6-7 “On that great day,” God says,
    “I will round up all the hurt and homeless,
    everyone I have bruised or banished.
I will transform the battered into a company of the elite.
    I will make a strong nation out of the long lost,
A showcase exhibit of God’s rule in action,
    as I rule from Mount Zion, from here to eternity.

“And you stragglers around Jerusalem,
    eking out a living in shantytowns:
The glory that once was will be again.
    Jerusalem’s daughter will be the kingdom center.”

* * *

9-10 So why the doomsday hysterics?
    You still have a king, don’t you?
But maybe he’s not doing his job
    and you’re panicked like a woman in labor.
Well, go ahead—twist and scream, Daughter Jerusalem.
    You are like a woman in childbirth.
You’ll soon be out of the city, on your way
    and camping in the open country.
And then you’ll arrive in Babylon.
    What you lost in Jerusalem will be found in Babylon.
God will give you new life again.
    He’ll redeem you from your enemies.

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I will make the lame my remnant,(A)
    those driven away a strong nation.(B)
The Lord will rule over them in Mount Zion(C)
    from that day and forever.(D)
As for you, watchtower of the flock,
    stronghold[a] of Daughter Zion,
the former dominion will be restored(E) to you;
    kingship will come to Daughter Jerusalem.(F)

Why do you now cry aloud—
    have you no king[b](G)?
Has your ruler[c] perished,
    that pain seizes you like that of a woman in labor?(H)

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Footnotes

  1. Micah 4:8 Or hill
  2. Micah 4:9 Or King
  3. Micah 4:9 Or Ruler