eng_aiv Amundson Interpretive Version Micah Micah Micah Mic Micah id=eng_aiv name=Amundson Interpretive Version (AIV) status=draft spec=USFM-USX 3.1.1 export=2026-11-02 char:add=translator-addition-italic char:wj=words-of-Jesus-as-received-unmapped note:f=footnotes para:r=parallel-passage-references para:d=psalm-superscriptions Judgment to Come (Isaiah 7:17–25) The word of YHWH that came to Micah the Moreshite in the days of Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah, which he saw regarding Samaria and Jerusalem. Hear, O peoples, all of them! Pay attention, O earth, and its fullness! And may the Lord YHWH be against you⁺ as a witness— the Lord from the temple of His holiness! For behold, YHWH is coming from His station. He will come down and will tread upon the high places of the earth. And the mountains will melt under Him, and the valleys will split apart, like wax before the face of the fire, like waters poured down on a slope. All this is for the transgression of Jacob and for the sins of the house of Israel. What is the transgression of Jacob? Is it not Samaria? And what are the high places of Judah? Are they not Jerusalem? And I will set Samaria as a heap of ruins in the field, a planting area of a vineyard; I will pour down her stones into the valley, and her foundations I will uncover. And all her carved images will be crushed, and all her wages will be burned in the fire, and all her idols I will set as a desolation. For from the wages of a prostitute she gathered it, and to the wages of a prostitute they will return! Weeping and Mourning Over this I will mourn and wail, I will go barefoot and naked; I will make a wailing like the jackals,1.8 Or serpents or dragons and a lamentation like the daughters of the ostrich.1.8 Or like daughters of the owl For her wounds are incurable, for it has come to Judah; it has reached even to the gate of My people, to Jerusalem. Do not declare it in Gath,1.10 Gath sounds like the Hebrew for tell. do not weep at all weep; in Beth-leaphrah,1.10 Beth-leaphrah means house of dust. roll yourself in the dust. Pass by for yourself, O dweller of Shaphir,1.11 Shaphir means pleasant. in shameful nakedness. She does not come out— the dweller of Zaanan;1.11 Zaanan sounds like the Hebrew for come out. the mourning of Beth-ezel1.11 Beth-ezel means adjoining house. will take away from you⁺ its station. For the dweller of Maroth1.12 Maroth sounds like the Hebrew for bitter. has waited anxiously for good, because calamity has come down from YHWH to the gate of Jerusalem! Harness the chariot to the swift steed, O dweller of Lachish!1.13 Lachish sounds like the Hebrew term for team of horses. She was the beginning of sin for the daughter of Zion, for in you were found the transgressions of Israel. Therefore you will give farewell gifts1.14 Or will give dowry to Moresheth-gath;1.14 Moresheth sounds like the Hebrew for gift or dowry. the houses of Achzib1.14 Achzib means deception. are a deceit to the kings of Israel. Again the possessor I will bring to you, O dweller of Mareshah;1.15 Mareshah sounds like the Hebrew for conqueror. to Adullam will come the glory of Israel. Make yourself bald and shear your head over the children of your delight; enlarge your baldness like an eagle, for they will go into exile away from you. Woe to Oppressors Woe to those devising iniquity and working evil on their beds. In the light of morning they do it, because it is in the power of their hand. And they desire fields, and seize them, and houses, and they take them; and they oppress a man and his house, a man and his inheritance. Therefore, thus says YHWH: “Behold, I am planning calamity against this family that you⁺ cannot remove from your⁺ necks; and you⁺ will not walk haughtily, for it is a time of calamity. On that day he will take up over you⁺ a taunt, and will wail loudly, and say, ‘We are We are utterly ruined! The portion of my people He has changed— how He has removed it from me, and to a backturner He has divided our fields!’” Therefore there will be unto you no one casting the cord by lot in the assembly of YHWH. Reproof of False Prophets (Ezekiel 13:1–16) “Do not preach,” they preach. “Do not preach to these things, disgrace will not overtake us.” Will it be said, O house of Jacob, has the Spirit of YHWH been shortened, or “Are these His deeds?” Do not My words bring good upon the one walking uprightly? And lately My people have risen up as an enemy from the garment you⁺ strip