter-in-law normally joined her husband’s family, it would naturally be the wives rather than the husbands who had most opportunity for contact with their in-laws and disagreement with them. This is why sons-in-law and fathers-in-law are not mentioned. In Hebrew the same verb (translated “rises up against” in Revised Standard Version) refers to the relation between the daughter and the mother and between the daughter-in-law and the mother-in-law. For variety in style, Good News Translation has translated this as oppose in the first case, and as quarrel with in the second, but there is no need to try to follow these meanings exactly in another translation. The point is that these women, like the young men, are not showing proper respect to the senior members of their families. The breakdown of normal family life is so complete that a man’s enemies are the members of his own family.

This verse was quoted several times by Jesus in his teaching (Matt 10.35-36; Luke 12.53; see also Matt 10.21; Mark 13.12), but the wording is somewhat different from passage to passage, and the translator should not try to make the various forms of the text identical with each other.

Quoted with permission from Clark, David J. et al. A Handbook on Micah. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 1978, 1982, 1993. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .

Here the prophet speaks again in the first person, as in verse 1, but this time his words are full of confidence and hope in contrast to the despair of the earlier verse.

The opening words “But as for me” (Revised Standard Version) convey quite a strong break from the previous verse. Whatever the problems of family life, perhaps even within his own family, Micah himself asserts that he will watch for the LORD. In some languages this may sound incomplete, and it may be necessary to complete the sense by saying “I will watch for the Lord to act” or something similar. It is possible that in some languages watch for will suggest too strongly that Micah expected actually to see God. If this is a problem, “wait for” can be used in this line as well as in the second line.

In the second half of the sentence, the meaning of the phrase “the God of my salvation” (Revised Standard Version) is rather obscure, and so Good News Translation makes the relations between participants clear, with God, who will save me. However, it may be necessary to restructure and say something like “I will wait for God because I am sure he will save me.” Save can be translated as “rescue,” “deliver,” or even “help me to stay alive.”

The final sentence, My God will hear me, may also need slight expansion in some languages in which one speaks of hearing a person’s words rather than hearing the person. An expression like “My God will hear my prayer” will probably be suitable. In many languages My God will be a meaningful expression that suggests an intimate relationship with God. In other languages, however, it may be necessary to say “God, whom I worship” or something similar.

Quoted with permission from Clark, David J. et al. A Handbook on Micah. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 1978, 1982, 1993. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .