Mic 1:8-16 | NET2full | STEP | For this reason I will mourn and wail ; I will walk around barefoot and without my outer garments . I will howl like a wild dog and screech like an owl .

‏ Micah 1:8-16

8 For this reason I ^{▼▼tn The prophet is probably the speaker here.} will mourn and wail;
I will walk around barefoot ^{▼▼tn Or “stripped.” The precise meaning of this Hebrew word is unclear. It may refer to walking barefoot (see 2 Sam 15:30) or to partially stripping oneself (see Job 12:17-19).} and without my outer garments. ^{▼▼tn Heb “naked.” This probably does not refer to complete nudity, but to stripping off one’s outer garments as an outward sign of the destitution felt by the mourner.}
I will howl ^{▼▼tn Heb “I will make lamentation.”} like a wild dog ^{▼▼tn Or “a jackal”; CEV “howling wolves.”}
and screech ^{▼▼tn Heb “[make] a mourning.”} like an owl. ^{▼▼tn Or perhaps “ostrich” (cf. ASV, NAB, NASB, NRSV, NLT).}
9 For Samaria’s ^{▼▼tn Heb “her.”} disease ^{▼▼tc The MT reads the plural “wounds/plagues”; the singular is read by the LXX, Syriac, and Vg.} is incurable.
It has infected ^{▼▼tn Heb “come to.”} Judah;
it has spread to ^{▼▼tn Or “reached.”} the leadership ^{▼▼tn Heb “the gate.” Kings and civic leaders typically conducted important business at the city gate (see 1 Kgs 22:10 for an example), and the term is understood here to refer by metonymy to the leadership who would be present at the gate.} of my people
and even to Jerusalem!
10 Don’t spread the news in Gath. ^{▼▼tn Heb “Tell it not in Gath.” The Hebrew word for “tell” (נָגַד, nagad) sounds like the name of the city, Gath (גַּת, gat).}
Don’t shed even a single tear. ^{▼▼tn The Hebrew infinitive absolute before the negated jussive emphasizes the prohibition.}
In Beth Leaphrah roll about in mourning in the dust! ^{▼▼tc The translation assumes a masculine plural imperative. If one were to emend בְּבֵית (bevet) to בֵית (vet), Beth Leaphrah would then be the addressee and the feminine singular imperative (see Qere) could be retained, “O Beth Leaphrah, sit in the dust.”} ^{▼▼tn Or “wallow.” The verb פָּלַשׁ (palash, “roll about [in dust])” refers to a cultural behavior associated with mourning.} ^{▼▼sn The name Beth Leaphrah means “house of dust.”}
11 Residents ^{▼▼tn The feminine singular participle is here used in a collective sense for all the residents of the town. See GKC 394 §122.s.} of Shaphir, ^{▼▼sn The place name Shaphir means “pleasant” in Hebrew.} pass by in nakedness and humiliation!
The residents of Zaanan have not escaped. ^{▼▼tn Heb “have not gone out.” NIV “will not come out”; NLT “dare not come outside.”} ^{▼▼sn The place name Zaanan sounds like the verb “go out” in Hebrew.}
Beth Ezel ^{▼▼sn The place name Beth Ezel means “house of nearness” or “house of proximity” in Hebrew.} mourns, ^{▼▼tn Heb “the lamentation of Beth Ezel.” The following words could be the lamentation offered up by Beth Ezel (subjective genitive) or the mourning song sung over it (objective genitive).}
“He takes from you what he desires.” ^{▼▼tc The form עֶמְדָּתוֹ (ʿemdato) should be emended to חֲמַדְּתוֹ (khamadto, “his (the conqueror’s) desire”).} ^{▼▼tn The precise meaning of the line is uncertain. The translation assumes: (a) the subject of the third masculine singular verb יִקַּח (yiqqakh, “he/it takes”) is the conqueror, (b) the second masculine plural suffix (“you”) on the preposition מִן (min, “from”) refers to the residents of Shaphir and Zaanan, (c) the final form עֶמְדָּתוֹ should be emended to חֲמַדְּתוֹ, “his (the conqueror’s) desire.”}
12 Indeed, the residents of Maroth ^{▼▼sn The place name Maroth sounds like the Hebrew word for “bitter.”} hope for something good to happen, ^{▼▼tc The translation assumes an emendation of חָלָה (khalah; from חִיל, khil, “to writhe”) to יִחֲלָה (yikhalah; from יָחַל, yakhal, “to wait”).} ^{▼▼tn Heb “[the residents of Maroth] writhe [= “anxiously long for”?] good.”}
though the Lord has sent disaster against the city of Jerusalem. ^{▼▼tn Heb “though disaster has come down from the Lord to the gate of Jerusalem.”}
13 Residents of Lachish, ^{▼▼sn The place name Lachish sounds like the Hebrew word for “team [of horses].”} hitch the horses to the chariots!