off the magnificence, in security from those passing by, as those returning from battle. The women of My people you⁺ cast out from the houses of her delight; from her children you⁺ have taken away My glory forever. Rise and depart, for this is not a resting place, because it is defiled; it is destroyed and its destruction is grievous! If a man should go about in the wind and falsely utter lies: “I will preach to you of wine and strong drink,2.11 Or “I will prophesy to you for wine and strong drink”” then he would be the prophet for this people! The Remnant of Israel (Micah 5:7–15) I will surely gather all of you, O Jacob, I will surely assemble the remnant of Israel, I will put them together like sheep in an enclosure, like a flock in the midst of its pasture, that makes a noise because of man. The one breaking it open before them will come up they will break out and will pass through the gate, and they will go out by it, and they will pass—their king before them, and with YHWH at their head. Rulers and Prophets Condemned And I said: “Hear now, O heads of Jacob, and rulers of the house of Israel: Is it not for you⁺ to know justice— those hating good and loving evil, those tearing away their skin from upon them, and their flesh from their bones, and who eat the flesh of My people, and strip off their skin from them and break their bones and spread them as in the pot, and like flesh in the midst of a cauldron?” Then they will cry to YHWH, and He will not answer them; and He will hide His face from them at that time, because their deeds have been evil. Thus says YHWH concerning the prophets leading astray my people, those biting with their teeth while they call out, Peace, and who do not give to their mouth, and they have sanctified against him war: “Therefore a night is unto you⁺ without a vision, and it will grow dark for you⁺ without divination, and the sun will go down on the prophets, and the daylight will turn black over them. And the seers will be ashamed, and the diviners will be disgraced, and they will cover over their mustache—all of them— for there is no answer from God!” However I am filled with power by the Spirit of YHWH, and justice and strength to declare to Jacob his transgression, and to Israel his sin. Hear this now, O heads of the house of Jacob, and rulers of the house of Israel, those abhorring justice, and all that is upright, they pervert, those building up Zion with bloodshed, and Jerusalem with injustice. Her heads give judgment for a bribe, and her priests give instruction for a price, and her prophets practice divination for silver. And on YHWH they lean, and say, “Is not YHWH among us? No harm can come upon us.” Therefore, because of you⁺, Zion will be plowed as a field, and Jerusalem will become heaps of ruins, and the mountain of the house, like the heights of the forest. The Mountain of the House of Yahweh (Isaiah 2:1–4) And it will come to pass at the end of the days, that the mountain of the house of YHWH will be established on the top of the mountains, and it will be exalted above the hills; and the peoples will flow to it. And many nations will come and say “Come, and let us go up to the mountain of YHWH, and to the house of the God of Jacob; He will instruct us of His ways, and we will walk in His paths.” For the law will go forth from Zion, and the word of YHWH from Jerusalem. And He will judge between many peoples, and He will decide even for strong nations, those far off. And they will beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks. Nation will not lift up a sword against nation, and they will not learn war anymore; and each man will sit under his own vine and under his own fig tree, and there will not be one making them afraid, for the mouth of YHWH of Hosts has spoken. For all the peoples walk, each man in the name of his god, and we will walk in the name of YHWH our God forever and ever. The Restoration of Zion (Zechariah 8:1–23) “On that day,” a declaration of YHWH, “I will gather the lame, and I will assemble the outcast, even those whom I have afflicted. And I will set the lame as a remnant, and those cast out as a strong nation. And YHWH will reign over them on Mount Zion from now and even to forever. And you, Migdal-eder,4.8 Migdal-eder means watchtower of the flock O citadel4.8 Or hill; Hebrew Ophel of the daughter of Zion, to you it will come— the former dominion will come— the kingdom to the Daughter of Jerusalem.” Now why do you shout with shouting? Is