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Micah 4:6-5
The Message
Micah 4:6-5
The Message
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.
Micah 4:6-5:5
New International Version
Micah 4:6-5:5
New International Version
The Lord’s Plan
6 “In that day,” declares the Lord,
“I will gather the lame;(A)
I will assemble the exiles(B)
and those I have brought to grief.(C)
7 I will make the lame my remnant,(D)
those driven away a strong nation.(E)
The Lord will rule over them in Mount Zion(F)
from that day and forever.(G)
8 As for you, watchtower of the flock,
stronghold[a] of Daughter Zion,
the former dominion will be restored(H) to you;
kingship will come to Daughter Jerusalem.(I)”
9 Why do you now cry aloud—
have you no king[b](J)?
Has your ruler[c] perished,
that pain seizes you like that of a woman in labor?(K)
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;(L)
there you will be rescued.
There the Lord will redeem(M) 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(N) over Zion!”
12 But they do not know
the thoughts of the Lord;
they do not understand his plan,(O)
that he has gathered them like sheaves to the threshing floor.
13 “Rise and thresh,(P) 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.”(Q)
You will devote their ill-gotten gains to the Lord,(R)
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(S) with a rod.
2 “But you, Bethlehem(T) Ephrathah,(U)
though you are small among the clans[e] of Judah,
out of you will come for me
one who will be ruler(V) over Israel,
whose origins are from of old,(W)
from ancient times.”(X)
3 Therefore Israel will be abandoned(Y)
until the time when she who is in labor bears a son,
and the rest of his brothers return
to join the Israelites.
The Message (MSG)
Copyright © 1993, 2002, 2018 by Eugene H. Peterson
New International Version (NIV) 
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NIV Reverse Interlinear Bible: English to Hebrew and English to Greek. Copyright © 2019 by Zondervan.