Micah 4-7
Complete Jewish Bible
4 But in the acharit-hayamim it will come about
that the mountain of Adonai’s house
will be established as the most important mountain.
It will be regarded more highly than the other hills,
and peoples will stream there.
2 Many Gentiles will go and say,
“Come, let’s go up to the mountain of Adonai,
to the house of the God of Ya‘akov!
He will teach us about his ways,
and we will walk in his paths.”
For out of Tziyon will go forth Torah,
the word of Adonai from Yerushalayim.
3 He will judge between many peoples
and arbitrate for many nations far away.
Then they will hammer their swords into plow-blades
and their spears into pruning-knives;
nations will not raise swords at each other,
and they will no longer learn war.
4 Instead, each person will sit under his vine
and fig tree, with no one to upset him,
for the mouth of Adonai-Tzva’ot
has spoken.
5 For all the peoples will walk,
each in the name of its god;
but we will walk in the name of Adonai
our God forever and ever.
6 “When that day comes,” says Adonai,
“I will assemble the lame
and gather those who were dispersed,
along with those I afflicted.
7 I will make the lame a remnant
and those who were driven off a strong nation.”
Adonai will rule them on Mount Tziyon
from that time forth and forever.
8 You, tower of the flock,
hill of the daughter of Tziyon,
to you your former sovereignty will return,
the royal power of the daughter of Yerushalayim.
9 Why are you now crying out?
Don’t you have a king?
Has your counselor been destroyed,
that you are seized with pain like a woman in labor?
10 Be in pain! Work to give birth
like a woman in labor, daughter of Tziyon!
For now you will go out of the city
and live in the wilds till you reach Bavel.
There you will be rescued;
there Adonai will redeem you
from the power of your enemies.
11 Now many nations have gathered against you;
they say, “Let her be defiled,
let’s gloat over Tziyon.”
12 But they don’t know the thoughts of Adonai,
they don’t understand his plan;
for he has gathered them like sheaves
on the threshing-floor.
13 Get up! Start threshing, daughter of Tziyon!
“For I will make your horns like iron
and your hoofs like bronze.”
You will crush many peoples
and devote their plunder to Adonai,
their wealth to the Lord of all the earth.
14 (5:1) Now gather yourself in troops,
you who are accustomed to being in troops;
they have laid siege to us.
They are striking the judge of Isra’el
on the cheek with a stick.
5 (2) But you, Beit-Lechem near Efrat,
so small among the clans of Y’hudah,
out of you will come forth to me
the future ruler of Isra’el,
whose origins are far in the past,
back in ancient times.
2 (3) Therefore he will give up [Isra’el]
only until she who is in labor gives birth.
Then the rest of his kinsmen
will return to the people of Isra’el.
3 (4) He will stand and feed his flock
in the strength of Adonai,
in the majesty of the name
of Adonai his God;
and they will stay put, as he grows great
to the very ends of the earth;
4 (5) and this will be peace.
If Ashur invades our land,
if he overruns our fortresses,
we will raise seven shepherds against him,
eight leaders of men.
5 (6) They will shepherd the land of Ashur with the sword,
the land of Nimrod at its gates;
and he will rescue us from Ashur
when he invades our land,
when he overruns our borders.
6 (7) Then the remnant of Ya‘akov,
surrounded by many peoples,
will be like dew from Adonai,
like showers on the grass,
which doesn’t wait for a man
or expect anything from mortals.
7 (8) The remnant of Ya‘akov among the nations,
surrounded by many peoples,
will be like a lion among forest animals,
like a young lion among flocks of sheep —
if it passes through, tramples and tears to pieces,
there is no one to rescue them.
8 (9) Your hand will be raised over your enemies;
all your adversaries will be destroyed.
9 (10) “When that day comes,” says Adonai,
“I will cut off your horses from among you
and destroy your chariots.
10 (11) I will cut off the cities of your land
and lay waste your strongholds.
11 (12) I will cut off sorceries from your land;
you will no longer have soothsayers.
12 (13) I will cut off your carved images
and standing-stones from among you;
no longer will you worship
what your own hands have made.
13 (14) I will pull up your sacred poles from among you
and destroy your enemies.
14 (15) I will wreak vengeance in anger and fury
on the nations, because they would not listen.”
