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The Lord Will Purify His People

10 “In that day,” says the Lord,
“I will destroy[a] your horses from your midst
and smash your chariots.
11 I will destroy the cities of your land
and tear down all your fortresses.
12 I will remove the sorcery[b] that you practice,[c]
and you will no longer have omen readers living among you.[d]
13 I will remove your idols and sacred pillars from your midst;
you will no longer worship what your own hands made.
14 I will uproot your images of Asherah[e] from your midst
and destroy your idols.[f]
15 With furious anger I will carry out vengeance
on the nations that do not obey me.”

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Footnotes

  1. Micah 5:10 tn Heb “cut off” (also in the following verse).
  2. Micah 5:12 tn Heb “magic charms” (so NCV, TEV); NIV, NLT “witchcraft”; NAB “the means of divination.” The precise meaning of this Hebrew word is uncertain, but note its use in Isa 47:9, 12.
  3. Micah 5:12 tn Heb “from your hands.”
  4. Micah 5:12 tn Heb “and you will not have omen-readers.”
  5. Micah 5:14 tn Or “Asherah poles.”sn Asherah was a leading deity of the Canaanite pantheon, wife/sister of El and goddess of fertility. She was commonly worshiped at shrines in or near groves of evergreen trees, or, failing that, at places marked by wooden poles. These were to be burned or cut down (Deut 12:3; 16:21; Judg 6:25, 28, 30; 2 Kgs 18:4). The Lord states that he will destroy these images, something the Israelites themselves should have done but failed to do.
  6. Micah 5:14 tn The MT reads “your cities,” but many emend the text to צִרֶיךָ (tsirekha, “your images”) or עֲצַבֶּיךָ (ʿatsbbekha, “your idols”).

10 In that day—
this is the Lord’s declaration—
I will remove your horses from you(A)
and wreck your chariots.
11 I will remove the cities of your land(B)
and tear down all your fortresses.(C)
12 I will remove sorceries from your hands,(D)
and you will not have any more fortune-tellers.
13 I will remove your carved images(E)
and sacred pillars from you
so that you will no longer worship
the work of your hands.
14 I will pull up the Asherah poles(F) from among you(G)
and demolish your cities.[a]
15 I will take vengeance in anger and wrath(H)
against the nations that have not obeyed me.

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Footnotes

  1. 5:14 Or shrines