there no king among you? Or has your counselor perished, that has gripped you anguish like a woman in labor? Writhe, and bring forth, O daughter of Zion, like a woman in labor. For now you will go forth from the city, and you will dwell in the field, and you will go to Babylon. There you will be delivered, there YHWH will redeem you from the hand of your enemies. And now many nations are gathered against you, those saying, “Let her be defiled, and let our eyes gaze upon Zion.” And they do not know the thoughts of YHWH, and they do not understand His counsel, how He gathers them like sheaves to the threshing floor. Arise and thresh, O daughter of Zion. For your horn I will set as iron, and your hooves I will set as bronze; and you will crush many peoples, and you will devote4.13 Or devote to destruction to YHWH their gain, and their wealth to the Lord of all the earth. A Ruler from Bethlehem (Matthew 2:1–12) Now mobilize your troops, O daughter of a troop! A siege he has laid against us; with a rod they will strike on the cheek the judge of Israel. And you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, being small among the thousands of Judah: From you will come forth unto Me One to be Ruler in Israel,5.2 Or among the clans and his goings forth are of old, from everlasting. 5.2 Cited in Matthew 2:6 Therefore He will give them up, until the time the one giving birth has given birth; and the remnant of his brothers will return to the sons of Israel. And he will stand and pasture them in the strength of YHWH, in the majesty of the name of YHWH his God; and they will dwell securely, for now he will be great as far as the ends of the earth. And this one will be our peace.5.5 Or their peace When Assyria comes into our land and treads in our citadels, we will raise against him seven shepherds, and eight princes of mankind. And they will shepherd against the land of Assyria with the sword, and against the land of Nimrod at its entrances; and He will deliver us from Assyria, when he comes into our land, and treads within our borders. The Remnant of Jacob (Micah 2:12–13) And the remnant of Jacob will be in the midst of many peoples, like dew from YHWH, like showers on the grass that do not wait for man and do not linger for the sons of man. And the remnant of Jacob will be among the nations in the midst of many peoples, like a lion among the beasts of the forest, like a young lion among flocks of sheep, who, if he passes through, both treads down and tears to pieces, and there is no one delivering. Your hand will be lifted against your adversaries, and all your enemies will be cut off. “And it will come to pass in that day,” a declaration of YHWH, “That I will cut off your horses from among you, and I will destroy your chariots. And I will cut off the cities of your land, and I will tear down all your strongholds. And I will cut off sorcery from your hand, and those practicing divination will not be unto you. And I will cut off your carved images and your sacred pillars from among you, and you will not bow down anymore to the work of your hands. And I will pluck up your Asherah poles from among you, and I will destroy your cities. And I will execute vengeance in anger and in fury on the nations who would not listen.” The Case against Israel Hear now what YHWH is saying: “Arise, dispute with the mountains, and let the hills hear your voice. Hear, O mountains, the dispute of YHWH, and you enduring foundations of the earth, for a dispute is unto YHWH against His people, and He will argue against Israel. ‘My people, what have I done to you, and how have I wearied you? Answer Me! For I brought you up from the land of Egypt, from the house of slavery; I redeemed you and I sent before you Moses, Aaron, and Miriam. My people, remember, please, what Balak king of Moab counseled, and what Balaam son of Beor answered him— from Shittim6.5 Or Acacia Grove unto Gilgal, so that you may know the righteous acts of YHWH!’” With what will I come before YHWH and bow myself before God Most High? Will I come before Him with burnt offerings, with calves, sons of a year? Will YHWH be pleased with thousands of rams, with myriad rivers of oil? Will I give my firstborn for my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul? He has shown to you, O man, what is good. And what does YHWH seek from you, but to do justice and to love kindness, and to be humble to walk with your God? The Punishment of Israel The voice of YHWH calls to