6 So listen now to what Adonai says:
“Stand up and state your case to the mountains,
let the hills hear what you have to say.”
2 Listen, mountains, to Adonai’s case;
also you enduring rocks that support the earth!
Adonai has a case against his people;
he wants to argue it out with Isra’el:
3 “My people, what have I done to you?
How have I wearied you? Answer me!
4 I brought you up from the land of Egypt.
I redeemed you from a life of slavery.
I sent Moshe, Aharon
and Miryam to lead you.
5 My people, just remember what Balak
the king of Mo’av had planned,
what Bil‘am the son of B‘or answered him,
[and what happened] between Sheetim and Gilgal —
so that you will understand
the saving deeds of Adonai.”
6 “With what can I come before Adonai
to bow down before God on high?
Should I come before him with burnt offerings?
with calves in their first year?
7 Would Adonai take delight in thousands of rams
with ten thousand rivers of olive oil?
Could I give my firstborn to pay for my crimes,
the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?”
8 Human being, you have already been told
what is good, what Adonai demands of you —
no more than to act justly, love grace
and walk in purity with your God.
9 The voice of Adonai! He calls to the city —
and it is wisdom to fear your name —
“Listen to the rod and to him who commissioned it.
10 Are there still ill-gotten gains in the house of the wicked?
still the detestable short eifah-measure?
11 Should I declare innocent wicked scales
and a bag of fraudulent weights?
12 The rich men there are full of violence,
the inhabitants tell lies,
with tongues of deceit in their mouths.
13 “Therefore, I am starting to strike you down,
to destroy you because of your sins.
14 You will eat but not be satisfied,
with hunger gnawing inside you.
You will conceive but not give birth;
if you do give birth, I will give him to the sword.
15 You will sow but will not reap,
you will press olives but not rub yourself with oil,
likewise you will press grapes but not drink the wine.
16 For you keep the regulations of ‘Omri
and all the practices of the house of Ach’av,
modeling yourselves on their advice.
Therefore I will make you an object of horror,
the inhabitants of this city a cause for contempt;
you will suffer the insults aimed at my people.”
7 Woe to me! for I have become
like the leavings of summer fruit,
like the gleanings when the vintage is finished —
there isn’t a cluster worth eating,
no early-ripened fig that appeals to me.
2 The godly have been destroyed from the land,
there is no one upright among humankind.
They all lie in wait for blood,
each hunts his brother with a net.
3 Their hands do evil well.
The prince makes his request,
the judge grants it for a price,
and the great man expresses his evil desires —
thus they weave it together.
4 The best of them is a briar,
the most upright worse than a thorn hedge.
The time of your watchmen — of your punishment — has come;
now they will be confused.
5 Don’t trust in your neighbor;
don’t put confidence in a close friend;
shut the gates of your mouth even from [your wife],
lying there with you in bed.
6 For a son insults his father,
a daughter rises against her mother,
daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law —
a person’s enemies are the members of his own household.
7 But as for me, I will look to Adonai,
I will wait for the God of my salvation;
my God will hear me.
8 Enemies of mine, don’t gloat over me!
Although I have fallen, I will rise;
though I live in the dark, Adonai is my light.
9 I will endure Adonai’s rage,
because I sinned against him;
until he pleads my cause
and judges in my favor.
Then he will bring me out to the light,
and I will see his justice.
10 My enemies will see it too,
and shame will cover those
who said to me, “Where is Adonai your God?”
I will gloat over them,
as they are trampled underfoot
like mud in the streets.
11 That will be the day for rebuilding your walls,
a day for expanding your territory,
12 a day when [your] people will come [back] to you
from Ashur and from the cities of Egypt,
from Egypt and from as far as the Euphrates River,
and from sea to sea, and from mountain to mountain.
13 The earth will be desolate for those living in it,
as a result of their deeds.
14 Shepherd your people with your staff,
the flock that belongs to you,
who live alone, like a forest
in the middle of a fertile pasture.
Let them feed in Bashan and Gil‘ad,
as they did in days of old.
15 “As in the days when you came out of Egypt,
I will show them wonders.”
16 The nations will see and be put to shame,
in spite of all their power.
They will cover their mouths with their hands,
and their ears will be deafened.
