Micah 4–5

CHAPTER 4

The Law Will Go Forth from Zion

¹Now it will be that in the ^alast days

The ^bmountain of the house of Yahweh

Will be established ¹as the head of the mountains,

And will be lifted up above the hills,

And the ^cpeoples will stream to it.

^2aAnd many nations will come and say,

“^bCome and let us go up to the mountain of Yahweh

And to the house of the God of Jacob,

That ^cHe may instruct us from His ways

And that we may walk in His paths.”

For ^dfrom Zion will go forth the law,

And the word of Yahweh from Jerusalem.

³And He will ^ajudge between many peoples

And will render decisions for mighty, ¹distant nations.

And they will hammer their swords ^binto plowshares

And their spears into pruning hooks;

Nation will not lift up sword against nation,

And never again will they learn war.

⁴And each of them will ^asit under his vine

And under his fig tree,

With ^bno one to make them tremble,

For the ^cmouth of Yahweh of hosts has spoken.

⁵Though all the peoples walk

Each in the ^aname of his god,

As for us, ^bwe will walk

In the name of ^cYahweh our God forever and ever.

⁶“In that day,” declares Yahweh,

“I will assemble the ^alame

And ^bgather the banished,

Even those upon whom I have brought calamity.

⁷“I will make the lame a ^aremnant

And the outcasts a mighty nation,

And ^bYahweh will reign over them in Mount Zion

From now on and forever.

⁸“And as for you, ^1atower of the flock,

²Hill of the daughter of Zion,

To you it will come—

Even the ^bformer dominion will come,

The kingdom of the daughter of Jerusalem.

⁹“Now, why do you ^amake a loud shout?

Is there no king among you,

Or has your ^bcounselor perished,

That writhing has taken hold of you like a woman in childbirth?

¹⁰“^aWrithe and labor to give birth,

Daughter of Zion,

Like a woman in childbirth;

For now you will ^bgo out of the city,

Dwell in the field,

And go to Babylon.

^cThere you will be delivered;

^dThere Yahweh will redeem you

From the hand of your enemies.

¹¹“But now ^amany nations have been assembled against you

Who say, ‘Let her be polluted,

And let our eyes behold Zion in triumph.’

¹²“But they do not ^aknow the thoughts of Yahweh,

And they do not understand His counsel;

For He has gathered them like sheaves to the threshing floor.

¹³“Arise and ^athresh, daughter of Zion,

For your horn I will make iron,

And your hoofs I will make bronze,

That you may ^bpulverize many peoples,

That you may ^cdevote to Yahweh their greedy gain unto destruction

And their wealth to the Lord of all the earth.

CHAPTER 5

The Ruler Will Come from Bethlehem

¹“¹Now muster yourselves in troops, daughter of troops;

²They have laid siege against us;

With a rod they will ^astrike the judge of Israel on the cheek.

²“¹But as for ^ayou, Bethlehem Ephrathah,

Too little to be among the clans of Judah,

From ^byou One will go forth for Me to be ^cruler in Israel.

²His goings forth are ^dfrom everlasting,

From the ancient days.”

³Therefore He will ^agive them up until the time

When she ^bwho is in childbirth has borne a child.

Then the ^cremainder of His brothers

Will return to the sons of Israel.

⁴And He will stand and ^ashepherd His flock

In the strength of Yahweh,

In the majesty of the name of Yahweh His God.

And they will ¹remain

Because ²at that time He will be great

To the ^bends of the earth.

⁵And this One ^awill be peace.

When the ^bAssyrian enters our land,

When he treads on our ¹citadels,

Then we will raise against him

Seven shepherds and eight princes of men.

⁶And they will ^ashepherd the land of Assyria with the sword,

The land of ^bNimrod at its entrances;

And He will ^cdeliver us from the Assyrian

When he enters our land

And when he treads within our borders.

⁷Then the ^aremnant of Jacob

Will be among many peoples

Like ^bdew from Yahweh,

Like ^cshowers on vegetation

Which do not hope for man

Or wait for the sons of men.

⁸Then the remnant of Jacob

Will be among the nations,

Among many peoples

^aLike a lion among the beasts of the forest,

Like a young lion among flocks of sheep,

Which, if it passes through,

^bTramples down and ^ctears,

And there is ^dnone to deliver.

⁹Your hand will be ^araised up against your adversaries,

And all your enemies will be cut off.

¹⁰“And it will be in that day,” declares Yahweh,

“^aThat I will cut off your ^bhorses from among you

And destroy your chariots.

¹¹“And I will cut off the ^acities of your land

And pull down all your ^bfortifications.

¹²“And I will cut off ^asorceries from your hand,

And you will have soothsaying no more.

¹³“^aAnd I will cut off your graven images

And your sacred pillars from among you

So that you will no longer worship

The work of your hands.

¹⁴“And I will uproot your ^1aAsherim from among you

And ²eradicate your cities.

¹⁵“And I will ^aexecute vengeance in anger and wrath

On the nations which have not ^1blistened.”