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 .

Although most of the book of Micah has been translated as prose in Good News Translation, verses 2-4 have been translated as poetry. The translators probably felt the picture of the Lord speaking from heaven and walking on the mountains would sound better in English as poetry than as a rather complicated prose comparison. In many languages the translators will prefer to translate verses as prose, just like the rest of the book.

When changing from Hebrew poetry to prose, it is important to be aware of parallel lines and ideas. One important feature of Hebrew poetry is that two lines are often parallel to each other. This means that almost the same thing may be said in both lines by using different words with similar meanings. Or it may be that the second line will repeat most of the meaning of the first line, but add another idea as well. Many languages use types of expression like this, even in prose, but the translator should know what he is doing and not say something twice simply because it is said twice in Hebrew. Often it will be better to say it only once. This may mean leaving one of the lines out completely if does not add anything to the meaning of the other line. Or it may mean combining the ideas from both lines into a single line in the translation.

Verse 2 opens with two clauses that are parallel in meaning. In the first the prophet calls all … nations to Hear (compare 3.1; 6.1), and in the second he literally calls the “earth, and all that is in it” (Revised Standard Version) to listen. Good News Translation all who live on earth makes it clear that this is primarily a reference to the people who are the inhabitants of the earth, though it is not necessarily limited to people. Jerusalem Bible takes a wider meaning with “earth, and everything in it.”

If the second line of verse 2 is understood as referring to all people who live on earth, then it does not add anything to the meaning of the first line, and the two lines together mean listen to this, all who live on earth. If the second line is understood as referring to everything on earth, not only the people, then the meaning of the two lines together may be translated as “Listen to this, you people of every country, and everything else on the earth.”

This and to this after Hear and listen in Good News Translation seem to refer to what the prophet is saying. He is asking the people to listen to him as he tells that the Lord is going to speak. In other versions the meaning seems to be that the people should listen to the Lord as he speaks, and this sense may be the better one to follow. One may say something like “You people of every country, listen to the Lord as he testifies against you.” Translators should note, however, that the Lord’s own words do not begin until verse 6. This may make a difference in the way the sentence is worded.

The prophet of course does not expect that everyone on earth can really hear him speaking, but this type of exaggeration is common in poetry. If the Lord speaks, on the other hand, we can assume that everyone can hear him. So if necessary the verse may be rearranged to say that the Lord will speak to everyone, and they all must listen to him.

The people are to listen because The Sovereign LORD will testify or give evidence as a witness against them. For the translation of Sovereign LORD, see the comments on Obadiah verse 1a.

Will testify against you uses the picture of God being a witness against the people of the world in a court of law. If there is no special term for being a witness in a court, the meaning is “to speak about the bad things you have done.” This picture of God as witness must not be taken too literally, since God himself is of course the judge. If this will be a serious problem in some languages, the picture may be dropped, and the plain meaning may be given that God will speak about their bad deeds.

Listen! is repeated in Good News Translation in the last line of verse 2 for the poetic effect. The word does not appear at this point in the Hebrew.

He speaks from his heavenly temple: the last line of verse 2 says literally “the Lord from his holy temple” (Revised Standard Version). Jerusalem Bible connects this to the idea of verse 3, that the Lord is coming, and translates “the Lord, as he sets out from his sacred palace.” Most translations, however, understand this as referring to the place where the Lord is when he is testifying against the people. In many languages it will be necessary to put this line before the third line and say “the Lord is in his temple and speaks as a witness against you.”

His heavenly temple: the Hebrew refers to “his holy temple” here (Revised Standard Version), but the meaning is heaven, not the temple in Jerusalem, and it will probably be necessary to make this clear in the translation, as Good News Translation has done. “Holy” in this context does not really add much to the meaning, as it simply means something that especially belongs to God. If there is no good word for “holy” that fits this passage, the meaning is really covered by saying it is God’s temple.

Temple can be translated as “the Lord’s house” or “the Lord’s big house.” If “heaven” is a problem, an expression like “up above” may be helpful. The Old Testament writers sometimes refer to God having a temple in heaven (Psa 11.4; 18.6; Jonah 2.7; Hab 2.20), and even if this is really just a picture for something spiritual (see 1 Kgs 8.27), it is probably best to translate it literally. However, if a temple in heaven is a serious problem for some reason, it would be enough just to say “heaven” here.

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 .

