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Micah 4-5
The Message
Micah 4-5
The Message
The Making of God’s People
4 1-4 But when all is said and done,
God’s Temple on the mountain,
Firmly fixed, will dominate all mountains,
towering above surrounding hills.
People will stream to it
and many nations set out for it,
Saying, “Come, let’s climb God’s mountain.
Let’s go to the Temple of Jacob’s God.
He will teach us how to live.
We’ll know how to live God’s way.”
True teaching will issue from Zion,
God’s revelation from Jerusalem.
He’ll establish justice in the rabble of nations
and settle disputes in faraway places.
They’ll trade in their swords for shovels,
their spears for rakes and hoes.
Nations will quit fighting each other,
quit learning how to kill one another.
Each man will sit under his own shade tree,
each woman in safety will tend her own garden.
God-of-the-Angel-Armies says so,
and he means what he says.
5 Meanwhile, all the other people live however they wish,
picking and choosing their gods.
But we live honoring God,
and we’re loyal to our God forever and ever.
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.
8 “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.
11-12 But for right now, they’re ganged up against you,
many godless peoples, saying,
“Kick her when she’s down! Violate her!
We want to see Zion grovel in the dirt.”
These blasphemers have no idea
what God is thinking and doing in this.
They don’t know that this is the making of God’s people,
that they are wheat being threshed, gold being refined.
13 On your feet, Daughter of Zion! Be threshed of chaff,
be refined of dross.
I’m remaking you into a people invincible,
into God’s juggernaut to crush the godless peoples.
You’ll bring their plunder as holy offerings to God,
their wealth to the Master of the earth.
The Leader Who Will Shepherd-Rule Israel
5 But for now, prepare for the worst, victim daughter!
The siege is set against us.
They humiliate Israel’s king,
slapping him around like a rag doll.
2-4 But you, Bethlehem, David’s country,
the runt of the litter—
From you will come the leader
who will shepherd-rule Israel.
He’ll be no upstart, no pretender.
His family tree is ancient and distinguished.
Meanwhile, Israel will be in foster homes
until the birth pangs are over and the child is born,
And the scattered brothers come back
home to the family of Israel.
He will stand tall in his shepherd-rule by God’s strength,
centered in the majesty of God-Revealed.
And the people will have a good and safe home,
for the whole world will hold him in respect—
Peacemaker of the world!
5-6 And if some bullying Assyrian shows up,
invades and violates our land, don’t worry.
We’ll put him in his place, send him packing,
and watch his every move.
Shepherd-rule will extend as far as needed,
to Assyria and all other Nimrod-bullies.
Our shepherd-ruler will save us from old or new enemies,
from anyone who invades or violates our land.
7 The purged and select company of Jacob will be
like an island in the sea of peoples.
They’ll be like dew from God,
like summer showers
Not mentioned in the weather forecast,
not subject to calculation or control.
8-9 Yes, the purged and select company of Jacob will be
like an island in the sea of peoples,
Like the king of beasts among wild beasts,
like a young lion loose in a flock of sheep,
Killing and devouring the lambs
and no one able to stop him.
With your arms raised in triumph over your foes,
your enemies will be no more!
* * *
10-15 “The day is coming”
—God’s Decree—
“When there will be no more war. None.
I’ll slaughter your war horses and demolish your chariots.
I’ll dismantle military posts
and level your fortifications.
I’ll abolish your religious black markets,
your underworld traffic in black magic.
I will smash your carved and cast gods
and chop down your phallic posts.
No more taking control of the world,
worshiping what you do or make.
I’ll root out your sacred sex-and-power centers
and destroy the God-defiant.
In raging anger, I’ll make a clean sweep
of godless nations who haven’t listened.”
Micah 4-5
New International Version
Micah 4-5
New International Version
The Mountain of the Lord(A)
4 In the last days
the mountain(B) of the Lord’s temple will be established
as the highest of the mountains;
it will be exalted above the hills,(C)
and peoples will stream to it.(D)
2 Many nations will come and say,
“Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord,(E)
to the temple of the God of Jacob.(F)
He will teach us(G) his ways,(H)
so that we may walk in his paths.”
The law(I) will go out from Zion,
the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.