You ^{▼▼tn Heb “she”; this has been translated as second person (“you”) in keeping with the direct address to the residents of Lachish in the previous line.} influenced Daughter Zion ^{▼▼sn The epithet Daughter Zion pictures the city of Jerusalem as a young lady.} to sin, ^{▼▼tn Heb “She was the beginning of sin for Daughter Zion.”}
for Israel’s rebellious deeds can be traced back ^{▼▼tn Heb “for in you was found the transgressions of Israel.”} to you!
14 Therefore you ^{▼▼tn The subject of the feminine singular verb is probably Lachish.} will have to say farewell ^{▼▼tn Heb “you will give a dowry to”; NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV “give parting gifts to.” Lachish is compared to a father who presents wedding gifts to his daughter as she leaves her father’s home to take up residence with her husband. In similar fashion Lachish will bid farewell to Moresheth Gath, for the latter will be taken by the invader.} to Moresheth Gath.
The residents ^{▼▼tn Heb “houses.” By metonymy this refers to the people who live in them.} of Achzib ^{▼▼sn The place name Achzib (אַכְזִיב, ʾakhziv, “place on the dried up river”; see HALOT 45 s.v. אַכְזָב) creates a word play on the similar sounding term כָּזָב (kazav, “lie, deception”; HALOT 468 s.v. כָּזָב). Like the dried up river upon which its name was based, the city of Achzib would fail to help the kings of Israel in their time of need.} will be as disappointing
as a dried up well ^{▼▼tn Or “will be a deception.” The term אַכְזָב (ʾakhzav) is often translated “deception,” derived from the verb I כָּזָב (“to deceive, lie”; HALOT 467-68 s.v. I כזב). However, it probably means “what is dried up,” since (1) the noun elsewhere refers to an empty well or dried river in summer (Jer 15:18; cf. Job 6:15-20) (HALOT 45 s.v. אַכְזָב); (2) the place-name “Achzib” (אַכְזִיב) literally means “place on the אַכְזָב [dried up river]” (HALOT 45 s.v. אַכְזָב); and (3) it is derived from the verb II כָּזָב (“to dry up [brook]”; Isa 58:11), which also appears in Mishnaic Hebrew and Arabic. The point of the metaphor is that Achzib will be as disappointing to the kings of Israel as a dried up spring in the summer is to a thirsty traveler in the Jordanian desert.} to the kings of Israel. ^{▼▼sn Because of the enemy invasion, Achzib would not be able to deliver soldiers for the army and/or services normally rendered to the crown.}
15 Residents of Mareshah, ^{▼▼sn The place name Mareshah sounds like the Hebrew word for “conqueror.”} a conqueror will attack you; ^{▼▼tn Heb “Again a conqueror I will bring to you, residents of Mareshah.” The first person verb is problematic, for the Lord would have to be the subject (cf. NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV, NLT). But the prophet appears to be delivering this lament and the Lord is referred to in the third person in v. 12. Consequently many emend the verb to a third person form (יָבוֹא, yavoʾ) and understand the “conqueror” as subject.}
the leaders of Israel shall flee to Adullam. ^{▼▼tn Heb “to Adullam the glory of Israel will go.” This probably means that the nation’s leadership will run for their lives and, like David of old, hide from their enemy in the caves of Adullam. Cf. NIV84’s “He who is the glory of Israel will come to Adullam,” which sounds as if an individual is in view, and could be understood as a messianic reference. NIV11 translates “The nobles of Israel will flee to Adullam.”}
16 Shave your heads bald as you mourn for the children you love; ^{▼▼tn Heb “over the sons of your delight.”}
shave your foreheads as bald ^{▼▼tn Heb “make wide your baldness.”} as an eagle, ^{▼▼tn Or “a vulture” (cf. NIV, TEV); CEV “a buzzard.” The Hebrew term נֶשֶׁר (nesher) refers to the griffon vulture or eagle.}
for they are taken from you into exile.