17 They will lick the dust like snakes;
they will emerge from their fortresses trembling
like reptiles that crawl about on the earth;
they will come with fear to Adonai our God,
afraid because of you.
18 Who is a God like you,
pardoning the sin and overlooking the crimes
of the remnant of his heritage?
He does not retain his anger forever,
because he delights in grace.
19 He will again have compassion on us,
he will subdue our iniquities.
You will throw all their sins
into the depths of the sea.
20 You will show truth to Ya‘akov
and grace to Avraham,
as you have sworn to our ancestors
since days of long ago.
Michoh 4-7
Orthodox Jewish Bible
4 But in the acharit hayamim (the last days) it shall come to pass, that the Har Beis Hashem shall be established as the rosh heharim (chief of mountains), and it shall be exalted above the hills; and amim (peoples) shall stream unto it.
2 And Goyim rabbim shall come, and say, Come, and let us go up to the Har Hashem, and to the Beis Elohei Ya’akov; and He (Hashem) will be moreinu of His drakhim (ways), and we will walk in His orkhot (ways); for torah shall go forth from Tziyon, and the Devar Hashem from Yerushalayim.
3 And He shall judge among amim rabbim, and Hashem will be mochiach (arbitrator) for Goyim atzumim afar off; and they shall beat their charavot (swords) into plow blades, and their khanitot (spears) into pruning knives; And Goy el Goy (nation against nation) will not take up cherev (sword), neither shall they learn milchamah (war) any more.
4 But they shall sit every man under his gefen (vine) and under his te’enah (fig tree); and none shall make them afraid; for the mouth of Hashem Tzva’os hath spoken.
5 For Kol HaAmmim will walk every one b’shem Elohav, and we will walk b’shem Hashem Eloheinu l’olam va’ed.
6 In Yom HaHu, saith Hashem, will I gather that which is lame, and I will gather those which have been thrust out, and those that I have afflicted;
7 And I will make that which is lame a She’erit (remnant), v’hannahala’ah (and that which is far removed) a Goy atzum (mighty nation); and Hashem shall reign over them in Har Tziyon me’attah ve’ad olam (from henceforth, even for ever).
8 And thou, O migdal eder (tower of the flock), hill of Bat Tziyon, unto thee shall it come, even the hammemshalah harishonah (former dominion); the mamlachah (kingdom) shall come to Bat Yerushalayim.
9 Now why dost thou cry out aloud? Is there no melech in thee? Is thy yo’eitz (counselor) perished? For pangs have taken thee like a woman in labor.
10 Be in pain, and labor to bring forth, O Bat Tziyon, like a woman in labor; for now shalt thou go forth out of the city, and thou shalt dwell in the sadeh, and thou shalt go even to Babylon; there shalt thou be rescued; there Hashem shall redeem thee from the hand of thine oyvim (enemies).
11 Now also Goyim rabbim are gathered against thee, that say, Let her be profaned and desecrated, and let our eye gloat over Tziyon.
12 But they have no da’as of the machshevot Hashem (thoughts of Hashem), neither have they binah (understanding) of His etzah (divine plan); for He shall gather them like the sheaves into the threshing floor.
13 Arise and thresh, O Bat Tziyon; for I will make thine keren (horn) barzel (iron), and I will make thy hooves bronze; and thou shalt beat in pieces amim rabbim; and I will devote unto Hashem as cherem their ill-gotten gains, and their wealth unto Adon Kol HaAretz [T.N. Moshiach is called this in Malachi 3:1].
5 1 (14) Now gather thyself in troops, O Bat Gedud (Daughter of Troops, i.e., warlike Yerushalayim); a matzor (siege) hath been laid against us; they shall strike the Shofet Yisroel with a rod upon the cheek [see The Besuras HaGeulah According to Mattityahu 27:30].
2 (5:1) But thou, Beit-lechem Ephratah, though thou be little among the Alphei Yehudah (Thousands of Yehudah), yet out of thee shall He [Moshiach] come forth unto Me [Hashem] that is to be Moshel Yisroel; whose goings forth (i.e. origins) have been mikedem, (from everlasting; see Chabakuk 1:12), mimei olam (from the days of eternity).
3 (5:2) Therefore will He give them up, until the Et Yoledah (time when she who is in labor) hath brought forth; then the rest of His [Moshiach’s] Brethren shall return unto Bnei Yisroel.
