Micah 4–5

4TH CHAPTER

The Lord Will Teach the Nations—Isaiah 2:2–4

¹In the last days the mountain of the Lord’s house 

will be established as the highest of the mountains 

and raised above the hills. 

People will stream to it. 

²Then many nations will come and say, 

“Let’s go to the mountain of the Lord, 

to the house of the God of Jacob. 

He will teach us his ways so that we may live by them.” 

The teachings will go out from Zion. 

The Lord’s word will go out from Jerusalem. 

³Then he will judge disputes between many people 

and settle arguments between many nations far and wide. 

They will hammer their swords into plowblades 

and their spears into pruning shears. 

Nations will never fight against each other, 

and they will never train for war again. 

⁴They will sit under their grapevines and their fig trees, 

and no one will make them afraid. 

The Lord of Armies has spoken. 

⁵All the nations live by the names of their gods, 

but we will live by the name of the Lord our God forever. 

⁶“When that day comes,” declares the Lord, 

“I will gather those who are lame. 

I will bring together those who are scattered 

and those whom I have injured. 

⁷I will change those who are lame into a faithful people. 

I will change those who are forced away into a strong nation.” 

The Lord will rule them on Mount Zion now and forever. 

⁸You, Jerusalem, watchtower of the flock, 

stronghold of the people of Zion, 

your former government will come back to you. 

The kingdom will return to the people of Jerusalem. 

⁹Now why are you crying so loudly? 

Don’t you have a king? 

Has your counselor died? 

Pain grips you like a woman in labor. 

¹⁰Daughter of Zion, writhe in pain and groan like a woman in labor. 

Now you will leave the city, 

live in the open fields, 

and go to Babylon. 

There you will be rescued. 

There the Lord will reclaim you from your enemies. 

¹¹But now many nations gather against you. 

They say, “Let’s dishonor Zion and gloat over it.” 

¹²They don’t know the thoughts of the Lord or understand his plan. 

He will bring them together 

like cut grain on the threshing floor.^a

¹³Get up and thresh,^bpeople of Zion. 

I will make your horns as hard as iron 

and your hoofs as hard as bronze. 

You will smash many nations into small pieces. 

You will claim their loot for the Lord, 

their wealth for the Lord of the whole earth. 

5TH CHAPTER^a

¹Now, gather your troops, you city of troops. 

We are under attack. 

Enemies will strike the judge of Israel on the cheek with a stick. 

The Lord’s Leader for Israel

²You, Bethlehem Ephrathah, 

are too small to be included among Judah’s cities. 

Yet, from you Israel’s future ruler will come for me. 

His origins go back to the distant past, to days long ago. 

³That is why the Lord will abandon Israel 

until the time a mother has a child. 

Then the rest of the Lord’s people will return to the people of Israel. 

⁴The child will become the shepherd of his flock. 

⸤He will lead them⸥ with the strength of the Lord, 

with the majestic name of the Lord his God. 

They will live in safety 

because his greatness will reach the ends of the earth. 

⁵This man will be their peace. 

When the Assyrians invade our land and trample our palaces, 

we will attack them with seven shepherds and eight leaders. 

⁶They will rule Assyria with their swords 

and the country of Nimrod with drawn swords. 

They will rescue us from the Assyrians 

when they come into our land 

and walk within our territory. 

⁷Then the few people left from Jacob will be among many people 

like dew from the Lord, like showers on the grass. 

They do not put their hope in humans or wait for mortals. 

⁸The few people left from Jacob will be among the nations, 

among many people. 

They will be like a lion among animals in the forest, 

like a young lion among flocks of sheep. 

When a lion hunts, 

it tramples ⸤its victims⸥ and tears ⸤them⸥ to pieces, 

and there is no one to rescue them. 

⁹You will use your power against your opponents, 

and all your enemies will be destroyed. 

¹⁰“When that day comes,” declares the Lord, 

“I will destroy your horses 

and demolish your chariots. 

¹¹I will destroy the cities in your land 

and tear down all your fortresses. 

¹²I will destroy your sorcerers, 

and you will have no more fortunetellers. 

¹³I will destroy your idols and your sacred monuments. 

You will no longer worship what your hands have made. 

¹⁴I will pull out your poles dedicated to the goddess Asherah. 

I will wipe out your cities. 

¹⁵I will take revenge with great anger 

on the nations that do not obey me.”