In verse 7 Good News Translation has applied much the same method as in verse 6. The “seers” and “diviners” of Revised Standard Version are put together into one general expression, Those who predict the future. The parallel verbs “disgraced” and “put to shame” (Revised Standard Version) are brought together in will be disgraced by their failure. The terms “seers” and “diviners” are not well known in most English-speaking countries, and Good News Translation is probably right to find a more general expression for them. But there will be many societies that have excellent translations for these two words, and translators should use equivalent terms when they are well known.

Good News Translation adds the words by their failure to show why these people are disgraced. If translators are using specific terms for “seers” and “diviners,” they may need to add a little more information such as “their failure to predict the future” or “because they are not able to speak God’s message.”

The covering of “their lips” (Revised Standard Version) is a gesture that shows shame (Lev 13.45) or grief (Ezek 24.17, 22). Here Good News Translation takes it to show shame and states this meaning plainly as They will all be humiliated, without mentioning the action itself. There are probably few modern cultures where people cover their mouths as a sign of shame or grief, and if translators decide to mention the gesture, they would do well to include the meaning of it; for example, “they will all cover their lips to show that they are ashamed.”

The reason for their shame is that the prophets will suffer the same fate as the leaders of the nation in verse 4: God does not answer them. The prophets who thought they could use their position of privilege as a means of making money will find that they cannot mock God. In times of desperate crisis, when a true word from God is most needed, those who spoke words of comfort in return for payment will have no message at all to pass on.

Since there is no specific reference to these people asking God anything, some translators may think that it will be confusing simply to say God does not answer them. The meaning is that, in order to predict the future, they must in some way inquire of God about it, and he must answer them. The fact that they inquire can be included in the translation if necessary.

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 verse opens with a summons by the prophet to Listen. Here, as elsewhere in Micah (1.2; 3.1, 9), this word indicates the beginning of a new section. The verb is plural in Hebrew, but we are not told who is being spoken to. We may assume it to be the people of Israel.

The object of the verb Listen to is literally “what the LORD says” (Revised Standard Version), but Good News Translation has expanded this to the LORD’s case against Israel. The use of the legal term case prepares the reader for the court scene that follows, and many translators will find it helpful to use similar terminology. Case refers to any matter that a person may bring to a court of law. In some languages this idea will have to be expressed as a verb such as “accuse.” This may then be expressed as “Listen to what the Lord accuses Israel of doing.”

The second clause of the verse has the verb Arise in the singular, while Listen in the first clause is in the plural. This shows that someone different is being spoken to. If this clause is understood to be spoken by the Lord, as Revised Standard Version seems to understand it, then it is probably addressed to the nation of Israel. The singular would then be a figurative way of addressing the whole group. By this understanding the people would thus be summoned to state their case in answer to the accusation that the Lord is about to bring. Some scholars have understood the singular verb to be addressed to the prophet, calling him to speak as an advocate on behalf of the Lord. Others, however, point out that there is no parallel to this in other court scenes in the Old Testament. Good News Translation with its Arise, O LORD, and present your case understands this clause to be spoken by the prophet and addressed to the Lord. Since the clause that precedes and the one that follows are both the words of the prophet, it seems best to understand this middle clause also to be his words, and addressed to the Lord.

Arise means “Stand up,” as someone might do who was about to make a speech. It can be translated as “Get ready to speak,” or it can be omitted.

Present your case means to explain in court your understanding of the matter the court is supposed to make a judgment about. In this context it may be translated as “accuse the people.” It may seem strange that the Lord should present his case, as though someone could serve as judge over him, and it is possible to understand that the Lord himself is both the judge and the one who accuses the people. However, even if the Lord is seen as only one of the participants in the trial, we must remember that this language is figurative and is used to make a point more vividly. If we do not understand the Lord to be the judge, then we are not told who the judge is, and it is likely that the prophet was not concerned about filling out all the details of the picture.

The mountains and the hills are called upon as witnesses, as are other features of the natural world in other Old Testament court scenes (see also Deut 4.26; 30.19; 31.28; Psa 50.4; Isa 1.2; 41.1; Jer 2.12). In the Hebrew they are mentioned in separate clauses, but in Good News Translation the two nouns are put together in one clause, as this sounds better in English. Mountains and hills here are simply parallel expressions. If there are not two convenient terms in a language, it is quite acceptable to use only one term.

The Hebrew imperative verb translated let … hear is again in the plural, since its subject hills is plural. In some languages it may seem very strange to speak to the mountains and hills and to ask them to do things. This is of course only figurative language, but it is a major part of the total image being created by the prophet in these verses, and it will be good to keep it, if possible. In some cases it may be possible to turn the image into a simile and say “the mountains and hills should be like the witnesses in the trial.”

