Micah 4-5

New International Reader's Version

the mountain where the Lord’s temple is located will be famous.
    It will be the highest mountain of all.
It will be lifted up above the hills.
    And nations will go to it.

“Come, let us go up to the Lord’s mountain.
    Let’s go to the temple of Jacob’s God.
He will teach us how we should live.
    Then we will live the way he wants us to.”
The law of the Lord will be taught at Zion.
    His message will go out from Jerusalem.
³ He will judge between people from many nations.
    He’ll settle problems among strong nations everywhere.
They will hammer their swords into plows.
    They’ll hammer their spears into pruning tools.
Nations will not go to war against one another.
    They won’t even train to fight anymore.
⁴ Everyone will have
    their own vine and fig tree.
And no one will make them afraid.
    That’s what the Lord who rules over all has promised.
⁵ Other nations worship and trust in their gods.
    But we will worship and obey the Lord.
    He will be our God for ever and ever.

⁹ Why are you crying out so loudly now?
    Don’t you have a king?
Has your ruler died?
    Is that why pain comes on you
    like the pain of a woman having a baby?
¹⁰ People of Zion, groan with pain.
    Cry out like a woman having a baby.
Soon you must leave your city.
    You must camp in the open fields.
You will have to go to the land of Babylon.
    But that’s where the Lord will save you.
There he will set you free
    from the power of your enemies.

¹¹ But now many nations
    have gathered together to attack you.
They say, “Let Jerusalem be made ‘unclean.’
    We want to laugh when Zion suffers!”
¹² But those nations don’t know
    what the Lord has in mind.
They don’t understand his plan.
    He has planned to gather them up like bundles of grain.
    He has planned to take them to his threshing floor.

“People of Zion, get up
    and crush your enemies.
    I will make you like a threshing ox.
I will give you iron horns and bronze hooves.
    So you will crush many nations.”

They got their money in the wrong way.
    But you will set it apart to the Lord.
You will give their wealth
    to the Lord of the whole earth.

“Bethlehem Ephrathah, you might not be
    an important town in the nation of Judah.
But out of you will come for me
    a ruler over Israel.
His family line goes back
    to the early years of your nation.
It goes all the way back
    to days of long ago.”

³ The Lord will hand over his people to their enemies.
    That will last until the pregnant woman bears her promised son.
Then the rest of his relatives in Judah
    will return to their land.

⁴ That promised son will stand firm
    and be a shepherd for his flock.
The Lord will give him the strength to do it.
    The Lord his God will give him
    the authority to rule.
His people will live safely.
    His greatness will reach
    from one end of the earth to the other.
⁵ And he will be our peace
    when the Assyrians attack our land.
    They will march through our forts.
But we will raise up against them many shepherds.
    We’ll send out against them
    as many commanders as we need to.
⁶ They will use their swords to rule over Assyria.
    They’ll rule the land of Nimrod
    with swords that are ready to strike.
The Assyrians will march across our borders
    and attack our land.
    But the promised ruler will save us from them.

⁷ Jacob’s people who are still left alive
    will be scattered among many nations.
They will be like dew the Lord has sent.
    Dew doesn’t depend on any human being.
They will be like rain that falls on the grass.
    Rain doesn’t wait for someone to give it orders.
⁸ So Jacob’s people will be scattered
    among many nations.
They will be like a lion
    among the animals in the forest.
They’ll be like a young lion
    among flocks of sheep.
Lions attack and tear apart their prey as they move along.
    No one can keep them
    from killing what they want.
⁹ Lord, your power will win the battle
    over your enemies.
    All of them will be destroyed.

¹⁰ “At that time I will destroy
    your war horses,” announces the Lord.
    “I will smash your chariots.
¹¹ I will destroy the cities in your land.
    I will tear down all your forts.
¹² I will destroy your worship of evil powers.
    You will no longer be able
    to put a spell on anyone.
¹³ I will destroy the statues of your gods.
    I will take your sacred stones away from you.
You will no longer bow down
    to the gods your hands have made.
¹⁴ I will pull down the poles you used
    to worship the female god named Asherah.
    That will happen when I completely destroy your cities.
¹⁵ I will pay back the nations
    that have not obeyed me.
    I will direct my anger against them.”