Micah 4-5

New Century Version

The Mountain of the Lord

4 In the last days
    the mountain on which the Lord’s Temple stands
    will become the most important of all mountains.
It will be raised above the hills,
    and people from other nations will come streaming to it.
²Many nations will come and say,
    “Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord,
    to the Temple of the God of Jacob,
so that he can teach us his ways,
    and we can obey his teachings.”
His teachings will go out from Jerusalem,
    the word of the Lord from that city.
³The Lord will judge many nations;
    he will make decisions about strong nations that are far away.
They will hammer their swords into plow blades
    and their spears into hooks for trimming trees.
Nations will no longer raise swords against other nations;
    they will not train for war anymore.
⁴Everyone will sit under his own vine and fig tree,
    and no one will make him afraid,
    because the Lord All-Powerful has said it.
⁵All other nations may follow their own gods,
    but we will follow the Lord our God forever and ever.

⁶The Lord says, “At that time,

I will gather the crippled;
    I will bring together those who were sent away,
    those whom I caused to have trouble.
⁷I will keep alive those who were crippled,
    and I will make a strong nation of those who were sent away.
The Lord will be their king in Mount Zion from now on and forever.
⁸And you, watchtower of the flocks,^[a] hill of Jerusalem,
    to you will come the kingdom as in the past.
    Jerusalem, the right to rule will come again to you.”

Why the Israelites Must Go to Babylon

⁹Now, why do you cry so loudly?
    Is your king gone?
Have you lost your helper,
    so that you are in pain, like a woman trying to give birth?
¹⁰People of Jerusalem, strain and be in pain.
    Be like a woman trying to give birth,
because now you must leave the city
    and live in the field.
You will go to Babylon,
    but you will be saved from that place.
The Lord will go there
    and buy you back from your enemies.

¹¹But now many nations
    have come to fight against you,
saying, “Let’s destroy Jerusalem.
    We will look at her and be glad we have defeated her.”
¹²But they don’t know
    what the Lord is thinking;
they don’t understand his plan.
    He has gathered them like bundles of grain to the threshing floor.

¹³“Get up and beat them, people of Jerusalem.
    I will make you strong as if you had horns of iron
and hoofs of bronze.
    You will beat many nations into small pieces
and give their wealth to the Lord,
    their treasure to the Lord of all the earth.”

5 So, strong city, gather your soldiers together,
because we are surrounded and attacked.
They will hit the leader of Israel
in the face with a club.

The Ruler to Be Born in Bethlehem

²“But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah,
    though you are too small to be among the army groups from Judah,
from you will come one who will rule Israel for me.
    He comes from very old times,
    from days long ago.”

³The Lord will give up his people
    until the one who is having a baby gives birth;
then the rest of his relatives will return
    to the people of Israel.
⁴At that time the ruler of Israel will stand
    and take care of his people
with the Lord’s strength
    and with the power of the name of the Lord his God.
The Israelites will live in safety,
    because his greatness will reach all over the earth.
⁵He will bring peace.

Rescue and Punishment

Assyria will surely come into our country
    and walk over our large buildings.
We will set up seven shepherds,
    eight leaders of the people.
⁶They will destroy the Assyrians with their swords;
    they will conquer the land of Assyria with their swords drawn.
They will rescue us from the Assyrians when they come into our land,
    when they walk over our borders.

⁷Then the people of Jacob who are left alive
    will be to other people
like dew from the Lord
    or rain on the grass—
it does not wait for human beings;
    it does not pause for any person.
⁸Those of Jacob’s people who are left alive
    will be scattered among many nations and peoples.
They will be like a lion among the animals of the forest,
    like a young lion in a flock of sheep:
As it goes, it jumps on them
    and tears them to pieces,
    and no one can save them.
⁹So you will raise your fist in victory over your enemies,
    and all your enemies will be destroyed.

¹⁰The Lord says, “At that time,
    I will take your horses from you
    and destroy your chariots.
¹¹I will destroy the cities in your country
    and tear down all your defenses.
¹²I will take away the magic charms you use
    so you will have no more fortune-tellers.
¹³I will destroy your statues of gods
    and the stone pillars you worship
so that you will no longer worship
    what your hands have made.
¹⁴I will tear down Asherah idols from you
    and destroy your cities.
¹⁵In my anger and rage,
    I will pay back the nations that have not listened.”