It is necessary to note that the mountains and the hills are not called to give evidence, like the witnesses in a modern law court. Rather they are called to witness or observe the trial itself. Some scholars think that they are called to witness the trial because they were in existence at the time the original covenant was made between the Lord and his people, and thus were in a sense witnesses at that time also.

Revised Standard Version “voice” is a literal translation of the Hebrew. The meaning is brought out plainly in Good News Translation what you say. Some translators will need to follow Good News Translation in dropping the figure of speech, but for many others a more literal translation of “voice” will be perfectly natural and will carry the right meaning clearly.

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 description of the heathen nations’ reaction to the Lord’s miracles continues, and again symbolic actions are used. The first two lines of Revised Standard Version, “they shall lick the dust like a serpent, like the crawling things of the earth,” are two parallel lines expressing a single idea. Good News Translation unites them into a single clause, They will crawl in the dust like snakes. This picture is meant to show the humiliation of the nations, and if this meaning will not be clear, it should be made explicit. One way to express this may be “They will lie with their faces in the dust (like snakes) to show that they are weak and unimportant people.”

In the rest of the verse, Revised Standard Version gives the order of elements as they occur in the Hebrew. Good News Translation reorders the lines to cut down the repetition and to give a smoother style in English. In they will come from their fortresses, trembling and afraid, the word afraid represents what is a whole line in Revised Standard Version, “and they shall fear because of thee.” Thus the nations will acknowledge their defeat and will turn in fear to the LORD our God. Fortresses here refers to places that can be easily defended, where people go to be safe from their enemies. They are not necessarily towns, but it is all right to translate it as “strong town” if no better term seems to be available. Trembling and afraid can also be expressed as “trembling with fear” or “so much afraid that they are trembling.”

The expression turn … to … God is sometimes used in English to refer to people giving up their old ways and becoming true followers of God. The Hebrew includes the idea of somehow turning to God, but the major emphasis is that these heathen nations are afraid of the LORD our God and recognize him as great and powerful. Good News Translation has tried to express both the fear and the idea of yielding to God in They will turn in fear to…. If it is too difficult to express both ideas, it may be enough to express the idea simply as “they will come out from their fortresses, trembling and afraid before you, the Lord our God” (compare Bible de Jérusalem, Jerusalem Bible, New American Bible, and New English Bible). Note that Good News Translation does not make explicit that these words are addressed to God as “you,” but there is no reason why this should not be included.

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 .

In this verse the wordplay is between Lachish and to the chariots, in Hebrew larekesh. Again the prophet speaks directly to the people of the town, and Good News Translation places You that live in Lachish first, where it sounds best in English. Translators should follow the natural way of addressing people in their own languages.

A chariot is a two-wheeled cart pulled by two horses and normally used in war. Usually two or three people would ride in it, one to drive and the others to fight. The people of Lachish are told to hitch the horses to the chariots in order to run away from the enemies, not to fight them. The idea is that the enemies are very close and are about to capture the town. In some languages it may be clearer to talk about “fastening (or tying) the chariots to the horses.”

The charge brought against Lachish is that it was the first town in Judah that imitated the sins of Israel. The way in which this was done is not clear. The suggestions that scholars accept as most probable is that Lachish was the Last Judean town on the road to Egypt, and thus grew rich through trading with Egypt in horses (see 1 Kgs 10.28-29). Its prosperity then encouraged its people to follow the example of the northern kingdom and trust in material wealth rather than in the Lord. (A similar attitude, also connected with horses and with Egypt, is condemned in Isa 31.1-3.) Such an attitude would soon have spread to the capital city of Jerusalem, and in this way Lachish could have been the evil influence that caused Jerusalem to sin.

You imitated the sins of Israel is literally “in you were found the transgressions of Israel” (Revised Standard Version). You here refers to the people of Lachish. They committed the same sort of sins that the people of Israel, the northern kingdom, had been committing and which brought God’s punishment on them. It is probably enough to say “You did the same evil things that the people of Israel did.” However, if the translator wants to follow Good News Translation and suggest that they were actually imitating or copying the people of Israel, it may be necessary to go into more detail: “You saw the evil things that the people of Israel were doing, and you decided to do them too.”

The sins of the people of Lachish caused Jerusalem to sin, presumably because the people of Jerusalem copied what they saw the people of Lachish doing. The text says literally that Lachish was “the beginning of sin to the daughter of Zion” (Revised Standard Version). Jerusalem was built around the hill called Mount Zion, so the city and its inhabitants were known figuratively as “the daughter of Zion,” and this term is common in the writings of the prophets. It is not likely that this literal expression would be understood in many languages; here it simply means “the people of Jerusalem.”