3 He will judge between many peoples
and will settle disputes for strong nations far and wide.(J)
They will beat their swords into plowshares
and their spears into pruning hooks.(K)
Nation will not take up sword against nation,
nor will they train for war(L) anymore.(M)
4 Everyone will sit under their own vine
and under their own fig tree,(N)
and no one will make them afraid,(O)
for the Lord Almighty has spoken.(P)
5 All the nations may walk
in the name of their gods,(Q)
but we will walk in the name of the Lord
our God for ever and ever.(R)
The Lord’s Plan
6 “In that day,” declares the Lord,
“I will gather the lame;(S)
I will assemble the exiles(T)
and those I have brought to grief.(U)
7 I will make the lame my remnant,(V)
those driven away a strong nation.(W)
The Lord will rule over them in Mount Zion(X)
from that day and forever.(Y)
8 As for you, watchtower of the flock,
stronghold[a] of Daughter Zion,
the former dominion will be restored(Z) to you;
kingship will come to Daughter Jerusalem.(AA)”
9 Why do you now cry aloud—
have you no king[b](AB)?
Has your ruler[c] perished,
that pain seizes you like that of a woman in labor?(AC)
10 Writhe in agony, Daughter Zion,
like a woman in labor,
for now you must leave the city
to camp in the open field.
You will go to Babylon;(AD)
there you will be rescued.
There the Lord will redeem(AE) you
out of the hand of your enemies.
11 But now many nations
are gathered against you.
They say, “Let her be defiled,
let our eyes gloat(AF) over Zion!”
12 But they do not know
the thoughts of the Lord;
they do not understand his plan,(AG)
that he has gathered them like sheaves to the threshing floor.
13 “Rise and thresh,(AH) Daughter Zion,
for I will give you horns of iron;
I will give you hooves of bronze,
and you will break to pieces many nations.”(AI)
You will devote their ill-gotten gains to the Lord,(AJ)
their wealth to the Lord of all the earth.
A Promised Ruler From Bethlehem
5 [d]Marshal your troops now, city of troops,
for a siege is laid against us.
They will strike Israel’s ruler
on the cheek(AK) with a rod.
2 “But you, Bethlehem(AL) Ephrathah,(AM)
though you are small among the clans[e] of Judah,
out of you will come for me
one who will be ruler(AN) over Israel,
whose origins are from of old,(AO)
from ancient times.”(AP)
3 Therefore Israel will be abandoned(AQ)
until the time when she who is in labor bears a son,
and the rest of his brothers return
to join the Israelites.
4 He will stand and shepherd his flock(AR)
in the strength of the Lord,
in the majesty of the name of the Lord his God.
And they will live securely, for then his greatness(AS)
will reach to the ends of the earth.
5 And he will be our peace(AT)
when the Assyrians invade(AU) our land
and march through our fortresses.
We will raise against them seven shepherds,
even eight commanders,(AV)
6 who will rule[f] the land of Assyria with the sword,
the land of Nimrod(AW) with drawn sword.[g](AX)
He will deliver us from the Assyrians
when they invade our land
and march across our borders.(AY)
7 The remnant(AZ) of Jacob will be
in the midst of many peoples
like dew(BA) from the Lord,
like showers on the grass,(BB)
which do not wait for anyone
or depend on man.
8 The remnant of Jacob will be among the nations,
in the midst of many peoples,
like a lion among the beasts of the forest,(BC)
like a young lion among flocks of sheep,
which mauls and mangles(BD) as it goes,
and no one can rescue.(BE)
9 Your hand will be lifted up(BF) in triumph over your enemies,
and all your foes will be destroyed.
10 “In that day,” declares the Lord,
“I will destroy your horses from among you
and demolish your chariots.(BG)
11 I will destroy the cities(BH) of your land
and tear down all your strongholds.(BI)
12 I will destroy your witchcraft
and you will no longer cast spells.(BJ)
13 I will destroy your idols(BK)
and your sacred stones from among you;(BL)
you will no longer bow down
to the work of your hands.(BM)
14 I will uproot from among you your Asherah poles[h](BN)
when I demolish your cities.
15 I will take vengeance(BO) in anger and wrath
on the nations that have not obeyed me.”
The Message (MSG)
Copyright © 1993, 2002, 2018 by Eugene H. Peterson
New International Version (NIV) 
Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
NIV Reverse Interlinear Bible: English to Hebrew and English to Greek. Copyright © 2019 by Zondervan.