Micah 4–5

The Mountain of Yahweh

4And it will be that at the end of those days,

the mountain of the house of Yahweh

will be established as the highest of the mountains,

and it will be lifted up above the hills,

and people will stream to it.

²And many nations will come and say,

“Come! Let us go up to the mountain of Yahweh,

and to the temple^a of the God of Jacob,

that he may teach us his ways,

and that we may walk in his paths,”

for the law will go out from Zion,

and the word of Yahweh from Jerusalem.

³And he will judge between many peoples

and will arbitrate for strong nations far away;

and they will beat their swords into plowshares

and their spears into pruning hooks;

nation will not lift up a sword against a nation,

and they will no longer learn war.

⁴But they will sit, each under his vine

and under his fig tree,

and no one will make them afraid,

for the mouth of Yahweh of hosts has spoken.

⁵For all the nations walk,

each in the name of its god,

but we will walk in the name of Yahweh our God,

forever and ever.

Yahweh Will Deliver Zion

⁶“In that day,” declares Yahweh,^b

“I will assemble the one who limps,

and I will gather the one who has been scattered,

and those whom I have mistreated.

⁷And I will make the one who limps a remnant,

and the one driven far away a strong nation,

and Yahweh will reign over them on Mount Zion

from now to forever.

⁸And you, O Migdal-Eder,^c

hill of the daughter of Zion,

to you it will come,

and the former dominion will come,

the reign of the daughter of Jerusalem.

⁹So then, why do you shout a loud shout?

Is there no king in you?

Has your counselor perished

that pangs like a woman in labor have seized you?

¹⁰Writhe and groan, O daughter of Zion,

like a woman in labor.

For now you will go forth from the city,

and you will camp in the field;

you will go to Babylon.

There you will be rescued;

there Yahweh will redeem you

from the hand of your enemies.

¹¹And now, many nations are gathered against you

who are saying, ‘Let her be defiled,

and let our eyes gaze upon Zion.’

¹²But they do not know the thoughts of Yahweh,

and they do not understand his plan,

that he has gathered them as sheaves

to his threshing floor.

¹³Arise and thresh, O daughter of Zion,

for your horn I will make as iron

and your hooves as bronze.

And you will break many peoples in pieces,

and their gain you will devote to destruction to Yahweh,

and their wealth to the Lord of the whole earth.”

A Ruler from Bethlehem

5^a Now muster troops, O daughter of troops;

a siege he puts against us.

They strike the ruler of Israel

with a rod on the cheek.

²But you, O Bethlehem Ephrathah,

too small to be among the clans of Judah,

from you one will go out for me,

to be ruler in Israel;

and his origins are from of old,

from ancient days.

³Therefore he will give them up

until the time of she who is with child has given birth.

And the rest of his brothers will return

to the children of Israel.

⁴And he will stand and shepherd his flock

in the strength of Yahweh,

in the majesty of the name of Yahweh his God.

And they will live,

for now he will be great unto the ends of the earth.

⁵And this one will be peace.

As for the Assyrian,^b when he comes into our land

and when he treads on our fortresses,

then we will raise up against him seven shepherds

and eight leaders of men.

⁶And they will shepherd the land of Assyria with the sword,

and the land of Nimrod at its entrances.

And he will rescue us from the Assyrian^c

when he comes into our land,

and when they tread upon our border.

A Remnant Delivered

⁷And the remnant of Jacob will be

in the midst of many nations,

like dew from Yahweh,

like showers upon the grass

which does not wait for a man,

nor delays for the children of humankind.

⁸And the remnant of Jacob will be among the nations,

in the midst of many peoples,

like a lion among the wild animals of the forest,

like a young lion among the herds of sheep

which, when it passes through and treads down

and tears in pieces, there is none who can deliver.

⁹Your hand will be lifted high over your enemies,

and all your foes will be cut off.

¹⁰“And it will happen that in that day,” declares^d Yahweh,

“then I will cut off your horses from among you,

and I will destroy your chariots.

¹¹And I will cut off the cities of your land,

and I will demolish all your fortifications.

¹²And I will cut off sorceries from your hand,

and you will not have soothsayers.

¹³And I will cut off your idols

and your stone pillars from among you,

and you will no longer bow down

to the work of your hands.

¹⁴And I will uproot your Asherahs from among you,

and I will destroy your cities.

¹⁵And in anger and in wrath I will execute vengeance

on the nations who did not obey.”