4 (5:3) And He [Moshiach] shall stand and shall shepherd in the strength of Hashem, in the majesty of the Shem of Hashem Elohav, and they [Bnei Yisroel] shall live; for then shall He [Moshiach] be great unto the ends of ha’aretz.
5 (5:4) And this shall be Shalom. When the Assyrian shall invade our land; and when he shall set foot on our armenot (citadels), then shall we raise against him shivah ro’im (seven shepherds), and shmoneh nesikhei adam (eight leaders [tribal princes] of men).
6 (5:5) And they shall shepherd Eretz Ashur (Assyria) with the cherev, and Eretz Nimrod at its gates; thus shall He [Moshiach] deliver us from the Assyrian, when he cometh into our land, and when he sets foot within our borders.
7 (5:6) And the She’erit Ya’akov shall be in the midst of many people like tal (dew) from Hashem, like the showers upon the grass, that doth not await man’s bidding, nor tarry for the bnei adam.
8 (5:7) And the She’erit Ya’akov shall be among the Goyim in the midst of many people like an aryeh among the beasts of the forest, like a young lion among the edrei tzon (flocks of sheep); who, if he go through, both treadeth down, and teareth in pieces, and none can deliver.
9 (5:8) Thine hand shall be lifted up upon thine adversaries, and kol oyvecha (all thine enemies) shall be cut off.
10 (5:9) And it shall come to pass in Yom HaHu, saith Hashem, that I will cut off thy susim out of the midst of thee, and I will destroy thy merkavot (chariots);
11 (5:10) And I will cut off the cities of thy land, and throw down all thy mivtzarim (fortresses);
12 (5:11) And I will cut off keshafim (witchcrafts) out of thine hand; and thou shalt have no more sorcerers;
13 (5:12) Thy graven images also will I cut off, and thy sacred pillars out of the midst of thee; and lo tishtachaveh (thou shalt no more bow down to, worship) the work of thine hands.
14 (5:13) And I will pluck up thy Asherim (i.e., sacred poles of the Asherah cult of Canaan) out of the midst of thee; so will I destroy thy cities.
15 (5:14) And I will execute vengeance in anger and fury upon the Goyim that were without mishma’at (obedience).
6 Hear ye now what Hashem saith: Arise, contend thou before heharim (the mountains), and let the hills hear thy voice.
2 Hear ye, O harim (mountains), the riv Hashem (dispute, case, lawsuit of Hashem); listen, ye enduring mosedei eretz (foundations of the earth); for Hashem hath a case against His people, and He will contend with Yisroel.
3 O Ami (My people), what have I done unto thee? And wherein have I been a burden to thee? Testify against Me.
4 For I brought thee up out of Eretz Mitzrayim, and redeemed thee out of the bais avadim (house of slaves); and sent before thee Moshe, Aharon, and Miryam.
5 O Ami (My people), remember now what Balak Melech Moav did plot, and what Bala’am ben Beor answered him from Sheetim to Gilgal [See Yehoshua chps 3-4]; that ye may have da’as of the tzidkot (righteous acts of) Hashem.
6 With what shall I come before Hashem, and bow myself before Elohei Marom (G-d on High)? Shall I come before Him with olot (burnt offerings), with calves a year old?
7 Will Hashem be pleased with thousands of eilim (rams), or with ten thousand rivers of shemen (olive oil)? Shall I give my bechor (firstborn) for my peysha, the p’ri (fruit) of my beten for the chattat (sin) of my nefesh?
8 He hath showed thee, O adam (man), what is tov. And what doth Hashem require of thee, but to do mishpat, and ahavat chesed, and to walk humbly with Eloheicha?
9 Hashem’s voice crieth unto the ir (city): To fear Thy Shem (Name) is wisdom; heed the rod and the One who appointed it.
10 Are there yet the otzerot (treasures) of wickedness in the bais rasha (the house of the wicked), and the scant measure, the too small eifah (bushel) which is accursed?
