Mikha 2:1-5

Land Robbers Will Lose their Land

2:1 Those who devise sinful plans are as good as dead, ¹ 

those who dream about doing evil as they lie in bed. ² 

As soon as morning dawns they carry out their plans, ³ 

because they have the power to do so.

2:2 They confiscate the fields they desire,

and seize the houses they want. ⁴ 

They defraud people of their homes, ⁵ 

and deprive people of the land they have inherited. ⁶ 

2:3 Therefore the Lord says this: “Look, I am devising disaster for this nation! ⁷ 

It will be like a yoke from which you cannot free your neck. ⁸ 

You will no longer ⁹  walk proudly,

for it will be a time of catastrophe.

2:4 In that day people will sing this taunt song to you –

they will mock you with this lament: ¹⁰ 

‘We are completely destroyed;

they sell off ¹¹  the property of my people.

How they remove it from me! ¹² 

They assign our fields to the conqueror.’ ¹³ 

2:5 Therefore no one will assign you land in the Lord’s community. ¹⁴ 

[2:1]  ¹ tn Heb “Woe to those who plan sin.” The Hebrew term הוֹי (hoy, “woe”; “ah”) was a cry used in mourning the dead.

[2:1]  ² tn Heb “those who do evil upon their beds.”

[2:1]  ³ tn Heb “at the light of morning they do it.”

[2:2]  ⁴ tn Heb “they desire fields and rob [them], and houses and take [them] away.”

[2:2]  ⁵ tn Heb “and they oppress a man and his home.”

[2:2]  ⁶ tn Heb “and a man and his inheritance.” The verb עָשַׁק (’ashaq, “to oppress”; “to wrong”) does double duty in the parallel structure and is understood by ellipsis in the second line.

[2:3]  ⁷ tn Heb “clan” or “extended family.”

[2:3]  ⁸ tn Heb “from which you will not remove your neck.” The words “It will be like a yoke” are supplied in the translation for clarification.

[2:3]  ⁹ tn Or “you will not.”

[2:4]  ¹⁰ tc The form נִהְיָה (nihyah) should be omitted as dittographic (note the preceding וְנָהָה נְהִי vÿnahah nÿhiy).

[2:4]  tn Heb “one will lament [with] a lamentation [and] say.”

[2:4]  ¹¹ tn Or “exchange.” The LXX suggests a reading יִמַּד (yimmad) from מָדַד (madad, “to measure”). In this case one could translate, “the property of my people is measured out [i.e., for resale].”

[2:4]  ¹² tn Heb “how one removes for me.” Apparently the preposition has the nuance “from” here (cf. KJV, NASB, NIV, NRSV, NLT).

[2:4]  ¹³ tc The Hebrew term שׁוֹבֵב (shovev, “the one turning back”) elsewhere has the nuance “apostate” (cf. NASB) or “traitor” (cf. NIV). The translation assumes an emendation to שָׁבָה (shavah, “captor”).

[2:4]  tn Heb “to the one turning back he assigns our fields.”

[2:5]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “therefore you will not have one who strings out a measuring line by lot in the assembly of the Lord.”

[2:5]  sn No one will assign you land in the Lord’s community. When judgment passes and the people are restored to the land, those greedy ones who disregarded the ancient land allotments will not be allowed to participate in the future redistribution of the land.