Micah 4–5

Chapter 4

¹It shall come to pass in the latter days

that the mountain of the house of the Lord

shall be established as the highest of the mountains,

and shall be raised up above the hills;

and peoples shall flow to it,

²and many nations shall come, and say:

“Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord,

to the house of the God of Jacob;

that he may teach us his ways

and we may walk in his paths.”

For out of Zion shall go forth the law,

and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.

³He shall judge between many peoples,

and shall decide for strong nations afar off;

and they shall beat their swords into plowshares,

and their spears into pruning hooks;

nation shall not lift up sword against nation,

neither shall they learn war any more;

⁴but they shall sit every man under his vine and under his fig tree,

and none shall make them afraid;

for the mouth of the Lord of hosts has spoken.

⁵For all the peoples walk

each in the name of its god,

but we will walk in the name of the Lord our God

for ever and ever.

⁶In that day, says the Lord,

I will assemble the lame

and gather those who have been driven away,

and those whom I have afflicted;

⁷and the lame I will make the remnant;

and those who were cast off, a strong nation;

and the Lord will reign over them in Mount Zion

from this time forth and for evermore.

⁸And you, O tower of the flock,

hill of the daughter of Zion,

to you shall it come,

the former dominion shall come,

the kingdom of the daughter of Jerusalem.

⁹Now why do you cry aloud?

Is there no king in you?

Has your counselor perished,

that pangs have seized you like a woman in travail?

¹⁰Writhe and groan, O daughter of Zion,

like a woman in travail;

for now you shall go forth from the city

and dwell in the open country;

you shall go to Babylon.

There you shall be rescued,

there the Lord will redeem you

from the hand of your enemies.

¹¹Now many nations

are assembled against you,

saying, “Let her be profaned,

and let our eyes gaze upon Zion.”

¹²But they do not know

the thoughts of the Lord,

they do not understand his plan,

that he has gathered them as sheaves to the threshing floor.

¹³Arise and thresh,

O daughter of Zion,

for I will make your horn iron

and your hoofs bronze;

you shall beat in pieces many peoples,

and shall devote their gain to the Lord,

their wealth to the Lord of the whole earth.

Chapter 5

¹Now you are walled about with a wall;

siege is laid against us;

with a rod they strike upon the cheek

the ruler of Israel.

²But you, O Bethlehem Ephrathah,

who are little to be among the clans of Judah,

from you shall come forth for me

one who is to be ruler in Israel,

whose origin is from of old,

from ancient days.

³Therefore he shall give them up until the time

when she who is in travail has brought forth;

then the rest of his brethren shall return

to the people of Israel.

⁴And he shall stand and feed his flock in the strength of the Lord,

in the majesty of the name of the Lord his God.

And they shall dwell secure, for now he shall be great

to the ends of the earth.

⁵And this shall be peace,

when the Assyrian comes into our land

and treads upon our soil,

that we will raise against him seven shepherds

and eight princes of men;

⁶they shall rule the land of Assyria with the sword,

and the land of Nimrod with the drawn sword;

and they shall deliver us from the Assyrian

when he comes into our land

and treads within our border.

⁷Then the remnant of Jacob shall be

in the midst of many peoples

like dew from the Lord,

like showers upon the grass,

which tarry not for men

nor wait for the sons of men.

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

in the midst of many peoples,

like a lion among the beasts of the forest,

like a young lion among the flocks of sheep,

which, when it goes through, treads down

and tears in pieces, and there is none to deliver.

⁹Your hand shall be lifted up over your adversaries,

and all your enemies shall be cut off.

¹⁰And in that day, says the Lord,

I will cut off your horses from among you

and will destroy your chariots;

¹¹and I will cut off the cities of your land

and throw down all your strongholds;

¹²and I will cut off sorceries from your hand,

and you shall have no more soothsayers;

¹³and I will cut off your images

and your pillars from among you,

and you shall bow down no more

to the work of your hands;

¹⁴and I will root out your Asherim from among you

and destroy your cities.

¹⁵And in anger and wrath I will execute vengeance

upon the nations that did not obey.