11 Shall I acquit the one with dishonest scales, and with the bag of mirmah (deceitful) weights? [T.N. see Moshiach without mirmah, Yeshayah 53:9]
12 For the oisher (the wealthy) thereof are full of chamas (violence), and the inhabitants thereof have spoken sheker, and their leshon (tongue) is remiyah (guile) in their mouth. [see Moshiach without chamas, Yeshayah 53:9]
13 Therefore also will I make thee sick in striking thee, in making thee desolate because of chattotecha.
14 Thou shalt eat, but not be satisfied; and thy emptiness remains in thee; and thou shalt put away but not save; and that which thou deliverest will I give up to the cherev (sword).
15 Thou shalt sow the zera, but thou shalt not reap the katzir (harvest); thou shalt tread the zayit (olives), but thou shalt not anoint thee with shemen (olive oil); and yayin shalt thou not drink.
16 For the chukkot Omri (statutes of Omri) are kept, and kol ma’aseh Bais Ach’av (all the works of the House of Ahab); and ye walk in their mo’atzot (advise, counsel); therefore, I should make thee a desolation, and the inhabitants thereof an object of hissing; therefore ye shall bear the cherpah (scorn, abuse, disgrace) of Ami (My people).
7 Woe is me! For I am become like a gathering of kayitz (summer fruit), like a gleaning of the vintage; there is no grape cluster to eat, none of the early figs my nefesh desired.
2 The chasid has disappeared from ha’aretz; and there is none yashar (upright, straight) among men; they all lie in wait for dahm; they hunt every man his brother with a net.
3 That they may do evil with both hands skillfully, the sar and the shofet asketh for a bribe; and hagadol uttereth the evil of his nefesh (soul); so they weave it.
4 The best of them is like a brier; the yashar ([most] upright) is sharper than a thorn hedge; the yom of thy watchmen and thy pekuddah (visitation) cometh; now shall their confusion follow.
5 Trust ye not in a re’a, put ye not confidence in an alluf (confidant); keep the doors of thy mouth from her that lieth in thy kheyk (bosom).
6 For the ben dishonoureth the av, the bat riseth up against her em, the kallah against her chamot; a man’s enemies are the men of his own bais.
7 Therefore I will look [in hope] for Hashem; I will wait for Elohei Yishi (the G-d of my Salvation); Elohai (my G-d) will hear me.
8 Don’t joyously gloat over me, O mine enemy; when I fall, I shall rise; when I sit in choshech, Hashem shall be ohr unto me.
9 I will bear the wrath of Hashem, because I have sinned against Him, until He plead my case, and execute mishpat for me; He will bring me forth into the ohr, and I shall behold His tzedakah.
10 Then mine enemy shall see it, and bushah (shame) shall cover her which said unto me, Where is Hashem thy G-d? Mine eyes shall behold her; now shall she be trodden down like the mire of the streets.
11 In the yom that thy fences are to be built, in Yom HaHu (that Day) shall the chok (prescribed limit, boundary) be far away.
12 In that yom also it shall come into your possession from Assyria and the cities of Egypt, even from Egypt to the Euphrates, from yam to yam, and from har to har.
13 Notwithstanding ha’aretz shall be desolate because of them that dwell therein, for the fruit of their doings.
14 Tend as a shepherd Thy people with Thy staff, the tzon of Thine nachalah, which dwell solitarily in the wood, in the midst of Carmel; let them feed in Bashan and Gil‘ad, as in days of old.
15 According to the days of thy coming out of Eretz Mitzrayim will I show unto it marvellous things.
16 The Goyim shall see and be ashamed at all their might; they shall lay their hand upon their mouth, their ears shall be deaf.
17 They shall lick the aphar (dust) like the nachash, like crawlers that crawl on eretz (ground) they will come trembling out of their dens; they shall be afraid of Hashem Eloheinu, and shall turn in fear because of Thee.
18 Mee El kamocha (Who is a G-d like unto Thee), removing avon, and passing over peysha of the She’erit of His Nechalah? Hashem retaineth not His anger forever, because He delighteth in chesed.
19 He will turn again; He will have compassion upon us; He will subdue avonoteinu (our iniquities); and tashlich (thou wilt cast, throw) all their sins into the depths of the yam.
20 Thou wilt give emes to Ya’akov, and chesed to Avraham, as Thou hast sworn unto avoteinu from days of long ago.
Copyright © 1998 by David H. Stern. All rights reserved.
Copyright © 2002, 2003, 2008, 2010, 2011 by Artists for Israel International