the city, and wisdom fears Your name: “Heed the rod, and the One who has appointed it! Are there Yet, O house of the wicked, the treasures of wickedness, and the ephah of leanness, which is accursed? Shall I count pure one with scales of wickedness, and with a bag of weights of deceit? How her rich men are full of violence, and her dwellers have spoken deception, and their tongue is deceitful in their mouth! So also I will be severe in striking you, to make you desolate over your sins! You will eat, and you will not be satisfied, your emptiness is in your entrails; you will put away, and you will not save, and what you save, I will give to the sword. You will sow, and you will not reap; you will tread the olives, and you will not anoint yourselves with oil, and new wine, and you will not drink the wine. And the statutes of Omri are kept, and all the works of the house of Ahab, and you⁺ walk by their counsels. Therefore I will give you to desolation, and your dwellers to hissing, and you⁺ will bear the scorn of the nations.6.16 LXX; Hebrew the scorn of My people” Israel’s Great Misery (Matthew 10:34–39; Luke 12:49–53) Woe to me, for I have become like the gathering of the summer fruit, like the gleanings of the vintage; there is no cluster to eat, no early fig my soul desires. The godly one has perished from the earth, and there is no one upright among mankind. They all lie in wait for blood, each man against his brother, they hunt with a net. Upon the evil are both hands to do it well; the prince is asking—and the judge—for a bribe, and the great one is speaking the desire of his soul, and they wrap it up. Their best one of them is like a brier, the upright one, a thorn hedge. The day of your watchmen—your visitation7.4 Or your punishment— has come. Now is their confusion! Do not trust in a friend; do not put your⁺ confidence in a companion; from her who lies down in your bosom guard the doors of your mouth. For a son dishonors a father, a daughter rises against her mother, a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law— the enemies of a man are the men of his own house! 7.6 Cited in Matthew 10:35–36; see also Luke 12:53. Israel’s Confession and Comfort And I, for YHWH I will watch, I will wait for the God of my salvation; My God will hear me. Do not rejoice, O my enemy, over me when I fall; I will arise; when I sit in the darkness, YHWH is be a light for me. The indignation of YHWH I will bear, because I have sinned against Him, until when He will fight my fight, and execute justice by me; He will bring me forth to the light, and I will look on His righteousness. And she who is my enemy will see, and she will cover her shame— she who said to me, “Where is YHWH your God?” My eyes will look on her; now she will be for trampling like mud in the streets. A day is for building your walls, a day that the limit is removed. And that day they will come to you from Assyria and the cities of Egypt, and from Egypt to the River,7.12 That is, the Euphrates and from sea to sea and mountain to mountain. And the earth will be as a desolation over those dwelling on it for the fruit of their deeds. God’s Compassion on Israel Shepherd your people with your staff, the flock of your heritage dwelling alone in a woodland in the midst of Carmel;7.14 Or in the midst of pastures let them find pasture in Bashan and Gilead, as in the days of old. As in the days of your coming out from the land of Egypt, I will make them see wonders. Nations will see, and they will be ashamed of all their might; they will put the hand over the mouth; their ears will become deaf. They will lick the dust like a snake, like the crawling things of the earth; they will come trembling from their enclosures to YHWH our God they will tremble, and they will be afraid of You. Who is a God like You, lifting away iniquity and passing over the transgression of the remnant of His heritage? He does not retain His anger forever, because He delights in loving devotion.7.18 Forms of the Hebrew chesed are translated here and in most cases throughout the Scriptures as loving devotion; the range of meaning includes love, goodness, kindness, faithfulness, and mercy, as well as loyalty to a covenant. He will turn back, He will have compassion on us, He will subdue our iniquities. And You will cast into the depths of the sea all our sins. You will give forth faithfulness to Jacob, loving devotion to Abraham, which You have sworn to our fathers from the days of old.