The Lord’s Reign in Zion(A)

Now (B)it shall come to pass in the latter days
That the mountain of the Lord’s house
Shall be established on the top of the mountains,
And shall be exalted above the hills;
And peoples shall flow to it.
Many nations shall come and say,
“Come, and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord,
To the house of the God of Jacob;
He will teach us His ways,
And we shall walk in His paths.”
For out of Zion the law shall go forth,
And the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.
He shall judge between many peoples,
And rebuke strong nations afar off;
They shall beat their swords into (C)plowshares,
And their spears into [a]pruning hooks;
Nation shall not lift up sword against nation,
(D)Neither shall they learn war anymore.

(E)But everyone shall sit under his vine and under his fig tree,
And no one shall make them afraid;
For the mouth of the Lord of hosts has spoken.
For all people walk each in the name of his god,
But (F)we will walk in the name of the Lord our God
Forever and ever.

Zion’s Future Triumph

“In that day,” says the Lord,
(G)“I will assemble the lame,
(H)I will gather the outcast
And those whom I have afflicted;
I will make the lame (I)a remnant,
And the outcast a strong nation;
So the Lord (J)will reign over them in Mount Zion
From now on, even forever.
And you, O tower of the flock,
The stronghold of the daughter of Zion,
To you shall it come,
Even the former dominion shall come,
The kingdom of the daughter of Jerusalem.”

Now why do you cry aloud?
(K)Is there no king in your midst?
Has your counselor perished?
For (L)pangs have seized you like a woman in [b]labor.
10 Be in pain, and labor to bring forth,
O daughter of Zion,
Like a woman in birth pangs.
For now you shall go forth from the city,
You shall dwell in the field,
And to (M)Babylon you shall go.
There you shall be delivered;
There the (N)Lord will (O)redeem you
From the hand of your enemies.

11 (P)Now also many nations have gathered against you,
Who say, “Let her be defiled,
And let our eye (Q)look upon Zion.”
12 But they do not know (R)the thoughts of the Lord,
Nor do they understand His counsel;
For He will gather them (S)like sheaves to the threshing floor.

13 “Arise(T) and (U)thresh, O daughter of Zion;
For I will make your horn iron,
And I will make your hooves bronze;
You shall (V)beat in pieces many peoples;
(W)I will consecrate their gain to the Lord,
And their substance to (X)the Lord of the whole earth.”

The Messiah Will Be Born at Bethlehem

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

The Coming Messiah

“But you, (Z)Bethlehem (AA)Ephrathah,
Though you are little (AB)among the (AC)thousands of Judah,
Yet out of you shall come forth to Me
The One to be (AD)Ruler in Israel,
(AE)Whose goings forth are from of old,
From [c]everlasting.”

Therefore He shall give them up,
Until the time that (AF)she who is in labor has given birth;
Then (AG)the remnant of His brethren
Shall return to the children of Israel.
And He shall stand and (AH)feed[d] 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 (AI)shall be great
To the ends of the earth;
And this One (AJ)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.
They shall [e]waste with the sword the land of Assyria,
And the land of (AK)Nimrod at its entrances;
Thus He shall (AL)deliver us from the Assyrian,
When he comes into our land
And when he treads within our borders.

Then (AM)the remnant of Jacob
Shall be in the midst of many peoples,
(AN)Like dew from the Lord,
Like showers on the grass,
That [f]tarry for no man
Nor [g]wait for the sons of men.
And the remnant of Jacob
Shall be among the Gentiles,
In the midst of many peoples,
Like a (AO)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.
Your hand shall be lifted against your adversaries,
And all your enemies shall be [h]cut off.

10 “And it shall be in that day,” says the Lord,
“That I will (AP)cut[i] off your (AQ)horses from your midst
And destroy your (AR)chariots.
11 I will cut off the cities of your land
And throw down all your strongholds.
12 I will cut off sorceries from your hand,
And you shall have no (AS)soothsayers.
13 (AT)Your carved images I will also cut off,
And your sacred pillars from your midst;
You shall (AU)no more worship the work of your hands;
14 I will pluck your [j]wooden images from your midst;
Thus I will destroy your cities.
15 And I will (AV)execute vengeance in anger and fury
On the nations that have not [k]heard.”

Footnotes

  1. Micah 4:3 pruning knives
  2. Micah 4:9 childbirth
  3. Micah 5:2 Lit. the days of eternity
  4. Micah 5:4 shepherd
  5. Micah 5:6 devastate
  6. Micah 5:7 wait
  7. Micah 5:7 delay
  8. Micah 5:9 destroyed
  9. Micah 5:10 destroy
  10. Micah 5:14 Heb. Asherim, Canaanite deities
  11. Micah 5:15 obeyed

The Mountain of the Lord(A)

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)

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.
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)
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)
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

“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)
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)
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)

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

[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.

“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)

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.

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.

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)
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)

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.
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)
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.”

Footnotes

  1. Micah 4:8 Or hill
  2. Micah 4:9 Or King
  3. Micah 4:9 Or Ruler
  4. Micah 5:1 In Hebrew texts 5:1 is numbered 4:14, and 5:2-15 is numbered 5:1-14.
  5. Micah 5:2 Or rulers
  6. Micah 5:6 Or crush
  7. Micah 5:6 Or Nimrod in its gates
  8. Micah 5:14 That is, wooden symbols of the goddess Asherah