The people of Lachish did not of course force the people of Jerusalem to sin, but they were simply the bad example that the people of Jerusalem followed. Therefore in some languages it may be better to say “The people of Jerusalem saw your evil deeds and did the same things, and so they sinned because of you.”

Note that the two ideas in this sentence (You imitated the sins of Israel and you caused Jerusalem to sin) are connected in opposite ways by Good News Translation and Revised Standard Version, though the meanings are the same. In the order of Good News Translation, the action that came first in time is put first, followed by the result of this action (and so). In Revised Standard Version (which follows the Hebrew) the prophet’s main point is put first (“you caused Jerusalem to sin”), followed by the explanation of how it was that they did this (“because you imitated the sins of Israel”). Each translator will need to decide which order is best in his own language.

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 .

Verses 6 and 7 give a description of the people returning from exile. The prophet uses the picture of a flock of sheep being brought together after being attacked and scattered. It is thus somewhat similar to 2.12. There is no direct mention here of sheep, but the Hebrew terms for “lame” and “cast off” (Revised Standard Version) certainly carry overtones that would have reminded the Hebrew of sheep. The figure of speech is not used in Good News Translation, but its meaning is conveyed directly by speaking of the people. The whole of these two verses is the utterance of the Lord and is given as direct speech. In translation it will generally be more vivid if this direct speech can be retained.

The time is coming (literally “In that day,” Revised Standard Version) is a common expression in the prophetic books (see, for instance, Isa 4.1; Hos 2.18; Amos 8.9, although Good News Translation has slightly different translations of the same Hebrew words in each of these passages). It carries overtones of reference to the last days but does not indicate whether they are viewed as in the near future or in the distant future.

The content of the Lord’s statement is given in Revised Standard Version in the same order as the Hebrew; but in Good News Translation it has been reordered so as to give a more general statement first and then develop it. The more general statement is I will gather together the people I punished. The Hebrew uses two verbs (translated “assemble” and “gather” in Revised Standard Version) that are both commonly used of the people returning from exile. These verbs mean the same thing, so Good News Translation uses the single term gather together to translate them both. The reference to the exile is only implicit in Revised Standard Version, “those who have been driven away,” but is made explicit in Good News Translation, those who have suffered in exile. Theologically it is important to retain in translation the prophet’s insight that the same Lord is responsible both for punishing the people with exile and for bringing them back together to their own land.

Some translators may need to restructure verse 6 even further to follow the actual order of the events referred to. For example, this might become “I punished the people and sent them away as prisoners to other countries, where they have suffered. But the time is coming when I will gather them together again.” The emphasis in this verse is on the Lord gathering the people, so if it is necessary to restructure the verse and mention the punishment first, this may give the wrong emphasis. If it does, a translator should see if he can find some other way in the language to show where the real emphasis is. Some translators may also want to keep the image of the sheep. This can be mentioned in connection with the thought about the people being sent away: “I sent them away to other countries, just as a flock of sheep are scattered when they are attacked.”

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 is in effect a general summary of the accusations of the two previous verses. The possessive Your refers to the city addressed in verse 9. In many languages it will not be possible to speak of rich men being “full of violence” (Revised Standard Version), and many translators will need to follow Good News Translation in making a more general statement like exploit the poor. The Hebrew does not actually say who the rich men were exploiting, but it is reasonable to assume that it was the poor rather than other rich men. Many translators will need to make this explicit as Good News Translation does. Exploit means “to take advantage of,” “to mistreat,” or “to cheat.” If a language has a term that has this sort of meaning and that also implies rather violent actions, that will be particularly good.

In the second half of the verse, the two clauses of Revised Standard Version, “your inhabitants speak lies, and their tongue is deceitful in their mouth,” are parallel statements with the same meaning. When translated literally, the second clause sounds very strange in most languages (including English!), and Good News Translation accordingly combines the two clauses into one: all of you are liars. This conveys the meaning very adequately and also carries something of the emotional impact of the Hebrew with the strong word liars. Translators should try to maintain this impact in some way appropriate to their own languages. Note that the first part of the verse mentions only the rich men, but the second part speaks of all the inhabitants, apparently including both rich and poor.

Some translations place verse 12 between verses 9 and 10 (Moffatt, New American Bible, Jerusalem Bible), but ordinarily there is no need to do this.

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 .