Micah 5-6

New King James Version

The Messiah Will Be Born at Bethlehem

5 Now gather yourself in troops,
O daughter of troops;
He has laid siege against us;
They will ^(A)strike the judge of Israel with a rod on the cheek.

The Coming Messiah

²“But you, ^(B)Bethlehem ^(C)Ephrathah,
Though you are little ^(D)among the ^(E)thousands of Judah,
Yet out of you shall come forth to Me
The One to be ^(F)Ruler in Israel,
^(G)Whose goings forth are from of old,
From ^[a]everlasting.”

³Therefore He shall give them up,
Until the time that ^(H)she who is in labor has given birth;
Then ^(I)the remnant of His brethren
Shall return to the children of Israel.
⁴And He shall stand and ^(J)feed^[b] His flock
In the strength of the Lord,
In the majesty of the name of the Lord His God;
And they shall abide,
For now He ^(K)shall be great
To the ends of the earth;
⁵And this One ^(L)shall be peace.

Judgment on Israel’s Enemies

When the Assyrian comes into our land,
And when he treads in our palaces,
Then we will raise against him
Seven shepherds and eight princely men.
⁶They shall ^[c]waste with the sword the land of Assyria,
And the land of ^(M)Nimrod at its entrances;
Thus He shall ^(N)deliver us from the Assyrian,
When he comes into our land
And when he treads within our borders.

⁷Then ^(O)the remnant of Jacob
Shall be in the midst of many peoples,
^(P)Like dew from the Lord,
Like showers on the grass,
That ^[d]tarry for no man
Nor ^[e]wait for the sons of men.
⁸And the remnant of Jacob
Shall be among the Gentiles,
In the midst of many peoples,
Like a ^(Q)lion among the beasts of the forest,
Like a young lion among flocks of sheep,
Who, if he passes through,
Both treads down and tears in pieces,
And none can deliver.
⁹Your hand shall be lifted against your adversaries,
And all your enemies shall be ^[f]cut off.

¹⁰“And it shall be in that day,” says the Lord,
“That I will ^(R)cut^[g] off your ^(S)horses from your midst
And destroy your ^(T)chariots.
¹¹I will cut off the cities of your land
And throw down all your strongholds.
¹²I will cut off sorceries from your hand,
And you shall have no ^(U)soothsayers.
¹³^(V)Your carved images I will also cut off,
And your sacred pillars from your midst;
You shall ^(W)no more worship the work of your hands;
¹⁴I will pluck your ^[h]wooden images from your midst;
Thus I will destroy your cities.
¹⁵And I will ^(X)execute vengeance in anger and fury
On the nations that have not ^[i]heard.”

God Pleads with Israel

6 Hear now what the Lord says:

“Arise, plead your case before the mountains,
And let the hills hear your voice.
²^(Y)Hear, O you mountains, ^(Z)the Lord’s complaint,
And you strong foundations of the earth;
For ^(AA)the Lord has a complaint against His people,
And He will ^[j]contend with Israel.

³“O My people, what ^(AB)have I done to you?
And how have I ^(AC)wearied you?
Testify against Me.
⁴^(AD)For I brought you up from the land of Egypt,
I redeemed you from the house of bondage;
And I sent before you Moses, Aaron, and Miriam.
⁵O My people, remember now
What ^(AE)Balak king of Moab counseled,
And what Balaam the son of Beor answered him,
From ^[k]Acacia Grove to Gilgal,
That you may know ^(AF)the righteousness of the Lord.”

⁶With what shall I come before the Lord,
And bow myself before the High God?
Shall I come before Him with burnt offerings,
With calves a year old?
⁷^(AG)Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams,
Ten thousand ^(AH)rivers of oil?
^(AI)Shall I give my firstborn for my transgression,
^[l]The fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?

⁸He has ^(AJ)shown you, O man, what is good;
And what does the Lord require of you
But ^(AK)to do justly,
To love ^[m]mercy,
And to walk humbly with your God?

Punishment of Israel’s Injustice

⁹The Lord’s voice cries to the city—
Wisdom shall see Your name:

“Hear the rod!
Who has appointed it?
¹⁰Are there yet the treasures of wickedness
In the house of the wicked,
And the short measure that is an abomination?
¹¹Shall I count pure those with ^(AL)the wicked scales,
And with the bag of deceitful weights?
¹²For her rich men are full of ^(AM)violence,
Her inhabitants have spoken lies,
And ^(AN)their tongue is deceitful in their mouth.

¹³“Therefore I will also ^(AO)make you sick by striking you,
By making you desolate because of your sins.
¹⁴^(AP)You shall eat, but not be satisfied;
^[n]Hunger shall be in your midst.
You may carry some away,^[o] but shall not save them;
And what you do rescue I will give over to the sword.

¹⁵“You shall ^(AQ)sow, but not reap;
You shall tread the olives, but not anoint yourselves with oil;
And make sweet wine, but not drink wine.
¹⁶For the statutes of ^(AR)Omri are ^(AS)kept;
All the works of Ahab’s house are done;
And you walk in their counsels,
That I may make you a ^[p]desolation,
And your inhabitants a hissing.
Therefore you shall bear the ^(AT)reproach of ^[q]My people.”